Developing Reading and Writing in Second-Language Learners Lessons From the Report of the National Literacy Panel on Language- Minority Children and Youth

REVIEWS TESOL Quarterly welcomes evaluative reviews of publications relevant to TESOL professionals Edited by MARGARET HAWKINS University of Wisconsin Developing Reading and Writing in Second-Language Learners: Lessons From the Report of the National Literacy Panel on LanguageMinority Children and Youth Diane August and Timothy Shanahan(Eds.) New York: Routledge; Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics; Newark, DE: International Reading Association, 2008 Pp vii–321 Ⅲ Children who have yet to acquire English continue to enter schools across the United States The individual states, responsible for schooling as they are, have formulated policy, developed tests, organized programs, and prepared teachers in order to fulfill the commitment the nation has made to teaching all children to be literate in English Through the years, the practical experience of educators has shaped instruction largely in accord with favored ways of teaching native speakers But in these times, it is evidence from solid research on learning to read and write that is being called on This book ambitiously brings together the results of relevant research in recent years, seeking trustworthy generalizations to guide our understanding—and reveal our ignorance—of children’s achievements in reading and writing in a second language No one interested in carrying out research on schooling for English language learners can overlook this work It is, in fact, a reduced version of a massive report prepared by a panel of highly accomplished scholars in response to a charge by the Institute for Educational Sciences of the U.S Department of Education to identify, evaluate, and synthesize research on language-minority children’s attainment in literacy (August & Shanahan, 2006) Concentrating on literacy, it deepens a recent synthesis of research on literacy and broader educational attainments of English language learners (Genesee, Lindholm-Leary, Saunders, & Christian, 2006) To shape the original report into a more manageable volume, the editors have maintained the basic organization of the areas TESOL QUARTERLY Vol 43, No 2, June 2009 377 of research addressed in the original report but have condensed multiple chapters in each area to single chapters The perspective on what counts as valued research methods and findings is presented with clarity and vigor A full chapter is given to the methodology of the review, followed by a brief demographic overview of the American multilingual condition Members of the panel articulated a set of research questions to frame their inquiry into each of five areas, seeking general trends and uncovering gaps With few exceptions, only rigorous studies that yielded quantitative measures of progress in reading and writing and appeared in peer-reviewed journals from 1980–2005 were considered (Relevant studies from outside the United States were included, especially from Canada, a country well represented on the panel.) When appropriate, these outcome measures were then analyzed through the technique of meta-analysis, but if the number of studies on a given question was too limited, the results were analyzed through systematic examination Qualitative studies in some areas were considered and incorporated into the narrative The five areas of concern addressed by subcommittees of the panel encapsulate much of the complexity of becoming literate in English as a second language At the same time, they highlight the challenge of validly capturing children’s literate achievements across languages, school settings, and social conditions The first area, “Developmental Perspective,” concerns the path of development among English language learners as they advance in mastery In this area, a variety of measures, including some as abstract as phonological memory, are related to learning second language reading skills at the word level and at the text level The second area, “The Role of First Language Oral Proficiency and Literacy in Second Language Development,” takes up the connection between learners’ spoken and written language accomplishments in their first language and their literacy attainments in English as a second language This connection is explored especially with respect to the notion of transfer from one language to another The third area, “The Influence of Sociocultural Variables,” addresses how a small set of sociocultural factors, such as recent immigration, may influence literacy achievement In this case, the panel expressed much skepticism regarding the nature of evidence from relevant studies The fourth area, “Classroom and School Factors,” is the most extensive, bringing together findings on educational matters such as the language of instruction, the organization of instruction, and teachers’ preparation for instruction for English language learners The evidence in this section, though, defies generalization from one research topic to the next, even as it confirms longstanding findings, for instance, the moderate evidence that instruction in children’s first language contributes to their attainment in reading and writing English An important topic in this area concerns learning English by children identified as in need of special education 378 TESOL QUARTERLY The fifth area, “Assessment,” takes up the measures of assessment used in the research examined for this report as well as the purposes, nature, and quality of widely adopted tests used to classify English language learners in schools From this overview, the meager amount of research on assessment is evident In line with the charge to synthesize the research, each chapter includes a summary of the empirical findings in the specific area In some cases, furthermore, detailed appendices ground the narrative report in tables presenting, for instance, the instructional components of intervention studies In line with the charge to evaluate the scope and trustworthiness of the research, each chapter also includes a section on methodological issues, discussing the strengths and the shortcomings of the research at hand Each chapter ends with recommendations for further rigorous studies into unanswered questions A concluding chapter by Catherine Snow, a senior advisor to the panel of scholars, sketches crosscutting themes, contrasting the research we have and the research we need Readers will note that this report, given the concentration on the measurable attainment of literacy, leaves little room for recognizing the texture of children’s development in a second language With respect to the importance of phonemic awareness and phonics in early reading and writing, for instance, it hardly touches on how children might become aware of sounds when their own English pronunciation is only emerging It barely mentions the asymmetries between comprehension and production or notes differences in form and function between spoken and written language that may come into play as children construct their linguistic knowledge It appears to be stuck in a limited perspective on the nature of second language acquisition, ignoring recent theoretical shifts that view it as a linguistic, a psychological, and a social enterprise embedded in the variety of classroom and community practices prevalent in American life This quest for meaningful generalizations about learning literacy in English through the recent research literature, while offering findings, begs readers to review their stance, assumptions, and experience REFERENCES August, D., & Shanahan, T (2006) Developing literacy in second-language learners: Report of the National Literacy Panel on Language-Minority Children and Youth Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum; Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics Genesee, F., Lindholm-Leary, K., Saunders, W M., & Christian, D (2006) Educating English language learners: A synthesis of research evidence New York: Cambridge University Press ROSE-MARIE WEBER University at Albany, State University of New York Albany, New York, United States REVIEWS 379