Language-Based Approaches to Support Reading Comprehension

Language-Based Approaches to Support Reading Comprehension takes a closer look at students who are frequently marginalized by language differences in the classroom, whether by teachers’ oversight or simply the lack of information. In order to remedy this situation, Falk-Ross and the contributing authors offer their different perspectives on supporting English language learners (ELLs) through specific strategies for assessment and instruction.   Each chapter presents a specific issue and challenge, supportive research and up-to-date information, classroom implications and strategies, and case study applications relating to the particular perspective of literacy development for ELLs of middle-level ages.  

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments Part I: The Challenges for Literacy Development Across Disciplines 1 Overview of the Text, Francine Falk-Ross 2 The Educational Issues Before Us, Francine Falk-Ross 3 A Case Study to Consider Using Different Frames of Reference, Francine Falk-Ross PART II: Language as a Scaffold for Learning 4 The Mediating Role of Pedagogic Discourse, Francine Falk-Ross 5 Providing Supportive Contexts for Young Children’s Language to Develop Their Ideas and Opinions, Shobana Musti-Rao and Lenwood Gibson 6 Looking at Literacy from the Family-School Frame of Reference, Lee Shumow and Elena Lyutykh 7 Mathematics Talk: Literacy Development in a Mathematics Context, Brian Evans 8 Literacy and the Arts: How Artistic Perspectives Enhance Literacy Learning, Merryl Goldberg and Laurie Stowell 9 Promoting Agency, Access, and Acquisition Among Adolescent English Language Learners, Kathleen A. J. Mohr, Michelle Flory, and Lois Ann Knezek Part III: Talk and Textual Considerations 10 Multimodality in Children's School-Based Texts, Roberta Linder 11 Addressing Young Adolescents’ Need for Voice and Interaction, Jill Lewis-Spector and Mary McGriff 12 From Resistance to Engagement—The Importance of the New Literacies for Struggling Readers and Writers, Peter McDermott and Kathleen Gormley 13 Concluding Thoughts, Francine Falk-Ross Index About the Contributors About the Editor

About the Author :
Francine Falk-Ross is professor and coordinator of the literacy education and childhood education programs at Pace University in Pleasantville, New York, where she teaches courses on literacy topics to pre-service and practicing teachers.

Review :
This book provides a keen focus on the research base and skill set that pre-service and practicing teachers need to fully engage their English language learner students in demanding literacy tasks.  Falk-Ross orchestrates a thoughtful review of the underlying research and then, with her contributors, makes a significant contribution to the field by updating readers on approaches to oral language development and current reading research and connecting these elements to the emerging demands of the Common Core State Standards.  This explicit link between strategies and standards will be of practical use to both teachers and administrators.  The use of a case study further anchors the book and enables readers to consider the challenges of literacy development across disciplines as well as in the home environment.  Overall, the contributors consider development across grade levels and bridge academic talk and text exploration in a way that supports teachers’ efforts to know their ELL students as learners and scaffold their language and literacy development.  The voices in this volume present pedagogical approaches that are respectful of all students, families, and educators, and the editor and contributors provide a positive way forward to reflective instruction. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through professionals and practitioners. Language-Based Approaches to Support Reading Comprehension has a very strong, comprehensive conceptual approach that is supported in each chapter by important research. The framework asks the right questions by focusing on the essential elements of classroom discourse and ways that interactive talk between teachers and students can support student learning.  This is a very important focus since multiple studies have shown that teacher questioning and student response often focus on low-level responses. Francine Falk-Ross and her contributors directly address this concern by providing very important direct recommendations to teachers to enrich their language-based approaches so that student comprehension and higher level thinking will increase literacy achievement. The case study transcript in chapter 3 establishes the foundation for in-depth analyses in following chapters that focus on very specific ways teachers can use talk to support learning across the curriculum. The conceptual approach definitely offers a synthesis of the research on language-based approaches to support reading instruction which provides direct guidance to teachers to improve their literacy coaching.