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The English Teacher Vol XXII October 1993 Early Reading Instruction - Big Books in the ESL Classroom* * This is a revised version of the article "Big books for Little Readers: Works in the ESL Classroom Too" - ERIC database ED 333 736
MOHANA NAMBIAR
Big Books are magnified or enlarged versions of children's books, usually narratives and are considered to be one of the most effective ways of getting young children involved with print (Strickland and Morrow, 1990). Largely inspired by the shared book experience of Don Holdaway (1979) in New Zealand, Big Books as a tool for early reading instruction in English have become well-established over the past few years. The aim of this article is to study the Big Book approach and to see how well it can be applied to the teaching of reading in English to non-native learners of the language.
Rationale of the Approach Research shows that there is a strong link between reading success in school and early reading experiences at home. Durkin (1966) in her study of early readers reported that the most prevalent factor among these children was that parents or others read to them from an early age. Similarly Allington (1983) who studied good and poor readers in school found that overwhelmingly the good readers were the ones who were read to at home. Shared reading between parent and child seems to be the foundation for early literacy; the Big Book approach is an extension of this concept into the classroom. Enlarged texts allow all the children in the classroom to see and react to the words and pictures on the page as the teacher reads aloud, a vital similarity to the shared reading between parent and child. In fact many teachers believe that the Big Book approach is the closest approximation that can be offered in the classroom to the family storybook readings (Strickland and Morrow, 1990). A number of events occur during bedtime story reading or lap reading sessions that promote early literacy. The adult models the real experience of reading and provides a situation that is socially rewarding and pleasurable to both child and parent. The child not only gains experience with handling books but also with the reading process itself. When confronted with isolated aspects of the reading process such as letter recognition, the child may sense where the skill fits in the context of the whole reading process (Combs, 1987). Also significant are the informal discussions about the stories which enrich the child's comprehension of a variety of topics and build up his schema or background knowledge. Reading a favourite book over and over again has many values, not least the sensitising of the child to the features of book language. The child learns the concepts of directionality, that spoken words correspond to written words, as well as the association between words on the page and the illustration, long before he actually learns to read. The method of repeated readings has also been advocated by Samuels (1979) to develop fluency. He contends that a fluent reader decodes text automatically, without conscious attention, leaving the mind free to grapple with comprehension. Concurrently Holdaway (1979) in studying the readinglike behaviour of preschoolers realised the critical role of repetition in literacy acquisition and referred to it as "support from memory". As a mentor of the Big Book approach, Holdaway facilitated considerable gains in fluency among groups of children through repeated shared readings (Trachtenburg and Ferruggia, 1989). Research shows that good and poor readers receive differential treatment from teachers. Allington (1983) found that with poor readers, teachers focused on accuracy, phonic skills and constant correction of any deviations from the printed text, no matter how close in meaning. It is no wonder then that poor readers perceived reading as accurate decoding and spend most of their class time on sub-skill activities rather than on actual reading for understanding and pleasure. In contrast, with good readers, teachers tended to emphasise meaning and expression, often ignoring miscues provided these were consistent with the story. Thus teacher guidance for more proficient readers emphasised strategies that encouraged interaction with the text to develop deeper understanding. This approach in instruction has only helped to widen the gap that exists between good and poor readers m their strategies for handling print. The Big Book, by providing early experiences with print in a meaningful context, is thus seen as a way of narrowing this gap (Combs, 1987). To sum up, the Big Book is based on a number of very sound theoretical principles. It attempts to recreate in the classroom the secure, relaxed atmosphere of the one-to-one family storybook reading experience. This is particularly significant in a second language learning context because many of the learners do not come from homes where English is used, least of all from homes rich in 'English' print. Reading the Big Book is carried out in a non-threatening manner and ample scope for repetition is allowed since usually one or two weeks is spent on a book. The teaching strategy emphasises reading for meaning and enjoyment rather than accurate decoding. Students learn to read by spending maximum time on reading rather than on isolated sub-skills such as phonics or word identification.
Features of Big Books Patterned and predictable language is a key feature of most d Big Books (Strickland, 1990; Slaughter, 1983). The predictability of the language and the plot makes them easy for children to understand. The events repeat themselves and so does the pattern of language. With the aid of the e illustrations and repeated readings, children, aware of the meaning of the whole story, will anticipate certain words and eventually read along with the teacher. As mentioned earlier, the distinguishing feature of the Big Book is of course its size. It is usually about 18 to 20 inches tall and the print is at least an inch high. The size and clarity of the print and illustrations help to ensure that all the children in the class are able to focus on the book from a distance of at least 15 feet.
Using the Big Book in the Classroom The Big Book is a rich source of many activities which promote reading and meet curriculum objectives (Strickland, 1988; Strickland and Morrow, 1990; Cassady, 1988). Depending on the developmental level of the students and the teaching objectives, different strategies can be used. (1) Activating Prior Knowledge Before the actual reading the teacher can ask the children what they think the story is going to be about by engaging in a discussion of the title and the illustration on the cover page. By using clues from the text and their background knowledge, children are encouraged to make inferences and formulate predictions, a strategy that all proficient readers indulge in. (2) Modelling the Thinking Process Strickland (1990) suggests that the teacher occasionally use the first reading to demonstrate how readers think when they read a text. As the teacher reads the story enthusiastically, she thinks aloud about her own understanding. She models self-queries such as, "I wonder if this story is going to be about...", "This is a little confusing but I will keep on reading to find out more", "This is a new word. Could it mean...?" or "If I were..., I wouldn't do it because ...". The students, as they observe the teacher, soon realise that reading involves bringing together what they already know with what they actually see in print, in order to construct their own meaning. This is particularly significant for the less proficient readers, many of whom think that reading is limited to accurate decoding. (3) Tracking Print As the teacher reads aloud, she follows the text with her hand or a pointer. This ensures that the children can see exactly what the teacher is reading and they learn to associate sound with the printed symbol. In this manner, left-to-right progression and top-to-bottom concepts of print are being demonstrated within a meaningful context (Dixon, 1984). In the same vein, the teacher can introduce terms of book language such as 'word', 'sentence', 'page', 'author' and 'title' in naturally occurring contexts, e.g. "I like this word because it reminds me of...". (4) Encouraging Skills of Prediction As the teacher reads aloud, she can pause at suitable junctures to allow students to predict the words or phrases that should follow. The children will carry out the task easily and with pleasure because they have heard the words being repeatedly read and also because of the rhyming structures. Similarly at strategic points teachers can stop and ask children to predict what will happen next in the story. Besides the sense of fun and active involvement that is encouraged, children are also being trained to use the story line to anticipate and predict. (5) Language Activities Besides echo reading, choral reading or assisted reading, a host of language-based activities are feasible with the Big Book. It is true that as a result of repeated readings, students will be able to recognise words in context. However, this is not enough; "true readers must recognise these words in isolation and in other contexts..." (Trachtenburg and Ferruggia, 1989: 286). The development of sight vocabulary can be easily facilitated by the Big Book. Using a 'magic window' (a large paper rectangle with a smaller rectangle in the centre), the teacher can isolate target words and ask the children to identify the words. If a child cannot 'read' the word, the teacher merely removes the window so that the child can use the context to recognise the word (Trachtenburg and Ferruggia, 1989). Since children retain words which are meaningful to them (Ashton-Warner, 1963), word banks can be established. Children are asked to choose one word each day from the Big Book they would like to learn. These words can then be used for many purposes. One method is to mix them together and ask the children to locate their 'own' words and read them to a classmate. When an adequate number of sight words have been mastered, children can be taught to create new sentences. First the words are separated to fit categories such as adjectives, nouns, verbs and adverbs. The categorised words are then printed on paper strips, which fit into slits in a 'sentence slotter' (Trachtenburg and Ferruggia, 1989). When the children move the strips up and down, different sentences are constructed. By discussing whether their 'new' sentences make sense, children get a better grasp of how language works. (8) Other Activities Each child can be provided with a different photocopied illustration from the Big Book and asked to colour or write/tell what is happening in his picture. The class can together arrange the pictures in the order in which they occurred in the story. This activity enhances the sequencing and critical thinking skills of the students, not to mention the benefits of collaborative learning. Key ideas or children's favourite parts of the text can be discussed and linked to their own experiences; dramatisations could be a natural follow-up. Finally, to encourage independent reading, the Big Book or normal-sized copies of the same story or taped versions should be made available for the individual student's use.
Making Big Books A natural extension of using the Big Books is to get the children to make them. Although Big Books are commercially available together with normal-sized copies, they are usually expensive. The benefits of making your own Big Book are numerable. Besides the collaborative effort among students and teacher needed to produce a Big Book, the pride in the final product is considerable. There is even the possibility that children might put in more effort when the book they read is self-produced (Slaughter, 1983). The sources of the book could be children's favourite story books or poems as well as stories that contain repetitive phrases and strong rhyme patterns, or simple story lines with predictable plots and easy to sound out words. Based on the Language Experience Approach (LEA), children can also relate original stories which the teacher can record on their behalf. Usually the teacher prints the text on large sheets of thick paper/cardboard so that everyone can see it clearly. Then photocopies can be made so that each child gets one page to draw and colour. As the child draws, the teacher could ask him to explain the relationship between the words on the page and the child's illustration. This, together with the class discussion of how to order the different pages of the book are excellent opportunities for enhancing critical thinking and sequencing skills. (See Cassady, 1988, on other ideas for making Big Books.)
Advantages of Using the Big Book Approach There are clear advantages to using the Big Book. However upon reflection, one realises that all the advantages discussed so far are not the prerogative of the Big Book alone - any normal-sized story book could achieve the same benefits, provided it is used appropriately. What then are the distinct advantages that the Big Book has over the traditional story book?
The Big Book in the ESL Classroom The increasing use of the Big Book as an approach for reading instruction in the second language classroom is no doubt a reflection of its popularity in the first language (L1) situation. Though most of what has been discussed of the Big Book approach are applicable to the second language (L2) situation, some of the circumstances are, of course, different. The most obvious difference is the limited verbal ability of the majority of L2 learners in English. This does not necessarily mean that L2 learners will have to first acquire proficiency in the oral language before reading and writing can be introduced. Even with L1 learners, such an outdated notion has been replaced with the view that "the language processes - listening, speaking, reading and writing - develop in an interdependent manner" (Strickland, 1990:20). In fact research findings reviewed by Hudelson (1984:224) conclude that "ESL learners are able to read English before they have complete oral control of the language" and that "even children who speak no or very little English are reading some of the print in their environment and are using that reading to increase their English" (p. 222). Since each of the language processes support and inform each other, the idea is to immerse the child in a literacy-rich environment so that learning can occur naturally. There is no better way to motivate a child to want to learn another language than through an approach that makes reading functional and therefore irresistible - all children love a good story. As Dixon (1984) puts it, the best method for children to learn about the conventions of the written language is through appreciation of the stories, songs, nursery rhymes and poems which are made visible and shared by experienced readers. As mentioned earlier, the majority of L2 learners of English come from homes which are not rich in 'English' print and thus these children have seldom experienced the benefits of shared reading. Using the Big Book approach in the ESL classroom is an excellent way of making up for this 'lost' experience. Another attractive feature of the Big Book is that it lends itself more readily to being self-produced by children. This is a bonus in the ESL classroom because it overcomes the problems of availability of suitable material as well as the cost factor. In addition, stories which are written in English can be adapted to suit local conditions - 'The Three Little Pigs" can become "The Three Little Goats" in an Islamic environment or the Little Red Hen can make "roti canai" (a kind of bread cooked on the griddle) out of the wheat flour instead of bread! Another source can be the children's favourite stories in their first language. These stories which can be easily translated into simple English by the teacher give the children a sense of familiarity with the otherwise 'foreign' material. Finally, some adaptations in the actual use of' the Big Book are necessary in the ESL classroom. In the early stages, children who are not very fluent in English should not be prevented from using their first language for asking questions, making predictions or engaging in general discussions. By the same token, accuracy need not be overemphasised at this stage. Eventually the exposure afforded by the Big Book approach enables the L2 learners to acquire enough fluency to use the English language confidently.
Conclusion Cassady (1988) compares the experiences of hearing and seeing a Big Book being read aloud to sitting 'downfront' at the movie theatre - the child tends to become so involved in the action that he may forget that it is a formal teaching situation. The Big Book approach attempts not only to teach various reading strategies and concepts about print but also to impart them in a manner that is meaningful and interesting to the young learner. Research has shown the approach to work effectively in the L1 classroom; there is no reason why it cannot work as well in the L2 context.
References Allington, R.L. (1983) The Reading Instruction Provided Readers of Differing Abilities. Elementary School Journal, 83, 548-559. |
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