Running Records with English Language Learners

All students learn to read in different ways; some students are able to gain the necessary reading skills more quickly than others. When learning to read, English language learners have many of the same difficulties than non-language learners, however, they face an even great difficulty because they are simultaneously translating letter sounds and word meaning based on their background knowledge of their native language. When completing a running record for a student who speaks Hebrew and is learning English (they speak English in the home because they are from the Philippines, but do not learn to read English with intensity because they are in an Israeli school). The student I gave a running record to showed a continued pattern within the miscue analysis. The student was able to read most sight words presented in the text. The student also knew all of the color words read (as there were three color words: red, yellow, blue). The student consistently tried to use the sounds of the words he knew. However, it is evident that the vowel team /ou/ (found) has not been taught yet to the student, as he tried multiple ways to read the word throughout the multiple times the word was presented, which showed an error in his meaning cues because the text was very repetitive. He was not trying to connect meaning to the word, but only to decode them. Teachers of ELLs must, "Teach phonics in context... using literature and content material" (Portland Public Schools, N.D.).  Two sight words in particular that were a struggle each time they came up in the text were loves and another.  One highlight of this running record was the consistency of self corrections. As mentioned before, the student always tried to use learned sounds to figure out words. The child would often cycle through 2-3 sounds until he found the word that made a connection as being correct. This shows stamina on the part of the reader. The next student who was a native Spanish speaker was able to read more fluently than the Hebrew speaker (possibly because he sees Latin letters more often?) This reader had trouble with only two multi-syllabic words. One being a compound word, and the other a combination of roots. This student also read with expression. I think the first reader showed signs of a common reading error in the reading of English vowel pairs. The different sounds of vowels and vowel pairs are very difficult to remember because of the amount of diversity within the sounds and mouth formation.

Reference

Portland Public Schools and Colorín Colorado. (N.D.). Supporting ELLs in the mainstream          classroom: Reading instruction. Accessed through          http://www.readingrockets.org/article/supporting-ells-mainstream-classroom-reading-      instruction