This case study attempts to assess a bilingual child’s fluency in phonemic awareness and her skills in reading and writing. The child that was observed for this purpose currently attends the first grade of an elementary school in Long Beach. In terms of keeping the child’s anonymity the pseudonym “Maria” will be used throughout this paper instead of her actual name.
As part of this case study, I observed Maria first in her school classroom. During her reading lesson, Maria seemed to be shy and did not participate in the tasks her teacher assigned the class. For example, while her classmates were singing the alphabet-song altogether with the teacher, Maria did not seem to be interested and was talking to her classmates instead of being engaged in the class activities.
After observing her reading lessons, I met Maria individually to ask her some questions about her language background before starting with the actual assessment: Maria has a multilingual background as she can speak Spanish and English fluently. Also, she can read in both languages. At home, she mostly speaks Spanish with her mother and English with her sisters. Her mother is also the only person who reads stories to her. When she plays on the playground with her friends, she speaks both English and Spanish with them. Maria claimed that reading is easy for her; however, she thinks that it is harder than arithmetic. Maria’s favorite book which she got from the library is called “George” and additionally she has about ten books at home that she likes to read.
Table of Contents
I. Introduction
II. Description and Analyses
1. The Alphabet Knowledge Task
2. The Phoneme Segmentation Task
3. Nonsense Word Task
4. Reading Fluency and Comprehension Task
5. Elementary Spelling Inventory
III. Reflection and Recommendation
Objectives and Research Themes
This case study aims to evaluate the reading and writing proficiency of a bilingual first-grade student, specifically focusing on her fluency in phonemic awareness and the subsequent impact on her reading comprehension skills.
- Assessment of phonemic awareness through standardized and practical literacy tasks.
- Analysis of the relationship between word recognition, reading fluency, and comprehension.
- Identification of challenges in bilingual literacy development within an elementary school setting.
- Evaluation of pedagogical strategies, such as repetitive practice and individual tutoring, to improve reading performance.
Excerpt from the Book
3. Nonsense Word Task
In the third task, the student was given a list of 15 nonsense words she had to read out as if they were real words. This task proved to be very difficult for Maria, as she could read only 2 of the words correctly. She did not pay attention to the phonemes of the given words at all. Most of her errors were due to omitting several sounds of the word. So instead of /dein/ she read /dn/; or instead of /mɪŋ/ she just said /mg/. Moreover, she also inserted additional sounds to the words and read the nonsense word gat for instance as /gæpt/. It is also evident that the student was trying to find some meaning in the words although she was told that they were nonsense: this is probably why she pronounced /sɪb/ as /’send’ɪt’aʊt/ or /plut/ as /pʊt/.
Summary of Chapters
I. Introduction: This chapter introduces the case study subject, Maria, and provides context regarding her bilingual language background and initial observations in the classroom.
II. Description and Analyses: This section details the methodology and results of various literacy assessments, including alphabet knowledge, phoneme segmentation, nonsense word reading, reading fluency, and spelling.
III. Reflection and Recommendation: This chapter synthesizes the assessment findings, relates them to existing literacy research, and suggests targeted tutoring strategies to support the student's progress.
Keywords
Bilingualism, Phonemic Awareness, Reading Fluency, Literacy Assessment, Case Study, Primary Education, Word Recognition, Spelling Inventory, Comprehension, Language Acquisition, Pedagogy, Reading Recovery, Nonsense Words, Alphabet Knowledge, Phonology
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this research paper?
The paper focuses on assessing the phonemic awareness, reading fluency, and writing skills of a bilingual first-grade student named Maria.
What are the central themes discussed in the study?
The study explores bilingual literacy development, the link between phonemic awareness and comprehension, and the effectiveness of reading interventions.
What is the main research goal?
The goal is to determine the student's current proficiency level in reading and writing and to identify the specific obstacles hindering her academic progress.
Which scientific methods were employed during the assessment?
The author utilized individual testing sessions, including alphabet knowledge tasks, phoneme segmentation, nonsense word reading, oral reading fluency scales, and spelling inventories.
What topics are covered in the main body of the work?
The main body systematically analyzes the student's performance across five distinct literacy tasks and provides a critical reflection on these results based on established educational theories.
Which keywords best characterize this work?
Key terms include bilingualism, phonemic awareness, reading fluency, literacy assessment, and pedagogical intervention.
How did Maria's bilingual background influence the assessment results?
While she is fluent in both Spanish and English, her performance suggests that difficulties in decoding and phoneme manipulation are impacting her overall English reading comprehension.
Why did the author suggest specific reading recovery programs for Maria?
The author suggests these programs because research indicates that structured, one-on-one instruction and strategies like retelling are effective in improving fluency and comprehension for students struggling at the first-grade level.
- Arbeit zitieren
- Sitem Kolburan (Autor:in), 2014, The Bilingual Phonemic Awareness: A Case Study, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/335588
