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Reading Comprehension Skill Development and Instruction for Adolescent English Language Learners: A Focus on Academic Vocabulary Instruction

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Improving Reading Comprehension of Middle and High School Students

Part of the book series: Literacy Studies ((LITS,volume 10))

Abstract

This chapter describes the reading comprehension development of adolescent ELLs, and the nature of their difficulties in this domain. We first describe the ELL population in U.S. secondary schools today—the diversity within the group and its academic achievement. We then discuss the elements and nature of the reading process itself to provide readers the foundational knowledge to understand the challenges faced by adolescent ELLs. We also highlight a series of research-based instructional practices that support the literacy development of adolescent ELLs. In particular, we focus on the importance of academic vocabulary instruction, as a key element of academic language instruction, for promoting these students’ advanced literacy skills. We conclude this chapter by delineating a literacy research agenda that will address and answer many of the pressing questions posed by today’s educators and policymakers.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    We adopt ‘English Language Learner,’ rather than the term, ‘emergent bilingual’ (García, Kleifgen, & Falchi, 2008), throughout this manuscript given that this is the term used most widely in U.S. school districts and federal policy (Menken, Kleyn, & Chae, 2012).

  2. 2.

    LTELL is an administrative term used by many districts nationwide.

  3. 3.

    LTELLs comprised nearly 59 % of students in 40 school districts in California according to Olsen (2010), one-third of ELLs in secondary school in New York City, and 23 % of the ELL population ins Chicago’s secondary schools (Menken et al., 2012).

  4. 4.

    Peterson, I., & Henderson, N. (2000). Math Trek: Adventures in the Math Zone. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

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  1. Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Emily Phillips Galloway & Nonie Lesaux

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  1. Emily Phillips Galloway
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  1. College of Education, University of Houston, Houston, Texas, USA

    Kristi L. Santi

  2. Florida Center for Reading Research, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA

    Deborah K. Reed

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Galloway, E.P., Lesaux, N. (2015). Reading Comprehension Skill Development and Instruction for Adolescent English Language Learners: A Focus on Academic Vocabulary Instruction. In: Santi, K., Reed, D. (eds) Improving Reading Comprehension of Middle and High School Students. Literacy Studies, vol 10. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-14735-2_7

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