Kids in Literature

In the classroom
Following from these research findings are several general teaching strategies:
• Teach bottom-up reading skills, such as rapidly processing common words and phrases, and call attention to rhetorical markers such as ‘however’ and ‘therefore’.
• Refresh background knowledge before reading a passage.
• Use natural language texts and select material that corresponds to the various types of readings that students will encounter.
• Teach appropriate reading strategies that correspond to the texts and real-life tasks: reading for general meaning, recalling specific information, understanding inferences and implications, skimming, scanning, etc.
• Provide numerous opportunities for reading, both inside and outside of classes.

References: Aebersold & Field, 1997; Anderson, 1999; Day & Bamford, 1998.

Teaching Japanese-English Bilingual Children to Read English at Home
Craig Smith
Kyoto University of Foreign Studies (Japan)
Introduction
This paper may be of interest to the members of several sectors of the university community in Japan, those who are interested in the teaching of reading, teachers whose families regularly use Japanese and another language at home, and all those interested in bilingualism.
This paper is a general introduction to the topic of teaching bilingual children, who attend Japanese public schools, to read in English at home. The discussion of the development of biliteracy in this situation has barely begun. This article does not present an objective review of the literature in this field, there is not much, nor does it describe new research, researching what children do at home is no easy matter. It is a position paper which expresses the writer's beliefs which are based on years of reading about teaching children to read and years of doing it. It will likely be a thought provoking read and perhaps parents will find some of the ideas useful and encouraging.
Japanese First, English Second
There are several... [continues]

Read full essay