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List of contents
Contents
Preface1. The Expert Decision-Maker2. Writing Systems3. Low-level Transfer of Reading Strategies4. Listening Skills in Reading5. Processing Letters6. The English Spelling System7. Approaches to Phonics8. English Morphophonemic Spelling9. Spelling Development10. Vocabulary Acquisition11. Getting to the Bottom of English L2 FluencyAppendix A: English graphemesAppendix B: English Phonemes and their Principal SpellingsReferencesIndex
About the author
Barbara M. Birch is Professor in the Department of Linguistics at California State University - Fresno, USA.
Summary
English L2 Reading, Third Edition offers teachers research-based insights into bottom-up skills in reading English as a second language and a solid foundation on which to build reading instruction. Core linguistic and psycholinguistic concepts are presented within the context of their application to teaching. The goal is to balance or supplement (not replace) top-down approaches and methodologies with effective low-level options for teaching English reading.
The text’s pedagogical features— Questions, Study Guide Questions. Discussion Questions, Spotlight on Teaching sections— engage readers of the text in moving easily from linguistic details and psycholinguistic data and theory to practical explanations and suggestions for teaching. Two Appendices provide tables that list the graphemes or the phonemes of English.
Changes in the Third Edition
Shift in focus from criticism of whole language methodologies to a more neutral stance —times have changed and the study of lower-level reading strategies is now mainstream
Greater focus on linguistic form, along with function and meaning
Updated information about reading strategies at each level of the reading process
More Spotlight on Teaching sections, one for each chapter
New chapter on spelling development
Additional text
"English L2 Reading refocuses attention on the often forgotten, bottom-up skills in reading English as a second language. It strikes a good balance between theory and practice."
Paul Abraham, Simmons College, USA
"…provides an effective review of key linguistic points and ties them to reading and writing. This text offers a perfect balance between theory and practice, consistently providing concrete illustrations of research on second language literacy."
Sarah Dietrich, Salem State University, USA
"This is a book that really gets to ‘the bottom’. It unpacks what is meant by the term and demonstrates explicitly why bottom up knowledge is important and what its components are. It’s a book I’d been seeking for a long while. English L2 Reading provides us with specific information on how to teach L2 learners through showing us how language awareness is critical for teaching L2 English reading."
Vanessa Wenzell, California State University Dominguez Hills, USA
