Abstract
Recent data indicate that many adolescent English language learners (ELLs) comprehend English texts at only a limited literal level. The purpose of this research synthesis was to systematically identify and describe the research related to the English reading comprehension of middle grades ELLs while also making practical connections to instruction. Parameters were established to determine whether the collected research studies met the purpose of the synthesis and the standards for quality research, using the guiding principles for scientific research set forth in the National Research Council’s Scientific Research in Education. Three themes emerged across the 11 identified studies: (a) the essential role of vocabulary knowledge in ELLs’ English reading comprehension, (b) the role of first language and transfer in ELLs’ reading comprehension, and (c) the role of effective instruction in enhancing ELLs’ English reading comprehension. In this paper, we discuss the findings and their implications for classroom instruction and note substantive and methodological concerns that should be addressed in future research.
Highlights
Recent data indicate that many adolescent English language learners (ELLs) comprehend English texts at only a limited literal level
We had originally planned to synthesize results by tallying study findings according to the a priori categories that we had used to locate articles, namely vocabulary knowledge, vocabulary instruction, reading strategy use, and reading strategy instruction.we found that this coding system oversimplified the complexities of reading comprehension of ELLs and did not reflect some of the most compelling findings in the study, which suggested that vocabulary and reading strategies are intricately connected for ELLs
While the first two themes focus on the resources students bring to English reading comprehension, the third theme focuses on what educators can do to support ELLs’ English reading comprehension efforts
Summary
Recent data indicate that many adolescent English language learners (ELLs) comprehend English texts at only a limited literal level. The purpose of this research synthesis was to systematically identify and describe the research related to the English reading comprehension of middle grades ELLs while making practical connections to instruction. Three themes emerged across the 11 identified studies: (a) the essential role of vocabulary knowledge in ELLs’ English reading comprehension, (b) the role of first language and transfer in ELLs’ reading comprehension, and (c) the role of effective instruction in enhancing ELLs’ English reading comprehension. The federally-funded Striving Readers program, for example, reflected a growing awareness of the need to support the reading development of secondary students yet was short-lived and failed to offer meaningful support specific to middle grades students who were learning English as a new language
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