Session II: Dr. Peg Griffin 
"Limited English Proficient Children" 

Dr. Griffin opened her presentation with a brief comment about the technical report, Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children, and how the National Research Council committee with which she worked attempted to stay away from the reading wars. The goal was to provide better opportunities for children to read. She related a story about how her mother, 
which is found on page 29 of the Starting Out Right book. Peg's was struggling with the word comfortable but her mother took the time to give Peg great approach to pronouncing the word. Remember her mother said the word comfortable has two parts comfort and table. Peg practiced the parts and hooked them together quickly. It was still not the correct pronunciation but a Peg related it was a wonderful reminder of her mother helping her. She remembers that her mother taught her that you can talk about a word separate from what it means.

Her grandmother used the text to remind herself of what a recipe was despite the fact she could not read. Historically many individuals have not been able to actually read but have used texts such as the Bible to remind themselves of various passages.

Dr. Griffin defined actual reading as word meaning, word identification and fluency. These are not three legs relying on one another but rather a pillar that requires all three to form the foundation. The foundation is built upon from Kindergarten forward.

Identifying Special Language and Literacy Needs Early

In order to prevent reading difficulties, is it important to become aware of certain early signs of difficulty. There should be an awareness of delays in expressive language, receptive vocabulary, and IQ. at infancy. In Kindergarten such delays in combination may include letter identification, memory for stories, and overall language development. 

Print awareness is a part of the reading process. This involves an understanding of how print is arranged on the pages. Children who have print awareness understand that a page of letters with no white space cannot be read. Children with visual problems tend to have print awareness problems. Initially children see written language more as pictures than works. There 
can be a difference between what is really going on and what the written language means. The child's pictures may be at odds with the reading materials on hand. This difference can be especially true in situations where both a dialect and parental reading difficulty are involved. It appears important to begin the language enrichment at a very early age. Studies show that 
children born deaf have more success if sign language is started at an early age in the family.

The research carried out for Preventing Reading Difficulties was based on a variety of research models including but not limited to: case studies, correlational studies, experimental studies, narrative analysis, quasi-experimental studies, interviews, and ethnographical studies. 
The results from the different sources were weighted. The predictors identified in the research were found to be related to individual risk and pointed toward difficulties in verbal meaning for stories and sentences. In order to improve this area, more stories need to be heard by the children and more conversation must be held around each story.

Dr. Griffin reviewed the importance of word skills. The skills reviewed were in the area of receptive and expressive language skills. Confrontational naming and serial naming were techniques used to improve these skills. Expressive language in children is said to be generally predictive.

Comprehension presents a special problem for limited English children especially when a child faces such words as dog and dig. The children have difficulty identifying the correct word because they know it is not right but they do not what know what has gone wrong. They know the word when they see it, but again do not know what has gone wrong in the process.

Recommendations from PRD

Dr. Griffin reviewed several recommendations resulting from the research she conducted for the National Research Council, which have particular significance for limited English proficient children. 

Identifying Special Language & Literacy Needs Early (PRD 318-319)

Children at risk of developing reading difficulties should be identified as early as possible and provided with language support and literacy development. Parents, preschool professionals, pediatricians, social workers, speech and language therapists and other practitioners need to be alert for signs that children are having difficulties acquiring early language and literacy skills.

Early Childhood Activities (PRD 319-321)

All children should have access to early childhood environments that address reading risk factors in an integrated, rather than isolated, fashion, in programs designed to provide a rich language and literacy environment that methodically includes the promotion of vocabulary, the understanding of print concepts and phonological awareness.

Limited Proficiency in English (PRD 324-325)

To the extent possible, non-English speaking children should have opportunities to develop literacy skills in their home language as well as in English. If language-minority children arrive at school with no proficiency in English but speaking a language for which there are instructional guides, learning materials, and locally available proficient teachers, they should 
be taught how to read in their native language. This can happen while acquiring oral proficiency in English and while they are subsequently taught to extend their skill to reading in English.

If children arrive at school with no proficiency in English but speak a language which has no instructional guides, learning materials, and locally available proficient teachers, and if there 
are too few children to justify getting these resources, then the first priority should be the development of the children's oral proficiency in English. It is appropriate to postpone formal 
reading instruction until an adequate level of oral proficiency in English has been achieved.

Research About Children w/ Limited Proficiency in English (PRD- 339-340)

Although far from conclusive, there is evidence that initial reading instruction in a child's home language (e.g. Spanish) makes a positive contribution to literacy attainment (both in the home language and in English). The question of how best to promote literacy learning in either or both languages is just as important but overshadowed by the politically more volatile issues of which language should be used and for how long. Researchers and educators possess scant empirical guidance on how best to design literacy instruction for such children in either their primary language or English, much less both.

Teachers of Children with Limited Proficiency in English (PRD Ch.9 and 10)

These teachers need to know what other teachers know, but they also need continuing access to new research, effective practices, and modes of working with quality materials that address the particular challenges they and their students face, It is particularly crucial that these teachers have continuing access to professional development.