Bot t om-Up St r at egi es Readi ng Li t er acy

June 2005 david.anderson@hct.ac.ae

Part One A Background t o Reading I nst ruct ion
What i s r eadi ng?
What i s t he best way t o t each r eadi ng?
I n t he world of TESOL, t hese t wo simple quest ions no longer seem t o rouse any heat ed
debat es. The batt les over t he best ways t o t each reading have largely been won, and
academic lit erat ure, coursebooks and int ernat ional reading assessment s seem t o present a
unified and coherent approach. At least where reading is concerned, it seems t hat t eachers
can walk int o t he classroom confident ly knowing that t heir arsenal of reading act ivit ies have
t he consensual approval of t he indust ry. Before quest ioning t his prevailing approach t o
reading inst ruct ion in TESOL, it is wort h examining some of it s assert ions.
How many of t he following st at ement s sound familiar? Tick t he ones you agree wit h.
St udent s should be encouraged t o work out t he meaning of unknown words from t he
cont ext .
St udent s don't need t o read or underst and every word in a t ext .
St udent should mainly be engaged in reading t ext s rat her t han reading isolat ed
sent ences or individual words.
Where possible, reading t ext s should be aut hent ic and not specially writ t en.
The t hree main subskills of reading are skimming (for gist ), scanning and det ailed
reading. These should be pract ised in class and also form t he basis of assessment s.
St udent s should be encouraged t o read quickly. I f t hey do not , it will be more difficult t o
achieve a global underst anding of t he t ext .
Reading aloud is unproduct ive and unnat ural. I t unnecessarily slows readers down and
encourages t hem t o subvocalize in silent reading.
Reading should be cont ext ualized. Teachers should build up st udent s expect at ions
before reading a new t ext t o encourage t hem t o make conscious and unconscious
predict ions about t he t ext . Reading t he t ext can t hen confirm or refut e t hese
expect at ions.
Ext ensive silent reading will develop reading abilit y and widen reading vocabulary.
Reading is best assessed by checking underst anding of t he t ext , for example by using
comprehension quest ions or cloze t est s.
Most reading t eachers will sympat hise wit h many, if not all, of t hese assert ions. They form
t he basis of reading lessons in ESOL classrooms around t he world, what might be referred t o
as "t op-down reading" where inst ruct ion aims t o develop t he reading skills t hat are necessary
for world out side t he classroom using aut hent ic reading t asks.
Many of t hese ideas st em from psycholinguist ic research int o expert L1 readers. Researchers
moved away from seeing reading as a simple skill of decoding writ t en marks on a page t o a
view of reading as a complex process of informat ion processing (Crandall 1995). Meaning
was no longer somet hing t o be ext ract ed from a t ext , but was t he result of each readers
int eract ion wit h t he t ext . I n ot her words, readers drew on t heir own knowledge of t he subj ect
(cont ent schemat a) and a knowledge of how informat ion in t ext s t ends t o be st ruct ured
(formal schemat a) t o const ruct meaning. Reading was t hus const rued as a process of
Bot t om-Up St r at egi es Readi ng Li t er acy
June 2005 david.anderson@hct.ac.ae
sampling t he t ext in order t o confirm or revise t he t op-down predict ions suggest ed by t he
schemat a. Research backed up t his view by showing "t hat good readers j ust pass t heir eyes
quickly across t he t ext , focusing on a few let t ers or words here and t here and forming
predict ions based on background knowledge" (Birch 2002: 60).
The result was t hat reading inst ruct ion began t o emphasize global or t op-down processes
such as predict ing, guessing from cont ext , and inferring. Teachers st art ed t o discourage
st udent s from t rying t o read every word as t his seemed t o go against t he idea of sampling.
Mat erials reflect ed t he view t hat reading was best acquired by immersing t he st udent in global
reading act ivit ies, wit h t ypical t asks mirroring real-world act ivit ies - skimming, scanning,
ext ensive reading, reading for gist , reading for specific informat ion, using aut hent ic t ext s et c.
This seemed part icularly useful in ESOL where t he st udent s could not be expect ed to know
t he meaning of every word t hey met in a t ext . Of course t he bot t om-up st rat egies of let t er
recognit ion and word ident ificat ion were st ill import ant , but crucially it was assumed t hat t hey
would be acquired nat urally if st udent s were given enough exposure t o writ t en t ext and
appropriat e act ivit ies. I n ot her words, st udent s should 'read t o learn'.
Reflect ion: I s Top-Down Reading Successful?
Think about t he Arab st udent s you know.
1. How successful are t hey at reading?
2. How would you charact erize t he difficult ies t hey have?
3. Do element ary and advanced readers have different kinds of problems or is it simply a
quest ion of degree?
3. Do you t hink t he current approach t o reading out lined above addresses t hese difficult ies?
4. How well do your st udent s spell? [ This may seem an odd quest ion for a discussion of
reading, but as Ryan (1997: 184) not es, "when t eachers examine t he spelling problems of
t heir learners, t hey are observing t he visible signs of a reading process which has only been
part ially absorbed". I f st udent s writ e 'plan' inst ead of 'plane', how quickly and accurat ely
would t hey be able t o read t he words 'plan' and 'plane' in a t ext ?]
5. Do you t hink your st udent s should be able t o read aloud words t hey might not necessarily
underst and? Could your st udent s accurat ely read (decode) t he following words?

shor t wor ds: moat , slope, wrist , knight , braid, sleigh
l ong wor ds: circumnavigat ion, dysfunct ional, comprehensibilit y
An alt ernat ive View
For many st udent s, part icularly t hose whose own languages use Lat in script , t his top-down
approach t o reading may well produce successful readers. However for many Arabic
speakers, reading oft en remains an area of weakness, and t o use Goodmans (1967) famous
phrase, lit t le more t han psycholinguist ic guessing game . What can t eachers do t o remedy
t his? I s t here an alt ernat ive t o t he current approach t o reading inst ruct ion?
One common, but far less prominent perspect ive in t he lit erat ure acknowledged t he
usefulness of t op-down processing st rat egies, but adds t he caveat t hat a t op-down approach
can only be effect ive once a learner has achieved a degree of aut omat icit y in t he bot t om-up
skills of let t er recognit ion and word ident ificat ion. I f t his is not in place, readers can remain
perpet ually word-bound.
Bot t om-Up St r at egi es Readi ng Li t er acy
June 2005 david.anderson@hct.ac.ae
More current views of t his l earner problem argue t hat st udent s are word-bound
precisely because t hey are not yet efficient in bot t om- up processing. The problem is
t hat st udent s do not simply recognize t he words rapidly and accurat ely but are
consciously at t ending t o t he graphic form (and in many second language t ext s t here
are oft en far t oo many new forms for st udent s t o at t end t o efficient ly). No amount of
guessing, which many poorer st udent s act ually seem t o be good at , will overcome t his
deficiency and lead t o aut omat ic word recognit ion.
Grabe 1991: 391
This view is radically at odds wit h t he t op-down approach so pervasive in ESOL. Here, it is
acknowledged t hat some readers may need addit ional help wit h bot t om-up processing before
comprehension is possible. Reading inst ruct ion is no longer about get t ing learners t o behave
like expert readers as quickly as possible. I nst ead, learner readers may first need t o go
t hrough a t ransit ional phase where t hey are given t he chance t o develop aut omat icit y in let t er
recognit ion and word ident ificat ion. Only when a basic level of reading fluency has been
achieved is a reader's at t ent ion free for comprehension - t he real purpose of reading.
Reflect ion: Bot t om-up Processing
Think about t he Arab st udent s you know.
1. Do you t hink t hey have good lett er recognit ion and word ident ificat ion skills?
2. Do t hey get let t ers confused, for example when spelling aloud?
3. Do t hey have poor copying skills?
4. Do t hey fail t o att end t o punct uat ion, capit alizat ion, paragraphing convent ions et c.?
For example, a st udent might ask "What does Edinburgh mean?" as t hey fail t o not ice
t he capit al let t er for proper names.
5. Do t hey somet imes misread basic words (for example t hey read 't ake' for 't alk' or
'enj oy' for 'enough')?
6. Do t hey find it difficult t o accurat ely read a simple t ext aloud wit hout undue hesit at ion
and wit h appropriat e int onat ion?
7. Do t hey spell t he same word different ly in t he same piece of writ ing?
8. Do t hey somet imes misread a word t hat you know t hey know? (For example, a
st udent might not be able t o decode t he word 'calculat or' in a t ext , but can name one
when you point t o it .)
Yes answers t o t hese quest ions may well indicat e t hat your st udent s have a deficiency in
bot t om-up processing skills. Not e t hat get t ing t he answer right in comprehension t est s does
not necessarily indicat e t hat st udent s have good bot t om-up skills. Weak readers oft en
develop a whole range of st rat egies for get t ing t he right answer wit hout necessarily engaging
wit h t he t ext appropriat ely. A t ypical example is a st udent who spot s an unusual word in t he
quest ion, locat es it in t he t ext as t hough doing a word search puzzle, and simply copies t he
informat ion around it . I n act ual fact , lit t le comprehension may be involved.
What do we t each our st udent s?
At t his point it is inst ruct ive t o t hink about t he t raining Arab learners might t ypically receive
before t hey arrive at college. They are t aught t he order of t he alphabet , how t o say t he
names of t he let t ers so t hey can writ e down words t hat are spelled t o t hem. They are also
shown how t o writ e lower and upper-case let t ers. From t hen on, t hey are expect ed t o
aut omat ically decode words writ t en using t he rat her chaot ic English spelling syst em where
Bot t om-Up St r at egi es Readi ng Li t er acy
June 2005 david.anderson@hct.ac.ae
t here is no one-t o-one correspondence bet ween let t ers and sounds (unlike Arabic). I s it any
surprise t hat many Arab st udent s st ruggle wit h reading?
I n our anxiet y t o show progress in English L2 reading, we oft en rush st udent s int o
t ext s t hat are t oo difficult , wit hout allowing t hem t he t ime t o acquire aut omat icit y wit h
English graphemes and common spelling pat t erns. We will rush our st udent s if we
overlook or minimize t he complex t ask of swit ching from t heir L1 ort hography t o
English.
Birch 2002: 147
Reading I nst ruct ion and English-Speaking Children
Alt hough reading inst ruct ion in t he world of ESOL is largely root ed in t op-down approaches,
t his is not t he case in primary educat ion where t he concept of phonics has a great deal of
currency. Phonics is oft en erroneously described as an approach, when in fact it is t he body
of knowledge t hat describes how sounds and spelling pat t erns relat ed t o each ot her. Phonics
training aims to allow students to intuitively decode (read) and encode (spell) words, even if
they don't know their meaning.
Unlike t op-down approaches t hat see reading as a unique and separat e skill, phonics links
reading (decoding) t o writ ing (spelling) and speaking (pronunciat ion). Phonics is increasingly
being incorporat ed int o nat ional curriculums (e.g. t he Nat ional Lit eracy St rat egy in UK primary
schools) and long-t erm st udies repeat edly demonst rat e it s effect iveness in improving reading
age. [ See Report of t he Nat ional Reading Panel 2000 (US), or Nat ional St at ement for
I mproving At t ainment in Lit eracy in Schools 2002 (Scot land)] . Phonics is oft en pit t ed against
t he "whole language" or "whole word" approach. The differences are summarized in t he t able
below.
Whole Language Phonics
one step process: print meaning
emphasis on visual decoding
meaning paramount at all times
word guessing using all strategies word
length, shape, context clues, pictures
whole words the smallest focus
extensive reading
authentic and meaningful language
two step process: print soundsmeaning
emphasis on decoding of sounds
accurate decoding is initial focus with
meaning a secondary goal
words are sounded out no context is given
to minimize the risks of guessing
parts of words whole words
intensive reading, especially reading aloud
reading drills
A key element of phonics is Phonemic Awareness which research has consist ent ly shown t o be
one of t he best predict ors of progress for beginning readers. Phonemic Awareness is simply
t he abilit y t o recognise and manipulat e t he phonemes (or individual sounds) t hat make up a
language. Those learners, bot h children and adult s, who are unable t o discriminat e and
manipulat e sounds are invariably poor readers as t hey are less successful at mapping sounds
ont o let t er pat t erns (Kruidenier 2002). Act ivit ies used t o t est or develop phonemic awareness
include blending (where individual sounds are combined t o make words - / l/ + / c/ + / I/ = t ell)
and segment ing (where words are separat ed int o const it uent sounds shape = / j/ + / ci/ + / p/ ).
When st udent s have a mast ery of sounds, t hen it is much easier t o map graphemes ont o
t hose sounds in reading. Research support ing t he import ance of Phonemic Awareness,
part icularly for young learners, is ext ensive:
Bot t om-Up St r at egi es Readi ng Li t er acy
June 2005 david.anderson@hct.ac.ae
The dat a we now have on t he early st ages of reading are rich and varied in det ail, but
put t oget her, t hey lead t o one general and inescapable conclusion, which is t hat
childrens phonological awareness and phonological abilit ies play a crucial part in
learning t o read. There is ample evidence now t hat children have t o be able t o analyze
t he sounds t hat make up words and syllables in order t o begin learning t o read, t hat
t heir awareness of t hese sounds in a cont ribut or y fact or in learning t o read and writ e,
t hat ext ra t eaching in breaking words up int o t heir const it uent sounds and connect ing
t hese sounds t o alphabet ic let t ers and t o sequences of alphabet ic let t ers improves t heir
reading, and t hat children who are slow t o learn t o read are oft en also part icularly
insensit ive t o t he sounds in words.
Nunes, Bryant and Bindman, 1997: 151-152
Rudolph Flesch (who is perhaps best known for developing Flesch-Kincaid readabilit y
st at ist ics) wrot e an impassioned plea for t he end t o t he whole language approach in American
primary schools in his seminal book Why Johnny Can't Read. I t is perhaps wort h quot ing him
at lengt h since many of t he ideas run count er t o t he prevailing wisdom of ESOL.
He says t hat when st udent s are t rained in what he describes as whole-word guessing:
They can't read; t hey can't spell. Not only t hat , t hey can't even learn how t o spell
properly because t hey have been equipped wit h ment al habit s t hat are almost
impossible t o break - except by st art ing all over again from scrat ch and relearning t o
read and writ e English wit h phonics.
Flesch 1955: 42 - Origi nal emphasis
I f Johnny, t he archet ypal poor reader, has been t aught using a whole language approach, t he
phonics t eacher should:
Let him st op all reading - all at t empt s t o read. Explain t o him t hat now he is goi ng t o
learn how t o read, and t hat for t he t ime being, books are out . All he'll get f or several
mont hs are lessons in phonics. .. . This, incident ally is import ant . Take him fully int o
your confidence and explain t o him exact ly what you are t rying t o do. Tell him t hat
you are going t o do somet hing new wit h him - somet hing ent irely different from what
his t eachers did in school. Tell him t hat t his is cert ain t o work. Convince him t hat as
soon as he has t aken t his medicine he will be cured. ... St art him on t he phonics
lessons. ... Only when you are t hrough - or almost t hrough - wit h t he drills and
exercises, st art him again on reading. At first , let him read aloud t o you. Wat ch like a
hawk t hat he doesn't guess a single word. I nt errupt him every t ime he does it and let
him work t he word out phonet ically. He' ll never learn t o read if he doesn't get over t he
word-guessing habit .
Flesch 1955: 115
This phonics-only posit ion clearly lies at one end of a spect rum of different possible mixes of
bot t om-up and t op-down approaches t o reading. Clearly it would be difficult for whole scale
phonics t o be adopt ed at HCT. First of all, HCT st udent s lack a wide ranging vocabulary so
even if t hey successfully sound out a word, t hey may not know t he meaning. Secondly,
st udent s oft en lack t he abilit y t o discriminat e all t he phonemes of English. This makes t he
process of linking phonemes and graphemes much harder and implies more at t ent ion to
pronunciat ion pract ice. Thirdly, st udent s arrive in t he classroom wit h considerable knowledge
of t he Arabic alphabet . Arabic is a language t hat requires st udent s t o have phonemic
awareness, part icularly of consonant sounds. Fourt hly, st udent s may have already been
reading in English for many years and would be unlikely t o respond t o a reading programme
Bot t om-Up St r at egi es Readi ng Li t er acy
June 2005 david.anderson@hct.ac.ae
t hat denied t hem access t o t ext s for several months. Finally, st udent s always have t he
spect re of exams hanging over t hem which demand comprehension of t ext s and not j ust
mast ery of word drills!
This, however, does not mean t hat phonics t raining cannot be adapt ed t o reading inst ruct ion
in TESOL, especially for element ary st udent s to supplement work on t op-down skills.
Part 2 of t his document describes a number of act ivit ies t hat can develop bot t om-up skills and
int roduce phonics t raining int o t he ESOL classroom.
Many s truggling readers have difficulty moving to a level of
automaticity and fluency that allow s them to eas ily
comprehend what they are reading... Res earch in the area
of developing accurate decoding has cons is tently indicated
that a s y s tematic code bas ed approach is important for
teaching beginning reading s k ills .
Hook & Jones 2002
Bot t om-Up St r at egi es Readi ng Li t er acy
June 2005 david.anderson@hct.ac.ae
Part 2 -Act ivit ies for t he Classroom
The act ivit ies described here can be used wit h any adult who has problems wit h basic reading
lit eracy. The act ivit ies offer st udent s t he chance t o work on basic coding using t he alphabet
and should allow aut omat icit y and reading fluency t o develop. I n many of t he act ivit ies,
words are present ed in groups t hat share similar sound/ spelling pat t erns. This offers st udent s
syst emat ic knowledge about t he English - t he words covered are merely examples of t he
ort hographic syst em and not ends in t hemselves. Unlike convent ional reading inst ruct ion
which is oft en seen as a dist inct skill, reading in t hese act ivit ies is oft en relat ed t o
pronunciat ion and spelling.
Act ivit y 1 - Exploit ing Analogy
A powerful t echnique t o encourage st udent s t o see similarit ies bet ween words wit h t he same
sound/ spelling pat t ern is t he use of analogy (Ehri 1997). For example, underst anding t he
common feat ures of night and right can help student s correct ly decode new words such as
might or sight .
I n t his act ivit y, t he t eacher focuses on a single sound t hat t he st udent s have problems coding.
(Errors will be most obvious in st udent writ ing.) The procedure out lined here is for st udent s
who regularly confuse t he sounds / :/ and / / and t he symbols t hat represent t hem, t hough it
can be adapt ed t o any phoneme.
Procedure
1. Quickly model and drill t he select ed sound in isolat ion and t hen in a few example words.
2. Follow up wit h some work on minimal pairs. For example, writ e t he words on t he board in
t wo columns, A and B. Say a word and have t he st udent s t ell you if it is in column A or B. (I t
is not import ant for st udent s t o know t he meanings of t he words.)
A B
cat cut
hat hut
mad mud
dabble double
sadden sudden
mast er must er
This st age can be ext ended wit h a st udent saying a word while t he ot her st udent s say which
column t he word belongs t o. Furt her pract ice in closed pairs or small groups can be useful at
t his point .
3. Ask small groups t o brainst orm words t hat cont ain t his sound for a few minut es. As a
class, feedback about 20 or so words t o t he board. Highlight a few words t o draw st udent s
at t ent ion t o t he different spelling pat t erns t hat are used t o represent t he sound. I n t his
example / :/ is represent ed using t he following pat t erns - u (up), o-e (done), o (won), ou
(t rouble). Except ions are oe (does) and oo (blood).
4. St udent s creat e a t able wit h a column for each spelling pat t ern and copy t he words from
t he board int o t he correct column. (See below.)
Bot t om-Up St r at egi es Readi ng Li t er acy
June 2005 david.anderson@hct.ac.ae
Becaus e mos t adult poor readers have difficulty w ith
letter-s ound s k ills , they tend to us e a w hole word
recognition approach much more than do children w ho are
reading at the s ame level. Whole w ord recognition only
work s if the w ords mas tered are s ight words . The res ult
of continued reliance on w hole word "recognition" ins tead
of phonetic s k ills when decoding unf amiliar words is
gues s ing and mis reading.
Kruidenier 2002 39-40
u o o-e ou
Sunday
husband
uncle
but
us
lunch
hungry
fun
much
mont h
mot her
brot her
son
ot her
come
one
some
love
young
cousin
5. St udent s should pract ise reading t he words aloud, eit her t o t he class or in small groups t o
reinforce t he sound/ spelling relat ionships bet ween words (i.e. t he analogy).
6. Finally, t he t able of words t hat t he st udent s now have can be used as t he basis of a
spelling t est . Convent ional spelling t est s are based on words linked by meaning which can
creat e confusion as a wide array of spelling pat t erns are j uxt aposed. Here, words are
grouped by sound and spelling patt ern making it much easier for t he st udent t o learn
syst emat ic knowledge.
Bot t om-Up St r at egi es Readi ng Li t er acy
June 2005 david.anderson@hct.ac.ae
Act ivit y 2 - coding simple vowels
Act ivit ies 2 t o 4 use let t ers writ t en on pieces of card. I f you plan t o use a number of t hese
exercises, it is wort hwhile having a full alphabet for each st udent . (St udent s can be asked t o
cut up t he cards for homework! ) Each of t he act ivit ies requires st udent s t o focus on a small
number of cards. Before t he main act ivit y begins, st udent s can be asked t o put all t he let t ers
in alphabet ical order. The t eacher can t hen name t he let t ers t hat are required for t he
part icular act ivit y. I t is wort h repeat ing t hat it is not essent ial for t he st udent s know t he
meanings of t he words. The act ivit ies are simply t o get st udent s t o focus on how t he spoken
form and t he writt en form are relat ed. Using a limit ed number of let t ers forces st udent s t o
explore t he full range of values t hat each let t er can have. I t is act ually very easy t o come up
wit h raw word list s based on a longer word using a sit e such as
ht t p: / / www.a2zwordfinder.com/ anagram.ht ml.
Procedure
The simple vowels can cause immense confusion for Arab learners, even t hose at quit e high
levels. This is oft en a problem of pronunciat ion and a general uncert aint y about how t hose
sounds are represent ed in t he writ t en form. Ask t he st udent s t o separat e t he following 12
let t er cards from t he full set .
a b c e h i n o r s t u
Say t he following t hree let t er words t o t he st udent s. The st udent s list en and make t he word
using t he cards. To make t he next word in t he list , t he st udent s have t o change one of t he
let t ers t o form a new word. Not e t hat 'sit ' is bot h t he first and last word so t he act ivit y can be
seamlessly repeat ed if necessary.

sit bit bet set sat cat cut rut rat ran can con cot not hot hit sit
The act ivit y can be made slight ly more complicat ed by repeat ing words. For example, t he
t eacher repeat s t he word 'cat ' and sees if any of t he st udent s t ry t o make any changes t o t he
word t hey have.
The act ivit y can be ext ended furt her by randomly choosing a word from t he list .
Study after s tudy has s how n the importance
of phonological aw arenes s , es pecially in
s egmentation s k ills , in early reading for native
Englis h readers . Phonological aw arenes s is
acquired through aural and oral activities , but
total mas tery of the s ounds of Englis h is not
neces s ary before beginning to read. Often,
learning the letter s hapes and s ounds
together can boots trap phonological
aw arenes s . Students need to learn the
alphabetic principle any w ay , s o teachers
s hould teach it explicitly .
Birch 2002:147
Bot t om-Up St r at egi es Readi ng Li t er acy
June 2005 david.anderson@hct.ac.ae
Act ivit y 3 - Coding short and long vowels
This act ivit y uses t he same 12 let t er cards from Act ivit y 2 t o int roduce and pract ice what are
oft en called "long" vowels using a final 'e'.
Procedure
Explain how adding an 'e' t o a t hree let t er word oft en (but by no means always) changes t he
sound of t he first vowel.
Short Vowel Long Vowel
hat hat e
pet Pet e
pin pine
hop hope
cut cut e
A useful way for st udent s t o remember t he 'long' vowel sounds is simply t o show t hat it is t he
same as t he name of t he let t er. This t ime st udent s t hen must change one or t wo let t ers each
t ime (or none if repet it ions are used). A possible sequence of words is:
sit sit e bit e bit bet set sat e sat cat cut cut e rut rat e
rat ran can cane con cot not not e hot hit sit e sit
To make t he act ivit y more challenging, st udent s can be given t hese words in random order.
[ Not e: There are except ions t o t he 'e' rule described above. These words are oft en found in
very common words (oft en ending '-ve' or wit h 'o' as t he first vowel): live, give, have, love,
come, done, above et c.]
Sounding out and blending practicing -
there is no other w ay . It's lik e practicing
s cales on the piano or practicing driving
until y ou're good enough for the road tes t.
Fles ch 1981:75
Bot t om-Up St r at egi es Readi ng Li t er acy
June 2005 david.anderson@hct.ac.ae
Act ivit y 4 - Coding more complex sounds
A number of different variat ions are possible using j ust 8-10 let t er cards and a list of words.
1) The t eacher spells a word let t er by let t er. The student s make t he word and say how it is
pronounced.
2) The t eacher says t he lett ers in t he incorrect order and asks t he st udent s make t he word.
(Clearly wit h anagrams, st udent s are expect ed t o know t he meaning of t he word.)
3) The t eacher gives t he st udent s t he sounds of t he words inst ead of t he let ter names. For
example, t he t eacher says / m/ / ci/ / s/ and t he st udent s make t he word "mace" using t he
cards.
4) The t eacher can make this int o a sound anagram act ivit y by saying t he sounds in t he
wrong order. For example, t he t eacher says / lj/ / s/ / n/ / / and t he st udent s have t o
make 'chance'.
5) The t eacher says a word. The st udent s spell it using t he cards.
6) St udent s are given list s of previously covered words in pairs. One st udent dict at es it t o
t he ot her who t hen spells it out wit h t he let t ers.
7) St udent s t ry t o make as many words as possible using a set of let t ers. The t eacher can
specify t hat t he words must cont ain a part icular sound or a part icular group of let t ers.
This t ime st udent s are asked t o writ e some let t ers on small pieces of card, for example C-M-
H-S-N-I -E-A. These let t ers can make up a secret word - in t his case MACHI NES. St udent s
t hen manipulat e t hese let t ers t o creat e a number of words (see list below).
Sample Words 1
Let t ers used = C-M-H-S-N-I -E-A
Secret word = MACHI NES
[ Not e: I n t he list s t hat follow, t he words have been grouped in t he order of difficult y, t hough
lower levels would not be expect ed t o cover all t he pat t erns in t he same lesson! The t eacher
should make t he t eaching point of each group of words explicit .]
One and t wo let t er words
I , a, an, am, is, in, as, me, he, hi
Short vowels in t hree let t er words
man, Sam, cam, can, mac
hen, men
him, min, sin
Cont rast ing short and long vowels (final let t er 'e')
man/ mane, can/ cane, cam/ came, Sam/ same, sham/ shame, min/ mine, shin/ shine
Hard and soft 'c'
cont rast s - mic/ mice, mac/ mace
soft 'c' - ice, ace, mince, since, cinema
hard 'c' - cash, can, came
Digraph Vowels and Consonant s - ai, ea, ch, sh
ai - aim, chain
Bot t om-Up St r at egi es Readi ng Li t er acy
June 2005 david.anderson@hct.ac.ae
ea - mean, each
ch - chin, chance, chime, china, inch/ inches, chase
sh - ash/ ashes, mash, mesh
Long Words
[ St udent s may not know t he meanings, but t hey should be able t o sound out t he words
correct ly.]
iceman, minces, manic, amnesic, cinemas
Different pronunciat ions of 'ch'
/ lj/ chin, chase et c
/ L/ schema, ache/ aches
/ j/ machine
Finally, st udent s can be asked t o find t he secret word t hat can be made using all of t he
let t ers.
Sample Words 2
I n order t o increase phonemic awareness, it is useful t o regularly ask st udent s t o divide t he
words t hey make up int o t he composit e sounds by physically separat ing t he let t er cards. (I f
t he word has a final 'e' as in 'make', it can be raised wit h t he preceding vowel t o show t hey
work t oget her - m
a
k
e
.) At t his point , st udents can be asked t o count how many sounds t he
word had and how many let t ers it has. St udent s can t hen segment t he word by pronouncing
each word separat ely.
St udent s should also be given 'spelling t est s' of pract iced pat t erns. These spelling t est s are
different from t he st andard spelling t est s current ly in use in classrooms:
words are grouped by sound and spelling pat t ern
t he st udent s do not know in advance which words will be in t he t est , only which sounds
will be covered
t he st udent s t ranscribe what t hey hear, not what t hey have st udied (t he st udent s may not
have encount ered t he words before)
t he spelling t est s aim t o reveal t he st udent s knowledge of t he phonics syst em and not
what words t he st udent can remember
Let t ers used = R-M-T-S-E-E-I -A
Secret word = EMI RATES
One and t wo let t er words
I , am, as, at , is, it
Short vowels
mast , mat , sat , ram, set , met , it s, rim, sim, sit
Cont rast ing short vowels and long vowels t hat have a final let t er 'e'
at / at e, mat / mat e, rat / rat e, Tim/ t ime, sit / sit e (also sir/ sire, st ar/ st are)
Bot t om-Up St r at egi es Readi ng Li t er acy
June 2005 david.anderson@hct.ac.ae
Making t he 'ee' in 'sheep'
ea - ear, eat , t ea, t eam, meat , sea, east , st eam, st ream, smear, easier, eat ers
ee - seem, meet , see, t ree
e - met er/ met re, remit s (n)
Making t he 'i' in 'like'
i-e - smit e, it ems, arise, miser, sat ire, t ime
Making t he 'a' in 'farm' ('r' cont rolled)
ar - are, arm, art , armies, st ar
5-let t er Anagrams - Can you spell t hese?
[ St udent s may not know t he meanings, but t hey should be able t o sound out t he words.]
mist er/ merit s/ t imers/ remit s/ smit er
Finally, st udent s t ry t o make t he secret word using all of t he let t ers.
ESL and EFL readers mus t be
active, s oak ing up and s toring new
words , morphemes , and meaning in
their k now ledge bas e for receptive
and productive us e. For them to
learn to do this , early reading mus t
be carefully controlled to be at their
comfortable but challenging level
and they s hould not be pus hed into
reading texts that are too
challenging too s oon.
Birch 2002:148
Bot t om-Up St r at egi es Readi ng Li t er acy
June 2005 david.anderson@hct.ac.ae
Act ivit y 5 - Guided Discovery
This act ivit y has been adapt ed from Birch (2002: 89) and aims t o encourage st udent s t o arrive
at a rule for common pat t erns of let t ers.
Procedure
St udent s are given groups of words t hat illust rat e a feat ure of t he English spelling syst em.
For example:
A B
gain giant
go gent leman
gun gym
C D
cage bag
huge hug
change log
village sag
St udent s are invit ed t o read t he words aloud and find a rule t hat explains t he different
pronunciat ions. St udent s can ask t he t eacher t o read individual words for words for t hem. I f
st udent s find t he act ivit y difficult , t he following quest ions can be asked.
- What let t er do all t he words have?
- Where is t his lett er in t he word for each group?
- What let t ers come aft er 'g' in each group?
- When do we use a soft 'g' and when do we use a hard 'g'?
Anot her set of words can be given. This t ime t he st udent s have t o decide on a rule for t he
hard and soft sounds of t he let t er 'c'. The rule is essent ially t he same as for hard and soft 'g'
and t he st udent s should be able t o arrive at a rule wit h lit t le or not help.
A B
cap cit y
copper cement
cup cycle
C D
lace picnic
peace music
nice comic
fleece t armac
Finally, a general rule for t he pronunciat ion of soft and hard versions of t he let t er 'c' and 'g'
can be formulat ed. To give furt her pract ice and assess whet her t he feat ure has been
assimilat ed by t he st udent s, a spelling dict at ion of ot her words cont aining hard and soft 'g'
and 'c' can be given. (age, ago, ace, case, again, urge, rage, care, bilge, German et c. Not e
t hat t here are some common except ions - get , girl, gift )
Bot t om-Up St r at egi es Readi ng Li t er acy
June 2005 david.anderson@hct.ac.ae
Act ivit y 6 Reading Aloud
I n TESOL, asking st udent s t o read aloud is oft en discouraged as it is believed t o be a
mechanical process t hat doesn't demonst rat e comprehension of a t ext . I t is also seen as an
unnat ural skill - while we oft en read silent ly, how oft en do we read t ext aloud in every day
life?
However, asking st udent s t o reading aloud is a useful way t o diagnose t hose wit h weak
decoding skills. "The lack of fluency in poor readers is evidenced by t heir slow, halt ing, and
inconsist ent rat e; poor phrasing; and inadequat e int onat ion pat t erns" (Hook & Jones 2002).
Also, t he Nat ional Reading Panel, est ablished in t he Unit ed St at es as response t o a 1997
congressional direct ive, found t hat for L1 children at least , reading aloud should be a key
component of reading inst ruct ion.
The panel also concluded t hat guided oral reading is import ant for developing reading fluency-
t he abilit y t o read wit h efficiency and ease. I n guided oral reading, st udent s read out loud, t o
eit her a parent , t eacher or ot her st udent , who correct s t heir mist akes and provides t hem wit h
ot her feedback. Specifically, guided oral reading helped st udent s across a wide range of grade
levels t o learn t o recognize new words, helped t hem t o read accurat ely and easily, and helped
t hem t o comprehend what t hey read.
Nat ional Reading Panel 2002
Reading aloud need not be boring. I n fact , very oft en, low level st udent s enj oy it , perhaps
because t hey have an awareness t hat it will benefit t hem. All forms of groupings can be
used:
st udent t o class
st udent t o t eacher (one-t o-one)
st udent t o st udent (one-t o-one and wit hin a group)
t eacher (or casset t e) t o st udent . St udent s follow t he t ext .
1. Ensure an appropriat e t ext is select ed. The t ext should be much simpler t han a t ypical
reading comprehension passage where t here may be a high number of unknown words. For
example, a page from a graded reader might well be appropriat e. Bot h fict ion and non-fict ion
should be used. Text s designed for t op-down pract ices should not be used.
2. St udent s can be given t ime t o prepare t he t ext by reading it silent ly first . At t his point
t hey can ask for t he pronunciat ion and meaning of unknown words.
3. When t he st udent is reading aloud, t he t eacher/ peer should list en out for:
reading speed - laboured or fluent ?
incorrect ly pronounced words
excessive hesit at ions and self correct ions
int onat ion - is it appropriat e or is it flat? Does it reflect t he punct uat ion/ meaning of
t he t ext ?
St udent can also be asked t o read t he same passage several t imes unt il fluency, int onat ion
and pronunciat ion are perfect ed. Repeat ed reading has been shown t o be effect ive in
increasing fluency and comprehension for bot h adult s and children (Kruidenier 2002). Finally,
reading aloud can be incorporat ed int o classroom assessment s, perhaps as a component of
speaking exams. I f st udent know t his skill is t o be assessed, it will undoubt edly encourage
st udent s t o pract ice and have a posit ive effect on t heir reading fluency.
Bot t om-Up St r at egi es Readi ng Li t er acy
June 2005 david.anderson@hct.ac.ae
References
Birch, B. 2002. English L2 Reading: Get t ing t o t he Bot t om. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence
Erlbaum Associat es.
Crandall, J. A. 1995. Some Guidelines for Writ ers of ESL Reading Text books. I n
Byrd, P. (ed.). Mat erial Writ ers Guide. pp79-94. Bost on: Heinle & Heinle.
Ehri, L. C. 1997. Learning t o Read and Learning t o Spell Are One and the Same,
Almost . I n Perfet t i, C. A., Rieben, L. & Fayol, M. (eds.). Learning t o Spell:
Research, Theory and Pract ice Across Languages. pp237-269. Mawah, NJ:
Lawrence Erlbaum Associat es.
Flesch, R. 1955. Why Johnny Cant Read. New York: Harper-Collins
Flesch, R. 1981. Why Johnny St ill Cant Read. New York: Harper-Collins
Goodman, K. 1967. Reading: A psycholinguist ic guessing game. Journal of t he
Reading Specialist . Vol 6: 126-135.
Grabe, W. 1991. Current Development s in Second Language Reading Research.
TESOL Quart erly. 23/ 3: 375-406.
Hook, P. E. & Jones, S. D. 2002. The I mport ance of Aut omat icit y and Fluency For
Efficient Reading Comprehension. I nt ernat ional Dyslexia Associat ion Quart erly
Newslet t er, Perspect ives. Wint er, 2002, vol. 28: 1, pages 9-14. Available at :
ht t p: / / www.resourceroom.net / readspell/ 2002_aut omat icit y.asp
Kruidenier, J.R. (2002). Research-based principles for Adult Basic Educat ion reading
inst ruct ion. Washingt on, DC: Nat ional I nst itut e for Lit eracy.
Nat ional St at ement for I mproving At t ainment in Lit eracy in Schools. 2002. Accessed
28-6-05. Available at :
ht t p: / / www.lt scot land.org.uk/ I mages/ nat ionalst at ement lit eracy_t cm4-
122154.pdf
Nunes, T., Bryant , P. E., & Bindman, M. 1997. Spelling and Grammar The Necsed
Move. I n Perfet t i, C. A., Rieben, L. & Fayol, M. (eds.). Learning t o Spell:
Research, Theory and Pract ice Across Languages. Ch9: 151-170. Lawrence
Erlbaum Associat es.
Report of t he Nat ional Reading Panel: Findings. 2000. Accessed 28-6-05. Available
at : ht t p: / / www.nichd.nih.gov/ publicat ions/ nrp/ findings.ht m
Ryan, A. 1997. Learning t he ort hographical form of L2 vocabulary a recept ive and
a product ive process. I n Schmit t , N. & McCart hy, M. (eds.). Vocabulary
Descript ion, Acquisit ion and Pedagogy. Ch2.5: 181-198. Cambridge Universit y
Press.