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Theoretical framework:

This study will anchor on the theory of Beginning

Reading of Eric Digest21. According to him, learning to read

is anything but natural. In fact, it doesn’t develop

incidentally; it requires human intervention and context.

The act of reading is complex and intentional; it requires

bringing together a number of complex actions involving the

eyes, the brain, and the psychology of the mind (e.g.

motivation, interest, past experience) that do not occur

naturally.

The two processes described here,

phonological awareness and word recognition, are essential

to teaching beginning reading to children with diverse

learning and curricular needs, such as pupils with learning

disabilities. For these children, as for many children,

learning to read is neither natural nor easy. Also, research

has made it clear that, those pupils who fall behind in

reading; opportunities to advance or catch up diminish

overtime. Therefore the teaching of beginning reading is of

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supreme importance and must be purposeful, strategic and

grounded in the methods proven by effective research.

The unnatural act of reading requires a

beginning reader to make sense of symbols on a page. In the

case of English, these symbols are actually sequences of

letters that represents an alphabetic language, but more

important, the printed letters can also be translated into

sounds.

Phonological awareness activities build on

and enhance children’s experiences with written language

(e.g. print awareness) and spoken language (e.g. playing

with words). These activities also develop children’s

readiness and foundation of reading, especially the reading

of words. Children who have been immersed in a literacy

environment in which words, word games, rhyming and story

reading are plentiful and more likely to understand what

reading is all about than those who have experienced and

impoverished literacy environment.

In Edward William Dolch’s 1951 book “Psychology and

Teaching of Reading”, reading was defined as “imagining,

thinking and feeling about ideas and thoughts made from past
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experiences that are suggested by perception of printed

words. ” (p.9) Reading, as asserted by the author, is an

activity that requires the different capabilities of the

mind, as the reader processes words and their meanings.

The improvement of this reading skill as pointed out by

Dolch, is highly essential, because a basic level of reading

ability is generally “not enough to master a quantity of

assigned reading in a special field” (p.329) in college. He

also mentions that fluency in reading is especially required

for English Literature subjects.

Reading is not only beneficial in terms of academics,

though, as Dolch explains. It can also help in the

improvement of relationships with other people across

interests and cultures, as readers come across books that

“put on into the life and feelings and experiences of men

and women of all occupations” (p.303).

Figure 2 shows the paradigm of this study. According

to experts and their research, the earlier children start

learning a second language, the higher are their chances of

becoming more proficient as opposed to their learning of it

later. Researchers also claim that the most appropriate time

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to learn another language is between six and thirteen years

of age. One theory that supports early language learning is

the critical period hypothesis. According to the theory

there is a biologically specific period of life when

language can be learnt more easily. Researchers like

Lenneberg (1967) and Bickerton (1981) state that after the

critical period, certain abilities of acquiring a language

decrease. According to them second language acquisition

reaches a critical stage during puberty, after which people

usually do not learn a second language. Linguistics

professor Dr. Susan Curtiss, in a book by Curtan and

Dahlberg (2004), opines,

Roth and Paul (2006) cited that Children start to learn

language from the day they are born. As they grow and

develop, their speech and language skills become

increasingly more complex. They learn to understand and use

language to express their ideas, thoughts, and feelings, and

to communicate with others. During early speech and language

development, children learn skills that are important to the

development of literacy (reading and writing). This stage,

known as emergent literacy, begins at birth and continues

through the preschool years.

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Children see and interact with print (e.g., books,

magazines, grocery lists) in everyday situations (e.g.,

home, in preschool, and at daycare) well before they start

elementary school. Parents can see their child's growing

appreciation and enjoyment of print as he or she begins to

recognize words that rhyme, scribble with crayons, point out

logos and street signs, and name some letters of the

alphabet. Gradually, children combine what they know about

speaking and listening with what they know about print and

become ready to learn to read and write.