Poring over the works of Dr. Seuss, the adventures of the Bernstain
Bears or exploring the worlds of Hans Christian Andersen with a child
has always been a great parent-child bonding exercise
.
But,
according to George Georgiou, a University of Alberta professor in
educational psychology, it is instrumental for English-speaking
children if they are to acquire the language skills, particularly
comprehension, essential to their future reading ability.
Georgiou
and his colleagues recently published a study in Learning and
Instruction examining the cognitive and non-cognitive factors that may
predict future reading ability in English and Greek. Since the study was published, Georgiou has expanded his research to Finland and China, with the same outcomes.
He
says the home literacy environment-what parents do at home in terms of
literacy-and motivation predict children’s various initial literacy
skills, such as letter knowledge and vocabulary, differently across
languages. These skills, in turn, ultimately predict future reading
ability.
Studying language for success
Orthography
is the part of the study of language dealing with letters and spelling.
Georgiou points out that English is an orthographically inconsistent
language; in other words, letters can have more than one sound each.
Because of this, he says, children learning English “need someone to
show them the letters, teach them the letter sounds, play with letter
magnets on the fridge.
“We have found that in English, you need a rich home literacy environment. It’s absolutely necessary,” he says.
But that’s not the case in other languages. Georgiou notes that students are able to learn to read faster in languages such as Greek and
Finnish, because there is one-to-one correspondence between a letter
and its sounds. This difference with English, he says, implies that
Greek or Finnish parents do not need to read as frequently to their
children to give them an edge on learning the language. Simply put,
Greek or Finnish children will eventually able to learn regardless of how rich the home literacy environment may be.
“In Greece, parents intuitively know that as soon as a child goes to school,
within three months, unless there are some severe situations that may
interfere with learning, that child will be able to learn to read,”
said Georgiou. “Alternatively, in English, having someone read to you
frequently as a child-explaining what the meaning of words are and
playing around with the letters-makes a big difference as to whether
you will become a good reader.”
English-languages challenges for students
Without
that learning support and because of the inconsistencies of English
orthography, English-speaking children run the risk of falling behind
at least two years in terms of their reading skill when compared to
children learning to read in languages with a direct relationship
between letters and sounds, he said. But, if mom and dad don’t have the
time to invest in reading to their children and still want them to
succeed with language development, then educational programs, such as
Sesame Street, and multimedia tools, such as spelling programs or
games, may be an alternative.
Georgiou also lauds the efforts of
communities in getting behind literacy programs and encouraging the
development of literacy skills through initiatives such as “raise a
reader” and “read-in week.” He says that these types of programs pay
dividends because they are a key component in motivating children to
appreciate and embrace reading as a worthwhile activity.
There
are key elements Canadian parents should focus on to promote the
success of their children as active readers, he says. Foremost, reading
to your children is vital, as is specific exercises and games to teach
them letter names and sounds. Finally, having role models as a
motivation to read, whether it be an NHL player reading to a classroom
full of kids or a parent at bedtime, is also highly important, says
Georgiou.
“Build their motivation. If your child sees you reading at home, that sends a message to that child that you value reading.”
