Can your child read in English?<\/p>\n
Aulia Rachmat, Contributor, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Many parents think that their children have possessed the
\nadequate reading skills after spending a number of years
\nattending international curriculum schools, particularly those
\nthat started in elementary school. How are the reading skills of
\ntheir children?<\/p>\n
Despite the fact that there are international and national
\nplus schools here using English as the language instruction, many
\nstudents continue to struggle in terms of reading comprehension.
\nReading is not an automatic skill. It is something that needs to
\nbe learned.<\/p>\n
Today many teachers actually deter children from reading when
\nthey pressure students to study books too closely by making them
\nlook up vocabulary words and making them stop after each chapter
\nto determine what the author is trying to say. Good teachers must
\nnot focus on the child's memory during learning process.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, many children find reading difficult because
\nthey are trying to memorize so many words. Intelligent children
\nwith good memories may fail to learn to read because they are
\nemploying their memories as the only access in the reading-
\nlearning process.<\/p>\n
Memory-based approaches start with the visual representation
\nof the symbols in order to remember letters (a, b, c,.d, f, h, o,
\nz and so on) and words (dog, house, magazine, etc.). so the
\nteachers will show the children the letters of the alphabet and
\nthe child will have to remember the names of the letters.<\/p>\n
So, when the letter is shown to the child he\/she has to recall
\nthe name from his\/her memory bank. This unfortunate child is
\ntaught to look at the letter while the teacher says a word like,
\n\"car\", which has, for example a different sound for the \"a\" than
\nthe sound of the \"a\" in the alphabet. Thus, it creates an
\nambiguity for the child in terms of sounds (phonemes).<\/p>\n
Most native English-language speaking children are expected to
\nstart to learn to read an alphabetic text after about three years
\nof oral experience. Such oral experience will enable them to
\ngrasp the nature of English words that consist of sequences of
\nsounds (phonemes). Words can be broken down into component sounds
\nlike the words \"fast\" and \"phone\", while phonemic awareness
\ndevelops the awareness that these words start with the same
\nsound. There are only 26 letters in an English alphabet, while
\nthe single phonemes, differ from another sound. Hence, the only
\ndifference in words \"bad\" and \"bed\" is a single sound. Besides,
\nEnglish-as-a-first language children have an innate awareness of
\nthe sounds of their mother tongue.<\/p>\n
In terms of these children, there are a number of opinions
\namong reading experts that phonics can be an efficient way to
\nteach reading. Tony Earnshaw and Annabel Seargeant, Educational
\nPsychologists from Australia, after 20 years research, have
\nidentified phonics to be a key prerequisite before reading skills
\ncan develop properly. However, phonics do not teach a child to
\nread. It is a method to teach children to pronounce words by
\nlearning the phonetic value of letters, sounds and syllables.
\nLater, after the children become aware of the sounds, they should
\nbe able to eliminate the ambiguities and confusion arising from
\nvariations of letter combinations, that will lead to the future
\nreading challenges.<\/p>\n
Grammar and spelling play a significant role in the language,
\nparticularly in reading. However, many teachers impede children's
\nreading development by placing too much emphasis on spelling and
\ngrammatical skills. During this stage, many primary students fail
\nto comprehend the grammar and spelling parts due to a memory-
\ndriven approach. Instead, teachers should start to apply grammar
\nas well as spelling, which can be implemented directly in
\nstories. In other words, comprehension should be emphasized
\nbefore teaching grammar.<\/p>\n
Giving books as presents to your child will encourage him\/her
\nto love reading. At first, he\/she may not be interested in
\nreading these books. However, it will psychologically motivate
\nyour child to love reading as it may gradually get him\/her used
\nto being around the books.<\/p>",
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