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Home› Languages› Portuguese› Written Language› Stages of Reading Development

Stages of Reading Development - Monolingual English

The following chart is a representation of how students progress through the process of learning to read in English. This chart reflects the stage indicators for readers of English as a first language.

Stage Reading Stages Indicators
Learning to Read

Pre-Reading Stage

Pre-Stage 1

Oral Language Development

Monolingual American English learner is growing though the process of native English language development:

  • Relies on non-visual information and contextual knowledge to begin reading.
  • Knows the alphabet (if available in his or her environmental context)
  • Uses logographic information to make guesses about words.

Initial Reading Stage

Stage 1

Decoding

  • Knows that letters represent speech sounds.
  • Understands that speech sounds can be represented by letters.
  • Attempts to 'break' the written language code strategically.

Confirmation and Fluency Stage

Stage 2

Reading Fluency

  • Consolidates knowledge graphophonic English elements and contextual meaning depending on the level of background knowledge in (monolingual) American English.
  • Reaches automaticity in word recognition.
  • Reads written text with increasing fluency.

Note: Chall often calls this stage as "more of the same", the learner needs the opportunity to sharpen the skills of reading - translating graphic symbols into meaningful oral language.

Reading to Learn

Reading for Learning the New Stage

Stage 3

Reading to Learn

  • Reads to learn or acquire new information.
  • FLUENCY (in reading) and GRAPHOPHONICS have been mastered in English as L1.
  • Expands vocabulary.
  • Builds background knowledge.

Multiple Viewpoints Stage

Stage 4 (high school)

Multiple Viewpoints

  • Reader analyzes written expository and narrative text critically.
  • Reader analyzes what has been read and reacts critically to the different viewpoints encountered.
  • Reader deals with learning from multiple viewpoints.
  • Reader understands multiple points of view.

Construction & Reconstruction Stage

Stage 5 (college)

(Re) Construction

  • Reader uses reading to integrate one's knowledge with that of others, to synthesize and a foundation for new ideas.

L1 – Primary/Native Language
L2 – Second language (usually English in the USA )

© Professor Maria de Lourdes Serpa (1983, 1991, 2000, 2005). Adapted from: Chall, J. (1983).Stages of Reading Development. New York: McGraw-Hill.

To learn more: Chall’s Stages of Reading Development

Stages of Reading Development - Dual Language

PORTUGUESE AND SPANISH STUDENTS WHO ARE LEARNING AMERICAN ENGLISH

Students who read in Portuguese or Spanish fluently at the Reading for Learning the New Stage (Chall1983) already have learned to read. The reading process only happens once in life, regardless of how many new languages are acquired. These literate students extend and transfer their reading skills from their L1 to the new language(s) and it is predicatble that they will access reading in English as a new language at the Confirmation and Fluency Stage for oral reading and Reading for Learning the New Stage for silent reading.

The following chart is a representation of how students progress through the process of transferring reading skills from Portuguese to English. This chart reflects the stage indicators for readers of English as a first language. The grayed out areas indicate stages have been achieved already by students that read at the Reading for Learning the New Stage in Portuguese or Spanish.

Portuguese & Spanish literate students at the Beginning Level of English Proficiency will access English at the Reading for Learning the New Stage.
L1 (Port/Spanish)  
L2 (English)        
  Pre-Reading Stage Initial Reading Stage Confirmation and Fluency Stage Reading for Learning the New Stage Multiple Viewpoints Stage Construction and Reconstruction Stage

Stage Dual Language Reading Stage Indicators
Learning to Read

Pre-Reading Stage

Pre-Stage 1

Oral Language Development in the FIRST LANGUAGE – The student:

  • is growing though the expected process of his/her native language development
  • relies on their non-visual information and contextual knowledge to begin reading
  • knows the alphabet (if available in the environment)
  • uses logographic information to make guesses about words

Initial Reading Stage

Stage 1

Decoding – The student :

  • knows that letters represent speech sounds
  • understands that speech sounds can be represented by symbols/letters
  • attempts to 'break' the written language code
  • knows how print represents language and, therefore, s/he does not need phonics instruction again in English, because s/he already understands this concept

Note: Portuguese & Spanish students (stage3) needs to be allowed to go through the developmental process of acquiring English to allow them to transfer their reading skills to the new language in a way that is consistent with reading as meaning making.

Confirmation and Fluency Stage

Stage 2

Reading Fluency – The student:

  • consolidates knowledge of graphophonic elements in English and contextual meaning depending on the level of background knowledge (in monolingual American English)
  • progressively acquires orthographic knowledge of words
  • reaches automaticity in word recognition
  • reads written text with in creasing fluency

Note: The Portuguese & Spanish literate student (stage 3) at the Beginning level of English Proficiency:

  • reads orally with the pronunciation and influences of Portuguese or Spanish. (Linguistic influences from Portuguese or Spanish are predictable)
  • sounds disfluent and appears to be struggling to read orally. This does not mean that they don’t know how to read. This only means they are using the reading skills from Portuguese or Spanish to initially access English reading.
  • has a consolidated knowledge of the graphophonic system of Portuguese or Spanish
  • reads silently and understands written text equivalent to his/her background knowledge and level of English proficiency, even though he/she is not yet able to pronounce the English words orally. (See Portuguese English cognates)
Reading to Learn

Reading for Learning the New Stage

Stage 3

Reading to Learn – The student:

(Note: Portuguese & Spanish literate students at the Beginning Level of English Proficiency will access English at this stage.)

  • reads to learn new information (equivalent to their development and background knowledge)
  • will transfer fluency and graphophonics to English as a new language. (Reading fluency and graphophonics have been mastered in Portuguese or Spanish)
  • expands his/her vocabulary in both languages
  • expands cultural and linguistic background knowledge

Multiple Viewpoints Stage

Stage 4 (high school)

Multiple Viewpoints – The student:

  • analyzes written expository and narrative text critically
  • analyzes what has been read and reacts critically to the different viewpoints encountered
  • reader understands and deals with learning from multiple viewpoints

Construction & Reconstruction Stage

Stage 5 (college)

(Re) Construction – The student:

  • reads to integrate his/her knowledge with that of others to synthesize information and or create new ideas

© Professor Maria de Lourdes Serpa (1983, 1991, 2000, 2005). Adapted from: Chall, J. (1983). Stages of Reading Development. New York: McGraw-Hill.

 

Reading Assessment in a Multilingual Context

Assessment of reading in a multilingual context can be conceptualized in many different ways for assessment. On of my favorite models is the one proposed by Jeanne Chall, which I have adapted and used extensively in my assessment practice since her book Stages of Reading was published in 1983.

The grade level descriptor widely used in the USA was too vague and was very difficult to operationalize in reading assessmnt in other languages, specifically Portuguese. For example, as a teacher of beginning reading in Portugal, I observed almost all my first grade students achieved the Reading for Learning the New Stage after three months of instruction in the first grade. I also observed the same thing in Portuguese Bilingual reading classrooms, when linguistically responsive methodology was used and the linguistic characteristics of the specific language are taken into consideration when decisions are made about reading instruction.

In many native language first grade classrooms Spanish and Portuguese children are taking a much longer time to learn to read because early literacy is taught by using, what I call a transplantation model (Serpa, 1983) of English to Portuguese or Spanish. For further information you may refer to An inquiry into beginning Portuguese reading performance -
MLB Serpa - 1983 - Boston University.

 

 
©2005 Maria de Lourdes Serpa.
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