Reading and Childhood Experiences
Over the years, there has been a gradual and steady decline in the ability of students to comprehend the reading page as evidently shown by their written and oral output. Educators would attribute this to the lack of interest among students in learning a language or the reluctance of the learners to read, others cite psychological and social factors, while still others trace it from the student’s reading experience. The level and degree of reading abilities are acquired from appropriate experiences. As espoused by the proponents of the Significant Human Experience (SHE) Approach, learning is equated with experience where experiencing is tied up with human development. Learning affects and is affected by the learner’s experiences, personality, values, roles and other related factors. To learn is to experience, that is to interact with one’s environment; to feel, to do, to sense, to see - the opportunities that present themselves to the learner. The amount of experiences that college students have in reading therefore presents both a potentially rich resource for learning as well as an impediment to learning. It is a resource since the learner’s ability and desire to read renders him opportunities to gather, analyze and synthesize as much information needed to achieve academic and life skills and goals. It is an impediment when the reading experiences are too limited to provide greater opportunities for comprehension, a necessary element for academic success.
In his paper, Pretorius (2000) asserts that: "research findings in applied linguistics and reading research consistently show a strong correlation between reading proficiency and academic success at all ages, from the primary school right through to university level: students who read a lot and who understand what they read usually attain good grades. In fact, the relationship between reading and learning begins even earlier in the pre-primary school years - children who are exposed to storybook reading before they go to school tend to have larger vocabularies, greater general knowledge and better conceptual development than their peers, and in addition, they learn to read and write more easily and quickly" (Heath 1983; Ninio 1983; Snow 1983; Wells 1986; Elley 1991; Feitelson et al. 1993).
"The correlation between reading proficiency and academic performance obtains for both those who study through their first language (L1 students) and for those who do not (L2 students). In fact, several teachers and researchers argue that reading is probably the most important skill for L2 students in academic or learning contexts" (Saville-Troike 1984; Carrell 1989; Hafiz and Tudor 1989; Mbise 1993; Fasheh 1995).
Further, research reveals that reluctant readers trace their inability to read and comprehend what they read from early childhood experiences (Wothy, 1996). Positive early literacy experiences are impressed into the minds and attitudes of the learners and hence carried through other stages of their human development. Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experiences, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies and their understanding of textual features, e.g. sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics. When children scribble letters and stories and read their compositions to others; make up spelling or create letter like forms, they show awareness of this educational belief: “What I can think I can say; what I can say I can write, what I can write, I can read.” (Hermosa, 1996, p.27)
In his paper, Pretorius (2000) asserts that: "research findings in applied linguistics and reading research consistently show a strong correlation between reading proficiency and academic success at all ages, from the primary school right through to university level: students who read a lot and who understand what they read usually attain good grades. In fact, the relationship between reading and learning begins even earlier in the pre-primary school years - children who are exposed to storybook reading before they go to school tend to have larger vocabularies, greater general knowledge and better conceptual development than their peers, and in addition, they learn to read and write more easily and quickly" (Heath 1983; Ninio 1983; Snow 1983; Wells 1986; Elley 1991; Feitelson et al. 1993).
"The correlation between reading proficiency and academic performance obtains for both those who study through their first language (L1 students) and for those who do not (L2 students). In fact, several teachers and researchers argue that reading is probably the most important skill for L2 students in academic or learning contexts" (Saville-Troike 1984; Carrell 1989; Hafiz and Tudor 1989; Mbise 1993; Fasheh 1995).
Further, research reveals that reluctant readers trace their inability to read and comprehend what they read from early childhood experiences (Wothy, 1996). Positive early literacy experiences are impressed into the minds and attitudes of the learners and hence carried through other stages of their human development. Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experiences, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies and their understanding of textual features, e.g. sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics. When children scribble letters and stories and read their compositions to others; make up spelling or create letter like forms, they show awareness of this educational belief: “What I can think I can say; what I can say I can write, what I can write, I can read.” (Hermosa, 1996, p.27)
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