Reading & Language

"Language is our cultural tool-- we use it to share experience and so to collectively, jointly, make sense of it… Language is therefore not just a means by which individuals can formulate ideas and communicate them, it is also a means for people to think and learn together." 
--Neil Mercer, The Guided Construction of Knowledge

When I consider the relationship between reading and oral language, this quote struck me. Reading is just an extension of oral language which is another cultural tool that we have as a group to think and learn together. However, their seems to be a considerable leap from oral language to reading comprehension for many ELL's. The same cultural tool that connects us, also separates are understanding of one another. As students began to learn a new language speaking, comes much quicker to many than written language. Furthermore, while language is learned and comprehended simultaneously, teacher's cannot pause and wait for a student's written comprehension to catch up to their verbal ability. Therefore, teachers  need to implement strategies that can support both such as academic vocabulary development and activating prior knowledge of topics before reading to help support a diverse learners comprehension needs. Another way teachers can support language learners is to allow them to struggle with their comprehension, not to the frustration level but to help them equip themselves with strategies that can help them in the long run;"And there is considerable evidence that learners who have more opportunities to reflect on and improve their own communication receive long-term benefits for language learning than those who constantly have communication problems solved for them by the teacher," (Gibbons, 38.)

Source: Gibbons, P. (2002). Scaffolding language, scaffolding learning: Teaching second language learners in the mainstream classroom. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.