Effective reading instruction for struggling readers: the role of direct/explicit teaching by Rupley, Blair, Nichols

   The research first redefined the efficiency of explicit instruction and teaching    major components (phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension) in reading. Then, the authors stated the important keys to successful reading: direct instruction and meaningful practice to the point of overlearning and automaticity.  Following the statement, the authors claimed an important issue: provide students as more opportunities to learn as possible. In the end of the article, the authors also claimed the benefit of scaffolding learning to struggling learners.

 I much appreciate the three points the article presented which are very practical and beneficial for students in EFL context, such as Taiwan. First of all, explicit instructions give students a clear and supportive model to follow. Also, based on the explicit instruction, it would be more useful to stimulate learners’ learning awareness and engage students in guided practice. I much agree the quotation from the study “students do not become independent learners through maturation (p.126)”. For most of EFL learners, especially for struggling students, it’s usually too vague and inattentive for them to “pick up” new information implicitly. With the explicit instruction, it is more likely to foster students' learning automaticity. 

Secondly, the concept of “opportunity to learn” gives me a new teaching principle to follow. According to the study, opportunity to learn refers to “whether students have been taught the skills and cognitive strategies relevant to the areas on which they are assessed (p.129)” . Learning is not a behavior of rote memorization. Most of time, we should pay attention to the use of learning strategies and connect the new information with the prior experience. Therefore, I would teach my students make graphic organizer or mind mapping while they were reading. The, I would also provide them some prediction or guessing strategies from generally to specific parts. These are more meaningful for struggling students to learn.

Last, the concept of scaffolding to support students’ learning also inspired me a lot. I have understood the importance of scaffolding. However, I always forgot to adopt the skill in my teaching. In fact, learning should not a sheer independent work. The scaffolds from peers and teachers could help students bridge the gap. Actually, it’s impossible for a teacher to support all students in a class (especially in a large in Taiwan context), the rapport from peers is obviously essential for struggling learners. During the reading time, with the rapport from others and discuss with members, the reading activity would be extra pleasurable and beneficial.