Course Description:

This course discusses the reading process and the factors that influence its development, the role of assessment to inform and adapt literacy instruction, the evaluation and use of formal and informal assessment tools for individual learners and groups of students, and the interpretation and communication of assessment results. A 30-hour practicum is required.

Monday, September 12, 2011

Listening Comprehension Level

As I have been reading about IRIs in chapter 2 of the Gillet text, I was particularly struck by the idea of listening comprehension levels. For the past couple of years, I have been playing audio versions of the novels that I teach instead of just having the students read aloud. I found that comprehension seemed to go way up among students with various reading abilities, but especially with my struggling students. I initially suspected that this was because students were hearing it read fluidly and with expression, and that I had a number of students who were oral learners, but I didn't think about them still being a place where there was still a significant gap between listening comprehension level and reading ability. I have a number of students in my regular English class who are not reading at grade level, and it would make sense that they have not quite reached that level of mature reader where the gap between listening and reading levels closes. This chapter gave me a new perspective.
Posted by at

1 comment:

  1. Tonia BoyerSeptember 18, 2011 at 3:53 PM

    I came around to realizing this same thing when I went to Mexico in order to become involved in a language immersion program. Though I could understand what I heard, it was painful to try and express my own thoughts. Because I was still learning the language, my listening skills far surpassed my oral reading ability (and speaking, and writing). It really reminded me what some of my own students go through in a similar classroom environment.

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)