Young children's reading strategies.

Collins, Michelle

The reading strategies of emergent readers has been a major area of research in past years. Michelle Collins reports here on her study of the reading strategies used by emergent readers that she identified as she observed young readers 'read' self-selected picture books.

There is much evidence that indicates that for young children, learning to use different reading strategies is inseparable from making meaning and sharing meanings while developing literacy (Sulzby, 1985; Taylor, Wade & Yekovich, 1985; Juel, 1980; Depree & Iversen, 1994; Biemiller, 1970; Brenna, 1995; Elster, 1994; Fehrenbac, 1991; and McIntyre, 1990). This study aimed to extend the knowledge in the area of emergent reading of 5- to 7-year-olds. The purpose of the study was to investigate young children's reading strategies: to identify any common strategies that arise in a group of children, and to see whether there are any patterns which may suggest that the use of reading strategies is developmental in nature. Therefore, the research question of the study was: What are the reading strategies that young children use when they read picture storybooks? The study focussed on individual children's reading strategies, and used both familiar and non-familiar storybooks.

The research literature clearly demonstrates that literacy learning involves the integration of information from many sources. Clay and Cazden (1990: p. 207), for instance, suggest that all readers 'need to use, and check against each other' four sources of information: semantic (text meaning), syntactic (sentence structure), visual (graphemes, orthography, format, and layout) and phonology (the sounds of oral language)'. The process of integrating information from these four sources is linked to the formation of reading strategies, whereby emergent readers use their knowledge of text and what it means and represents; their knowledge of what a sentence and a word is; the sounds that make up these words; and the role of pictures and other visual cues in a story.

Pinnell, Lyons, DeFord, Bryk and Seltzer (1994: p. 11) suggest that when children are learning to read, they seem to 'acquire a set of mental operations that make up a self-extending system for reading and writing'. These 'individualised' systems contain specific reading strategies that young readers use to gain meaning and understanding as they read. In this sense, a reading strategy can be defined as a procedure that aids the reader to gain information, from both pictorial, text and structural cues.

By observing this reading behaviour, it is suggested that one can infer the particular strategies being implemented by readers (Depree & Iversen, 1994). Thus observing children's reading behaviours has become a major focus of emergent reading research. This research suggests that children seem to progress from focussing on illustrations to focussing on print (Biemiller, 1970; Elster, 1994; McIntyre, 1990; & Sulzby, 1985). It is, however, possible that the use of strategies is not merely developmental, but dependent on the individual child's prior experiences and interest, and the level of difficulty of the text, as well as the type of text read.

In attempting to describe the beginnings of reading, Sulzby (1985) observed young children reading their favourite storybooks. She classified her observations into two main themes: dominated by pictures, and dominated by print. Sulzby claimed that these formed a developmental sequence, in that readers are dominated by pictures before print. Sulzby ordered the categories that emerged in the following developmental sequence:

* picture-governed attempts where the story is not formed

* picture-governed attempts where the story is formed; oral-like language

* written-like language

* print not being watched

* print being watched

* attempts completely governed by print.

McIntyre (1990) also observed the reading behaviour patterns of emergent readers as they read storybooks. Studying the children as they selected their own reading or writing activity as part of the everyday classroom curriculum, McIntyre concluded that eight strategies were used. These were:

* reading the pictures with oral-like language

* reading the pictures with text-like language

* saying the text from memory

* reading the text from memory

* reading the text but skipping words

* reading the text

* repeated reading, and

* browsing.

Unlike Sulzby, McIntyre did not create a developmental proforma, but rather a list of strategies that young children were observed using while reading.

Elster (1994) studied the reading and talk strategies that emergent readers used before they began to attend to print. She argued that emergent readers select and deploy a controlled repertoire of strategies when they read, and that they choose strategies from an ever-expanding repertoire rather than adopting and discarding reading strategies as they progress developmentally. Elster also suggests that this orchestration of a variety of reading strategies depends on a variety of information resources, being the child's own memories, experiences and knowledge; the book; and the social setting of where the reading takes place (Elster, 1994: p. 413).

This diversity in opinions as to whether reading strategies are developmentally sequenced or simply a non-hierarchical list is very interesting. The conflicting views indicate the need for more research to be carried out in this area, enabling teachers to gain a greater understanding of how they can support young readers in their attainment of literacy skills within the classroom. My study aimed to contribute to this understanding.

Research methodology

Sample

The sample included twelve children from 5-7 years of age, drawn from one junior primary class. There were four Reception children and five Grade 1 children, and three Grade 2 children. Seven of the subjects were girls; five were boys. Consent was sought and granted from the parents/caregivers of the children.

Setting and context

The research took place in a room adjacent to the classroom, where a reading centre was set up. The room provided privacy, a quiet atmosphere, and it reduced distraction. In the room was placed a selection of storybooks with differences in the illustrations; the amount of text on a page; the layout and size of the illustrations and print; and the language used, i.e. dialogue, predicability, simple and complex words and sentences. Some of the books had flaps that, when lifted, revealed pictorial or textual information. The area also contained a tape recorder, arranged to be as unobtrusive as possible, to record the children's verbal reading behaviour.

Method

The children were invited individually into the reading area to select a storybook to read on two separate occasions, with one self-selected book read at each visit. Their non-verbal reading behaviour was recorded by a combination of note taking and symbolic coding in order to formulate a list of strategies that the children used. These were:

w = pointing to the words

F = pointing to the pictures

$ = looking at the text

J = looking at the pictures

& = following the text with their eyes (left to right).

Written notes were used to clarify a strategy or to record a new strategy which had not previously been given a code. The data collected on audio tape were transcribed and a coding system was used with written explanations to give it meaning. The system was:

'= word omitted

ph = phonetic attempt (sounding out)

? = adult help requested

A = adult input/comment requested

s = word substituted for another (no relation to text)

sph = word substituted for another (phonetic relationship)

+ = word added (not in text).

The transcriptions of the reading episode were compared to the text and similarities and differences noted. The notes on the child's non-verbal reading behaviour were also summarised and were recorded so that the verbal and non-verbal strategies could be interpreted as a whole unit, not as separate, unrelated entities.

Data analysis

The data were analysed by listing the strategies that each child used. Similarities were noted and rated as to how common the strategy was and the most common strategies were identified and summarised.

Results

Eight main strategies were found. See Tables 1-3 for the dispersion of the reading strategies among the children studied. Table 1: Distribution of reading strategies for Reception children Reading strategies A B C D E F G H 1 1 1 Reception 2 1 1 children 3 1 1 4 1 1 1 1 Total 1 3 1 4 0 0 1 0 % 25 75 25 100 0 0 25 0

Table 2: Distribution of reading strategies for Grade 1 children Reading strategies A B C D E F G H 5 1 1 Grade 1 6 1 1 1 children 7 1 1 1 1 1 8 1 1 1 1 1 9 1 1 1 1 1 Total 0 2 0 5 4 3 4 2 % 0 40 0 100 80 60 80 40

Table 3: Distribution of reading strategies for Grade 2 children Reading strategies A B C D E F G H Grade 2 10 1 1 1 1 children 11 1 1 1 1 1 12 1 1 1 1 Total 0 0 0 3 2 2 3 3 % 0 0 0 100 66.6 66.6 100 100

Key to reading strategies

A = Reading the pictures using oral-like labelling language. B = Reading the pictures using text-like language. C = Saying the text from memory. D = Reading the text and checking pictorial cues. E = Reading the text but skipping words. F = Reading the text and requesting help. G = Reading the text and using phonics. H = Reading the text and using self-correction.

A. Reading the pictures using oral-like labelling language

Children tended to tell the story, of both familiar and unfamiliar storybooks, using linguistic features that are common to oral language (McIntyre, 1990). This conversation-like language is an indicator of oral language use when a child is reading a storybook by illustrations only. In this study, only one child, who was from the Reception group, displayed this reading strategy. Examples: Text Reader So they sent me a camel. He was A camel! It's only got one hill. too grumpy! I sent him back. So they sent me a snake. He was Oh no, a snake! too scary! I sent him back.

B. Reading the pictures using text-like language

This strategy can occur when children know a book well or when readers tell the story through the pictures using words, phrases, or sentences. This category also includes instances where children are not familiar with a book but use written-like language characteristics as they tell the story. These children have internalised some conventions of written language (McIntyre, 1990). Three Reception and two Grade 1 children, representing 41.7 per cent of the total sample, used this strategy. Examples: Text Reader I wrote to the zoo to send me a The great big elephant is in the pet. They sent me an elephant. fence. The more the king stared at the 'What a bad day,' the king said little island the more he wanted with sadness. `What a happy it. And the man on the little day,' said the man. island stared back at the king and wondered.

C. Saying the text from memory

In this category, children who were familiar with the book and used the pictures as cues did not attend to the text but recited it almost exactly. Children reading in this manner can sound like they are singing or chanting (McIntyre, 1990). This strategy was used by one child who was in Reception. Example: Text Reader So they sent me a camel. He They sent me a camel. I sent was too grumpy. I sent him back. him back. They sent me a So they sent me a snake. He was snake. I sent it back. too scary. I sent him back.(1)

(1) Interestingly, all of the children selected the book Dear Zoo (Campbell, 1992), which accounts for the uniformity of these examples.

D. Reading the text and checking pictorial cues

In this category, the children read the text, but used the illustrations as cues for words they didn't know to gain information or to complete the sentence. In this study, all of the children used this strategy at some time during their reading. Examples: Text Reader I wrote to the zoo to sent me a I wrote to the zoo to send me a pet. They sent me an ... pet. They sent me an (lifted flap) elephant. Mother duck climbed out of the Mother duck climbed out of the pond. (looked at the picture) pond.

E. Reading the text but skipping words

Here, the children read the text of the book but skipped many words or pages so the story didn't make sense. With this strategy, the children seemed to focus on the words that they knew, not on the flow of the story or meaning. In this study, four Grade 1 children and two Grade 2 children, comprising 50 per cent of the total sample, displayed this reading strategy. Example: Text Reader Mother duck sat patiently on her Mother duck sat ... I don't know eggs. She was keeping them that one ... on her eggs. She was warm until they hatched. `When keeping ... coming out ... Mother are those ducklings coming out?' duck's... asked Mother duck's friend.

F. Reading the text and requesting help

For this category, the reader asked the adult to help them with unknown words. in asking for assistance, the children want to know what the word says and to comprehend the meaning of the story. In this study, three Grade 1 children and two Grade 2 children displayed this reading strategy, being 41.7 per cent of the total sample. Example: Text Reader In the sty, piglets are busy In the, that one? (points to word) feeding. [Researcher: `sty'] Sty, pigs are, that one? (points to word) [Researcher: `busy'] busy feeding.

G. Reading the text and using phonics

Using graphophonics, or sounding out letters to get meaning, is a strategy that many emergent readers use in decoding print. By using the letter sounds, the reader can usually decode the printed word, or a similar word. The readers are trying to decode the text on their own. Eight, children used this strategy: one Reception child, four Grade 1 children and all of the Grade 2 children, totalling 66.7 per cent of the entire sample. Examples: Text Reader hatched hat, hatched grumpy gr, gru, grumpy

H. Reading the text and using self-correction

This final category was where children read a storybook and, recognising that they made mistakes, corrected them. They looked for meaning and flow in the words, and as they checked their reading, corrected it if necessary. This recognition of a wrong word is important, as it shows that children are making meaning as they are reading. Five children used this reading strategy in this study: two Grade 1 children and all of the Grade 2 children, representing 41.7 per cent of the total sample. Examples: Text Reader Hush was visible. Hush was invisible, was visible. He was too fierce. He saw, was too fierce.

Discussion

In this study, some children used a few main strategies, while others used a combination of many, as shown in Tables 1-3. The results also showed that some children covered a much wider spectrum in their selection of reading strategies, employing strategies that seem to be less mature in nature as well as some quite complex strategies. At times the difficulty of the text or the reading proficiency of the child seemed to determine which strategy was used, although not always. It is possible that the individual child's prior experiences and interest, the level of difficulty of the text, the type of text read, and the child's proficiency in reading may affect the strategies chosen.

The eight strategies highlighted in this study confirm much of the work of Sulzby (1985) and McIntyre (1990), but they also seem to extended these findings. The categories that emerged from this small study support other research in that they can be ordered from least complex reading strategies to more complex, and that they move from being more oral to more written (Biemiller, 1970; Lomax & McGee, 1987; and Sulzby, 1985). Moreover, there are developmental patterns that demonstrate the move from language which is highly oral in nature to language which is written. The differences between oral and written language is that oral language `typically resides in an interaction between participants, their shared experiences and everyday knowledge, as well as the situation in which the communication takes place' (Neuman & Roskos, 1993: p. 28). In written language, however, `meaning is conveyed to a much larger extent by the text itself' (Neuman & Roskos, 1993: p. 28). In this sense, and if we compared the reading strategies of the younger subjects to the older ones, the results suggest that the younger subjects show a greater usage of strategies that seem to be less mature in nature as they focus on the use of the illustrations to tell the story and use language that is more oral. In contrast, the older children seemed to use a more complex set of strategies in their reading which focussed more on the text.

It is useful to compare the results of this study with those identified in the existing research literature.

A. Reading the pictures using oral-like labelling language

This reading strategy could be classified by Elster (1994) as Picture-governed non-narrative talk, using labelling and commenting. Similarly, Sulzby (1985) would have classified this strategy as attempts governed by pictures, stories not formed. For Sulzby (1985), this was found most frequently with younger children, which is consistent with this study as this strategy appeared in the youngest child but not in the older ones.

B. Reading the pictures using text-like language

In this second category, the children used written-like story conventions and displayed reading-like behaviour. The readers told a story with phrases and sentences, not just labelling and commenting on the pictures. This finding is consistent with Phase 1: Role play reading in First Steps: Reading developmental continuum (Rees, 1994). Elster (1994) classifies this strategy under Picture-governed narrative talk while Sulzby (1985) would classify this under Attempts governed by pictures, stories formed. Often the listener can understand a complete story, but the story is context-dependent, assuming that both the reader and the listener can see the illustrations. This could also be placed under Sulzby's Reading and storytelling mixed section where the reader inserts parts that sound like written and oral language. The story created may depart from the text, but it shows a clear sense of audience (Sulzby, 1985).

C. Saying the text from memory

In the example outlined for this strategy, the child knew the main parts of the story and repeated it, changing the names of the animals according to the illustrations. This behaviour occurs due to the predictable nature of the book that was self-selected. Sulzby (1985) might classify this strategy as Reading verbatimlike story. McIntyre adds another category extending from this one as Reading the text from memory when the child's eyes focus on the print but they read the words from memory (McIntyre, 1990).

D. Reading the text and checking pictorial cues

This strategy was not specifically mentioned in other studies on reading strategies. However, it has been stated that children may pause during their reading and search the pictures for more information, and that this may occur before an unknown word or after an error (Depree & Iversen, 1994).

E. Reading the text but skipping words

As stated in the results section, the child's focus is predominantly on the words they recognise. Even without meaning, the children continued to read. This category fits into Sulzby's Reading aspectually category where the child focusses on one or more aspects of print and excludes others (Sulzby, 1985).

F. Reading the text and requesting help

Although this reading strategy has not been specifically documented by either Sulzby (1985), McIntyre (1990), or Elster (1994), it was a common strategy used in this study. Rees (1994), however, has included under Phase 2: Experimental reading of the First Steps: Reading developmental continuum, that the reader asks for assistance with some words, and that the reader may be aware that their own reading is not accurate and may seek help to make meaning (Rees, 1994).

G. Reading the text and using phonics

This strategy's closest link to Sulzby (1985) is to the Print-watched holistic attempts category where the reader seems to read independently and integrates letter-sound knowledge by sounding out letters, and creating a blend of sounds to decipher a word.

H. Reading the text and using self-correction

This final reading strategy relates to Sulzby's Reading independently category, as the child exhibits self-regulation and flexibility and can make self-corrections (Sulzby, 1985). This strategy also appears in Strategies and behaviours of emergent reading as children start to correct some of their errors, which may be accompanied with re-reading (Depree & Iversen, 1994) and in the higher phases of the First Steps: Reading developmental continuum, such as independent and advanced reading stages (Rees, 1994).

As indicated above, there seem to be many links between this study on young children's reading strategies and former studies and readings. However, there were some extensions of these which serve to broaden my perspective and knowledge of the strategies used by emergent readers.

Some limitations of this study need to be mentioned here. The children studied were included due to parental consent, and were not randomly selected; the findings therefore are limited to those children, and cannot be generalised. Also, these patterns of reading strategies need to be confirmed in other populations, with children of different ages and different educational and socio-economic backgrounds.

As this study was conducted through qualitative means, the documented reading behaviours and strategies occurred in the context of a child reading to an adult on a one-to-one interaction process. Although the research was conducted in a school setting, the isolation from the class and the obvious recording equipment did not make the setting different from a research laboratory; the behaviours noted, therefore, may have been affected by this setting. In the classroom, the children may be less conscious of their reading performance and a more realistic account of their reading may be portrayed as a result. Due to the intrusive nature of the tape recorder, perhaps a video camera would have been more appropriate. Although still intrusive, this technology would have provided a greater amount of information. The context of the reading centre with its collection of storybooks that the children selected to read aloud also affected the reading strategies. The instruction and modelling of reading in the classroom and the familiarity and level of difficulty of the texts were crucial to the reading strategies that emerged.

Conclusions

This research does have some implications for classroom practices and educators. Making educators more aware of the different types of reading strategies that emergent readers use can aid them with their programming and designing of language and literacy activities so that success in reading is more attainable and the students are provided with appropriate extensions, as well as supporting young readers. This study may also assist educators in their classroom instruction, perhaps allowing them to introduce the students to specific skills and strategies. Educators may also use this study to create a checklist of what types of reading strategies their students are using, which may show developmental trends and can be used as a possible form of assessment. It also provides teachers with a window into emergent readers' use of pictures, print, attention to text language, and understanding of oral and written language conventions.

Given the limitations of the study, the patterns that emerged seem to correlate with the findings of other studies (Elster, 1994; Lomax & McGee, 1987; McIntyre, 1990; Sulzby, 1985). There seems to be evidence of a movement from reading using the pictures to a focus on graphophonics. Although developmental moves appear to exist, this study suggests that some children use a variety of reading strategies, using pictorial and textual cues.

It is evident that there are many different reading strategies that are used by young readers, just as it is evident that there is controversy as to the nature of the development of these strategies. What we do know is that children have their own individual sets of reading strategies that they use in order to make and share meaning as they acquire literacy attainment.

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