PIRLS 2006 Encyclopedia

PIRLS 2006 EncyclopediaReading specialists also provide consultation to schools on the provision of language andliteracy support for students with reading difficulties.In addition to research and development of reading programs and resources, readingspecialists also work with educational psychologists in the assessment of students referredfor dyslexia screening. Results from the assessments then are used to plan appropriateintervention strategies for the child and make recommendations for in-school support byteachers or Special Needs Officers. Where appropriate, the child is referred to an externalagency that specializes in remediation for students with dyslexia.Second-language InstructionSingapore’s bilingual policy requires all students in the education system to take coursesin both English and a mother-tongue language. Most mother-tongue languages areoffered up to the pre-university level. The goal is to have every student study his or hermother tongue for as long as possible and to as high a level as he or she is capable of.To ensure that the mother-tongue curriculum remains relevant to the needs ofstudents of different language abilities and interests, it was reviewed by various mothertonguecommittees (Chinese in 2004 and Malay and Tamil in 2005). The new Chineselanguage curriculum and the new Malay language and Tamil language curricula willbe implemented in stages in schools in 2007 and 2008, respectively. Resources, such asteaching guides, and instructional and reading materials will be provided to schools.SingaporeEffective PracticesPrimary schools in Singapore use a variety of strategies to teach reading. The majorapproaches for teaching reading in the lower primary (Primary 1–3) are the Shared BookApproach and the Modified Language Experience Approach. The Shared Book Approachis an integrated and balanced language teaching approach that uses motivating andenjoyable large-print books with illustrations to teach and reinforce word identificationskills, vocabulary, and language structures, as specified in the English Language Syllabus2001. The Modified Language Experience Approach is based on activities and storiesdeveloped from the personal experiences of the learner. The stories about personalexperiences are written down by a teacher and read together until the student associatesthe written form of the word with the spoken. The Modified Language ExperienceApproach is more structured than the original Language Experience Approach in thatthe experiences provided to the students are crafted to elicit specific target structuresand vocabulary.From Primary 4 to 6, the strategies used to teach reading include Directed Readingand Thinking Activities (DRTA) and the 3-Level Guide. DRTA is a strategy that encouragesstudents to make, confirm, and revise predictions as they read segments of text to aidin reading comprehension. The 3-Level Guide is an approach that teaches students toread a text at three levels of comprehension, namely literal, interpretive, and application.Extensive reading programs to promote reading also are held school wide and supportedby activities such as storytelling, dramatization, and poetry recitation.360