UC Riverside educator honored for article on culture, language grasp
Common methods to help students struggling to read may not work with students learning English as a second language, a UC Riverside assistant professor of education says.
Across the country, teachers remember enjoying Dr. Seuss books as children. They assume their students will like them too, said assistant professor Michael Orosco, who is being honored for an article about how language and cultural differences affect the way students learn.
Many popular children's books don't resonate with English language learners, he said. He remembers hearing one boy say that cats don't wear hats and they don't talk where he comes from.
"The teacher couldn't figure out he didn't know it was fiction," Orosco said.
Orosco was to receive the Frank Pajares Award at the American Education Research Association meeting Sunday in New Orleans. His article "A Sociocultural Examination of Response to Intervention with Latino English Language Learners" was published by Theory Into Practice, an education profession journal.
Orosco came to UCR three years ago.
His research started when he was working on his doctoral degree in Colorado. He saw a second-grade teacher use Dr. Seuss' "The Lorax" to teach reading. Students didn't understand the story with made-up rhyming words.
"It's OK to use the Lorax," he said last week in his office in Riverside. But teachers need to help students, especially those learning English, understand the vocabulary and the context.
As part of No Child Left Behind, Congress introduced Response to Intervention as a method to help as many struggling students as possible before they are referred to special education.
AVOIDING SPECIAL ED
Several Inland districts use that model. About 80 percent of students should learn the subject matter the first time it is taught. Then "intervention" to help the 20 percent of struggling students is offered. Only after those efforts should students be referred to special education.
The problem, Orosco said, is that students whose cultural backgrounds don't connect with lessons the first time may have the same problems with books intended to help them catch up.
Much higher percentages of Latino, black and American Indian students are referred to special education. Orosco blames language and cultural differences and many teachers' lack of understanding and training in those differences.
Inland schools use textbooks adopted by the state to reflect students' cultural backgrounds, said Diana Asseier, assistant superintendent for instructional support services in Alvord Unified School District.
Her district covers parts of Riverside and Corona. Because almost 44 percent of students are English learners, Asseier said teachers understand their needs better than teachers in most of the country.
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