Acquisition vs. Word Learning Views

After reading about the word recognition view of teaching reading and the acquisition, or sociopsycholinguisic view, I noticed that my approach to teaching literacy pulls strategies and activities from both views. When working with emergent readers, ELL students and students whose first language is English, I absolutely see the benefits of directly and specifically teaching sight words, phonics, and decoding. These skills and strategies give students different ways to identify words which can then increase comprehension of texts as a whole. I also think that the acquisition view's focus on making meaning makes sense. After all, isn't that why we read in the first place? To make meaning and understand what we read?  Pulling techniques from both views works for my students as they can use context clues and background knowledge (acquisition view) with phonics skills, sight words, and structural analysis to identify words and make meaning of what they are reading. Below is a list of activities from Freeman (2004), pg. 48, that I have identified as a word recognition activity or an activity that supports the acquisition view.

Student Activity	Learning/ Word Recognition	Acquisition/ sociopsycholinguistic	Reasoning
Look up words in the dictionary to write definitions	X		Vocabulary should be pretaught, according to the word recognition view. Preteaching vocabulary often “consists of defining words for students or giving students a list of words and having them look the words up and write definitions” (Freeman and Freeman, 2004, pg. 28)
Make a Venn diagram to compare two stories	X	X	Comprehension strategies, such as comparing and contrasting, are featured in both the word recognition view and the sociopsycholinguistic view as well.
Practice sounding out words	X		A primary learning strategy in the word recognition view is to “use phonics rules to sound out words and learn sight words” (Freeman and Freeman, 2004, pg. 25).
Read in round-robin fashion	X		A classroom practice consistent with the word recognition view is having students read aloud on a regular basis, sometimes in round-robin fashion (Freeman and Freeman, 2004, pg. 28). During round robins, or read alouds, the teacher or other students provide correction and feedback to the reader.
Correct peers when they make a mistake during reading	X		The word recognition view supports the belief that while reading aloud, giving a student a word or correcting a mistake helps the student to learn that word (Freeman and Freeman, 2004, pg. 28).
Identify words on a big book page that start with the same sound		X	Students are identifying words in the context of a big book. The Sociopsycholinguistic view of language acquisition supports “acquiring vocabulary by encountering words in context” (Freeman and Freeman, 2004, pg. 25).
Group cards with classmates’ names by a criterion on such as first of last letter	X		Working with words in isolation, such as names, aligns more with the word learning view.
Write rhyming poetry and then discuss different spellings for the same sound		X	The phonics lesson for this activity is embedded within rhyming poetry, which would fit with the sociopsycholinguistic view. Students learn the different spellings for the same sound as they encounter them in the poetry.
Ask the teacher how to spell any word they don’t know			This is not a strategy that aligns with either view. The sociopsycholinguistic view may not emphasize correctness of spelling, but rather would support writing that conveyed meaning. The word learning view might have writers use their knowledge of similar words and their knowledge of word structures to attempt the word followed by teacher correction.
Read a language experience story they have created with the teacher		X	Krashen suggests that when “people read texts that are comprehensible and interesting, they become more proficient readers and writers” (Freeman and Freeman, 2004, pg. 25).  Having created the story, it should be comprehensible and usually students find writing that they have created or that their peers have created to be interesting. This aligns with the sociopsycholinguistic view.
Work in pairs to arrange words from a familiar chant into sentences	X		With the sociopsycholinguisic view, students are not focused on identifying individual words (or arranging them), rather they are focused on constructing meaning (Freeman and Freeman, 2004, pg. 26). The word recognition view focuses on identifying individual words.
Divide words into syllables	X		The word recognition view may include this activity. Recognizing syllables may help students to deconstruct words into smaller pieces making them more manageable, or easier to read and pronounce (Freeman and Freeman, 2004, pg. 27).
On a worksheet, draw a line from each word to the picture that starts with the same sound	X		This activity sounds like a way to preteach vocabulary (or possibly a way to assess it), which aligns with the word recognition view because it is teaching phonics in isolation.

 

 

 

 

Teacher Action	Learning/ Word Recognition	Acquisition/ sociopsycholinguistic	Reasoning
Preteaches vocabulary	X		A classroom activity supported by the word recognition view is “learning the vocabulary in advance of reading” (Freeman and Freeman, 2004, pg. 25).
Does a shared reading with a big book	X	X
Makes sure that students read only books that fit their level	X	X	Both the word recognition view and the sociopsycholinguistic view support the idea that good readers understand what they read (Freeman and Freeman, 2004, pg. 25) Providing students with books at their level and slightly above their level will increase achievement.
Has students segment words into phonemes	X		With the learned view of reading, “readers learn a set of skills that allows them to make a connection between the black marks on the page and word in their oral vocabulary” (Freeman and Freeman, 2004, pg. 24). Students must learn how to blend and segment to pronounce and identify words.
Writes words the students dictate for a story and has students help with the spelling of difficult words		X	The student focus is on meaning as they dictate, the teacher then translates spoken words to written words on the page. The sociopsycholinguistic view focuses on meaning within context.
Asks students to look around the room and find words starting with a certain letter	X		Looking around the room for word that begin with one letter does not directly help students to better understand a text. It will however improve phonics skills and decoding abilities for students while they are reading. This aligns with the word recognition view.
Uses decodable texts	X		The word recognition view focuses on the students abilities to decode, or rather, “recode,” words on a page into words in their vocabulary through the use of phonics (Freeman and Freeman, 2004, pg. 26).
Sets aside time for SSR (sustained silent reading) each day		X	With the sociopsycholinguistic view of language acquisition, students “read silently using strategies the teacher has helped students internalize to construct meaning from a text” (Freeman and Freeman, 2004, pg. 25).
Teaches Latin and Greek roots	X		With the learned word view, students may use structural analysis to identify words, or their knowledge of Latin and Greek roots (Freeman and Freeman, 2004, pg. 25).
Chooses predictable texts		X	With the sociopsycholinguistic view, teachers may utilize familiar story patterns or predictable texts to encourage students to make and check predictions and also to increase their understanding of the texts.
Teaches students different comprehension strategies	X	X	Both views support different comprehension strategies. Comprehension is the ultimate purpose of reading.
Does a picture walk of a new book		X	To construct meaning according to the sociopsycholinguistics view, students “go through a process of sampling the text, predicting what will come next, filling in unstated information by inferring, confirming or disconfirming their predictions, and integrating the new information into what they already know” (Freeman and Freeman, 2004, pg. 26).  Picture walks give students the chance to preview, or sample, the text, while making predictions and activating schema.
Uses a variety of worksheets to teach different skills	X		Worksheets align more with the word recognition view. The sociopsycholinguistic view would support texts, instead of worksheets,as primary teaching tools so that the students learn words as they encounter them.

 

 Resources:

Freeman, David and Yvonne Freeman (2004). Essential Linguistics. Portsmouth, NH, Heinemann Publishing.