Portrayal of Learners with Reading Difficulties in the USA: A Qualitative Content Analysis of Textbooks for Pre-Service English Language Arts Teachers
Lee, Soojin
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Korean Language Education Research Vol. 52 No. 5 pp.61-91 (2017)
Abstract
Lee, Soojin Given that teacher perception influences teaching practice and even- tually student learning, the knowledge pre-service teachers are taught in teacher-prep programs is meaningful. This paper explored how learners with reading difficulties are represented in secondary English Language Arts (ELA) methods course textbooks in the U.S. with qualitative content analysis. With experts’ recommendations and searching, total of sixteen textbooks were included in the analysis. Results indicated that, with few exceptions, most textbooks described learners with reading difficulties with deficit view, attributing reading difficulties to learners. Result also showed the criteria for grouping learners with reading difficulties were not clearly provided in the textbooks. Teaching reading has become in- creasingly more difficult considering their omnipresent dynamics in the classroom, and current pre-service ELA teacher education textbooks were not sufficient enough to address the diversity to pre-service teachers who would face the dynamics in their classrooms soon. Other findings and im- plications from the analysis are discussed in terms of possible influence on secondary ELA education and ELA teacher education as well as a call for future research on secondary ELA teacher education.
Keywords
Learners with reading difficultiesAlliteracyStruggling readersSec-ondary literacy teacher educationELA teacher educationLiteracy teacher education
