Case Study: Carlos
1.) Considering both environmental and individual factors, which of these appear to be associated with Carlos’ reading problems?
Carlos’ reading problems most likely stem from a combination of both environmental and individual factors. The environmental factors that have affected Carlos include that fact that he is an ELL student whose family immigrated to the United States when he was ten years old. According to his parents during an interview at the school, Carlos only speaks English when he is at school. The rest of the time he speaks Spanish to his family and friends, which limits his exposure and practice with the English language. This is unfortunate because according to parallel distributed processing (PDP) “the brain is a social brain. Learning is influenced by the levels of social interactions of others” (Ariza, 2010). The family unit is very important in traditional Spanish cultures and most likely this is the case in Carlos’ house as well, which would explain why he spends a great deal of time with …show more content…
I believe that if Carlos was to receive remedial instruction in a group setting that he would give up or not even try, so not to look “dumb” in front of others. When working alone with the reading specialist his go to reaction when he became frustrated and was probed about what he did not understand was to want to leave. I believe over time the reading specialist can build a trust with Carlos, so he would be more willing to take academic risks and challenge himself without the worry of his peers. I also think that due to the fact that his reading level is so low, at an eighth grade level, that he would benefit more from the highly personalized instruction to meet his needs which will occur through individualized
1.) Considering both environmental and individual factors, which of these appear to be associated with Carlos’ reading problems?
Carlos’ reading problems most likely stem from a combination of both environmental and individual factors. The environmental factors that have affected Carlos include that fact that he is an ELL student whose family immigrated to the United States when he was ten years old. According to his parents during an interview at the school, Carlos only speaks English when he is at school. The rest of the time he speaks Spanish to his family and friends, which limits his exposure and practice with the English language. This is unfortunate because according to parallel distributed processing (PDP) “the brain is a social brain. Learning is influenced by the levels of social interactions of others” (Ariza, 2010). The family unit is very important in traditional Spanish cultures and most likely this is the case in Carlos’ house as well, which would explain why he spends a great deal of time with …show more content…
I believe that if Carlos was to receive remedial instruction in a group setting that he would give up or not even try, so not to look “dumb” in front of others. When working alone with the reading specialist his go to reaction when he became frustrated and was probed about what he did not understand was to want to leave. I believe over time the reading specialist can build a trust with Carlos, so he would be more willing to take academic risks and challenge himself without the worry of his peers. I also think that due to the fact that his reading level is so low, at an eighth grade level, that he would benefit more from the highly personalized instruction to meet his needs which will occur through individualized