English literacy is of paramount importance for the acquisition of students’ educational development. It is considered to be the commodity by which economic and social status are measured (Baker, 2011). It is also the zenith for schooling and the key to economic self-advancement, personal empowerment and social control. Accessing to English literacy helps students acquire higher educational attainments, employment and vocational mobility (Bialystock, 2001, cited in Baker, 2011). According to the Ministry of Education (MOE), 2007), literacy in English helps students obtain the understanding, knowledge, and skills they need to become social, cultural, political, economic, and global participants. To become successful participants, students
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Through each strand students make sense of the concepts or information they receive as they listen, read, and view different forms of literacy. As students speak, write, and present ideas, their learning becomes meaningful not only to themselves but to others (MOE, 2007). The place of oral, written and visual language in literacy teaching and learning, stated in the New Zealand Curriculum (NZC), also indicates that oral language in English literacy underpins the written language, especially when students during discussions share ideas about their reading and writing. Such discussions enrich students’ vocabulary and thinking. Nevertheless, students who are new to the English language or “coming into an English-medium environment for the first time need explicit and extensive teaching of English vocabulary, word forms, sentence and text structures, and language uses” (MOE, 2007, p.16). According to the MOE (2006), good teachers implement programmes that are effective in fostering students’ listening and speaking, alongside their reading and writing programmes. Moreover, the pictures in visual language offer visual cues to the reader as they read and …show more content…
Such approaches are based on well grounded, instructional strategies of what teachers do, and how learners develop and broaden their understanding of literacy. The MOE (2006) states numerous ways teachers and students can address these areas in literacy. For example, teachers are required to set instructional objectives based on students’ identified needs. As teachers plan the activities they need to choose appropriate kinds and levels of challenge to help students solve problems they may encounter independently. Teachers can also help students through modelling by articulating how they arrive at a solution. It also encourages students to think aloud as they go through the process. Additionally, the teacher or possibly a peer provides struggling learners with a mode of how a proficient reader or writer works. Prompting is another key component of the literacy approach which focuses on students’ attention. Such practice helps foster students’ metacognitive awareness and confidence (MOE,
Through each strand students make sense of the concepts or information they receive as they listen, read, and view different forms of literacy. As students speak, write, and present ideas, their learning becomes meaningful not only to themselves but to others (MOE, 2007). The place of oral, written and visual language in literacy teaching and learning, stated in the New Zealand Curriculum (NZC), also indicates that oral language in English literacy underpins the written language, especially when students during discussions share ideas about their reading and writing. Such discussions enrich students’ vocabulary and thinking. Nevertheless, students who are new to the English language or “coming into an English-medium environment for the first time need explicit and extensive teaching of English vocabulary, word forms, sentence and text structures, and language uses” (MOE, 2007, p.16). According to the MOE (2006), good teachers implement programmes that are effective in fostering students’ listening and speaking, alongside their reading and writing programmes. Moreover, the pictures in visual language offer visual cues to the reader as they read and …show more content…
Such approaches are based on well grounded, instructional strategies of what teachers do, and how learners develop and broaden their understanding of literacy. The MOE (2006) states numerous ways teachers and students can address these areas in literacy. For example, teachers are required to set instructional objectives based on students’ identified needs. As teachers plan the activities they need to choose appropriate kinds and levels of challenge to help students solve problems they may encounter independently. Teachers can also help students through modelling by articulating how they arrive at a solution. It also encourages students to think aloud as they go through the process. Additionally, the teacher or possibly a peer provides struggling learners with a mode of how a proficient reader or writer works. Prompting is another key component of the literacy approach which focuses on students’ attention. Such practice helps foster students’ metacognitive awareness and confidence (MOE,