Introduction
In middle and high school, students may face various challenges that relate to their academic skills. One such area is the presence of deficiencies in an essential ability, such as reading. Although there is a suggestion that this kind of problem is typical at an earlier age, it continues to be faced by individuals in the older age group. In particular, this aspect concerns students for whom English is a second language. Therefore, within the framework of this research paper, the problem of slow reading among middle and high school students will be investigated, and a strategy to address this deficiency will be provided.
Improving Students’ Reading Abilities
Before considering the problem and potential interventions to address it, it is necessary to provide a rationale for researching this topic. At the moment, one of the main problems for children of middle and high school age is a short attention span. Research indicated that “more than four in five (85%) teachers agree that the ‘ever-swiping nature of social media’ has negatively affected pupils’ attention span” (Busby, 2023, para. 6).
In other words, a high degree of exposure to social media is becoming one of the leading reasons why students cannot focus on the information provided for a long time; thus, this negatively affects its comprehension and the further development of other skills. Thus, researching topics of such difficulty in reading and on the speed of reading becomes an important aspect of teachers’ educational practice. There is a need to identify approaches that will help children improve this indicator, thereby positively impacting their academic success.
At the center of the problem of low reading rate is an important skill: reading stamina. This ability includes several vital characteristics, such as general reading skills, attention, and focus. It is underlined that “when a person is unable to read for more than a few minutes, it affects their understanding of the text and their interest in the text” (Clifton, 2021, p. 2). Consequently, students’ inability to focus on the text for long periods has a serious adverse effect on their learning. In turn, this can contribute to the overall academic performance of the entire class.
At the same time, it is worth noting that the problem of slow reading may have a different nature for English language learners. This is because this group of individuals is not native speakers of the language and may thus have difficulty reading due to linguistic characteristics. In addition, cultural differences and culturally based assumptions (Irujo, N.D.) significantly contribute to this process. They can affect the student’s comprehension of the text, which is compounded by a possible lack of background knowledge. With English language learners in the classroom, teachers face the challenge of creating an approach that addresses the needs of all students and positively impacts their academic performance.
The next step in this research is to identify research-based reading strategies that can be used in middle and high schools to address the problem under consideration. First of all, the main thing is to emphasize that the approach should be based on working with several areas. One of them is paying attention to an important aspect, such as decoding skills (Will, 2022).
The value of this process is that it benefits both English-speaking students and English-language learners. The value in this aspect lies in the use of strategies such as structured word inquiry. This approach shows significant effectiveness when working with individuals who have difficulty reading (Colenbrander et al., 2022). It is based on providing students with an understanding of how to analyze word parts and text and an awareness of the patterns within the English language.
The proposed strategy has been studied for effectiveness and positive features when working with students. Hence, one of them was the fact that the instructions and organization of the structured word inquiry approach “have been more effective for increasing students’ motivation to read” (Colenbrander et al., 2022, p. 350). Thus, it can be used to involve students more in the reading process. Structured word inquiry also benefited English language learners by facilitating their understanding of the language. In this way, teachers can use this approach to create more understandable instructions and learning procedures that will help students understand vocabulary and language morphology.
Another critical component of the strategy to help students cope with reading difficulties is providing mental support. The classroom is a distinct environment that significantly affects students. Thus, when faced with academic difficulties, this can increase stress. These circumstances, in turn, can affect the student’s mental state and cause anxiety or the development of depressive disorders. It is noted that “students who are not progressing at the same rate as their peers are ashamed and try to hide their lagging reading skill” (Will, 2022, para. 5). This becomes a separate problem since the late identification of issues from learners can lead to an aggravation of the issue.
Support from education providers contributes to significant improvements in students’ academic performance. This is necessary to ensure comfort and fill social-emotional needs (Colenbrander et al., 2022). Research shows that this kind of teacher involvement in the learning process has a positive effect on students’ ability. This can be especially beneficial for English language learners. This aspect is based on the fact that approaches for improving their reading skills in their native language are being developed. Thus, they better understand what is required of them, and engagement and interest also increase significantly.
Conclusion
In conclusion, one problem for middle and high school students in reading is the shortness of reading periods. In other words, individuals cannot maintain attention to this activity for long. On the one hand, this is due to a short attention span caused by social media use.
On the other hand, this may be due to decoding difficulties, which are especially common among English language learners. Teachers are tasked with creating the most appropriate learning conditions, taking into account students’ academic and social-emotional needs to achieve the most favorable outcomes. To do this, strategies focused on improving skills such as reading comprehension and individuals’ mental state can be used, thereby increasing their level of involvement and interest in improving their abilities.
References
Busby, E. (2023). Children’s attention span is ‘shorter than ever’ in the classroom, teachers say. The Independent.
Clifton, R. (2021). The effects of student choice on reading comprehension and stamina. Goucher College.
Colenbrander, D., Parsons, L., Bowers, J. S., & Davis, C. J. (2022). Assessing the effectiveness of structured word inquiry for students in grades 3 and 5 with reading and spelling difficulties: A randomized controlled trial. Reading Research Quarterly, 57(1), 307-352.
Irujo, S. (n.d.). What does research tell us about teaching reading to English language learners? Reading Rockets.
Will, M. (2022). What teachers can do to help struggling readers who feel ashamed. Education Week.