Instruction: Please post your comments to the question/statement below. You are expected to participate in all six (6) discussion boards on more than one occasion each, at least three times on different days. You are expected to be involved in an active discussion.

Question/Statement

Module 3 discussion board 1 ( Classmate A.H.)

Children naturally develop reading skills from an early stage using language and experiences. According to research, many students face learning barriers in and outside the school environment. Environmental, cognitive and cultural factors influence the development of early literacy concerning reading. These factors consequentially affect children’s reading comprehension. Therefore, adults must be intentional about the strategies they put in place to promote early reading and early literacy. Environmental, cognitive and cultural factors influence reading difficulties and can be used to understand a child’s needs.

Environmental factors such as the home environment, socioeconomic status of the family, and language exposure at home can cause reading difficulties. For example, a child who grows up in a home where there are no books, parents do not get involved in reading activities, and where there are literary materials may delay a child’s exposure to reading as a crucial skill (Why children struggle in reading: Environmental factors 2023). Similarly, a child from a low-income family background who cannot afford to buy literacy and educational materials can also encounter reading difficulties (Why children struggle in reading: Environmental factors 2023). At the same time, the neighbourhood where a child grows up can influence their reading skills. Children who grow up in areas with limited exposure to diverse languages can have challenges acquiring vocabulary and may have hampered language development that may translate to reading difficulties and reading comprehension (Why children struggle in reading: Environmental factors 2023).

Cognitive factors can also affect reading skill development. For example, a child with phonological awareness challenges may struggle with recognizing and manipulating sounds and words and cannot understand and decode written words (Exploring the factors that affect how students learn to read 2021). Similarly, a child with memory issues, e.g. poor memory, may encounter reading difficulties due to the inability to quickly and accurately recognize and read out familiar words. A child who has a slow brain processing speed may face fluency challenges.

Further, cultural factors may influence the development of reading skills. For example, a child whose family speaks a language different from the language of instruction in school may have challenges reading, comprehending and acquiring a vocabulary of the target language (Exploring the factors that affect how students learn to read 2021). At the same time, a child’s cultural background is the basis for prior knowledge and experiences (Exploring the factors that affect how students learn to read 2021). These background knowledge and experiences may necessitate additional support, e.g. from a teacher, which, if not provided, may make reading a frustrating experience for a child.

Educators must understand these factors when handling a child who has reading difficulties. With this information, educators can quickly provide support and help specially designed for each learner (Target the problem! 2021). For example, an educator may give a child with reading difficulties due to a lack of reading materials with them, and a child whose family’s cultural background affects their reading can have the educator implement the most suitable intervention to support reading.

These three categories of factors that influence reading are all important. However, cognitive factors may be more important than the other two. The cognitive factors may necessitate a more intensive and focused intervention targeting to improve a child’s capacity to learn how to read, remember familiar words, and acquire new words they are encountering for the first time (Target the problem! 2021). In other words, cognitive factors may have more severe consequences if ignored than the rest. As I think through, the kind of children who come to my mind is those who dislike reading, who make the wrong spelling of even familiar words, who read through guessing so that they need correction for nearly every word they read, and who cannot write down what they say in spoken language or generally, children with learning disabilities that are related to reading e.g., dyslexia. When looking at children, it is essential to consider all the factors that may have led to a particular challenge. I recommend thoroughly evaluating a child with reading difficulties to decide and implement the most suitable strategies for helping.

References

Exploring the factors that affect how students learn to read. Waterford.org. (2021, October 6). https://www.waterford.org/education/factors-that-affect-how-students-learn-to-read/

Target the problem!. Reading Rockets. (2021, May 3). https://www.readingrockets.org/helping/target

Why children struggle in reading: Environmental factors. eTALE Africa. (2023, March 9). https://dev.taleafrica.com/reading-difficulties/environmental-factors/