How does teachers affect student's learning and performance in reading comprehension? Learn more on the impact brought by teachers in the student's reading comprehension.

1. External Factors that Affect the Child’s Learning
to Read
ENVIRONMENT:
TEACHER

2. Many articles and reports focusing on educational reform
mention the teacher on top of the list when they enumerate
“what’s wrong with our schools.”
Some examples of these are the following:
 Chapter 5 of the EDCOM Report of 1991, which is entitled
Teachers at the Heart of the Problem.
 Chapter 14 of the US National Commission on Excellence in
Education’s report titled A Nation at Risk: The Imperatives
for Educational Reform.

3. If teachers are at the heart of instruction, then they should
be at the core of any educational reform. According to Hesson
and Weeks (1991), reform should originate from teachers and
school administrators. They must emphasize reform that
recognizes not only cognitive development but also the
importance of affect in teaching and learning.

4. Teaching Reading
Theoretical
contributions Methods or
from linguistics, techniques of Aids and
reading process, teaching equipments
psychology, and
social theories

5. Teacher’s attitudes play a crucial role in influencing reading
achievement.
According to Dwyer & Dwyer (1993), teachers must have
these affective considerations:
 High expectations of students and of themselves as teachers;
 Warm and caring attitudes demonstrated to students;
 Teaching focused on needs of students rather than on specific content;
 Highly flexible, enthusiastic, and imaginative instruction; and
 High levels of personal comfort during interactions with students.

6.  A good reading teacher is flexible.
 Most successful teachers are honest in their approach to
learners.
 They are generally patient and kind.
 They also show a personal interest in each learner.

7. Carr (1969) said during the 1970 World Confederation of
Organizations of the Teaching Profession:
Teachers need the accumulated knowledge of an encyclopedia, the
financial skills of a banker, the adaptability of a chameleon, the courage
of a persecuted saint, the subtlety of a serpent, the eyes of a hawk, the
gentleness of a dove, the patience of Job, the strength of a lion, the hide
of rhinoceros, and the perseverance of the devil.

8. Teachers’ expectations (self-fulfilling prophecy) about the
learning ability of students become critical factors in fostering
learning.
In 1968, Rosenthal and Jacobson published a book entitled
Pygmalion in the Classroom: Teacher Expectations and
Pupil’s Intellectual Achievement. In here, they concluded that
a teacher’s positive attitudes toward the learning capabilities
of students designated as likely to “bloom.”

9. According to Shrank (1968), students who were expected by
teachers to achieve at higher levels appeared to learn
substantially more than students viewed as having lower
levels of learning potential.
Palardy (in Stipek, 1988) found that when first-grade
teachers believed boys are far less successful in learning to
read than girls, then the boys in these classes achieved
significantly less than boys in classes where teachers believed
that boys are just as successful as girls.

10. Bettelheim and Zeland (in Cramer and Castle, 1993) found
learning to read the most important experience of elementary
school children – so important as to largely determine their
success or failure throughout the school years. They proposed
that teachers must present reading as a valuable, meaningful,
and entertaining activity. They said that teachers’
competencies, coupled with affective considerations, are the
most important factors relative to learning to read regardless
of what the child brings from the home.

11.  With all of these being said,
 When teachers have favorable expectations of students, the students
perform in accord with those expectations.
 Conversely, teachers who have unfavorable expectations of students
get unfavorable performance from the students.

12.  Our main task is to develop students who can and do read
 We should often ask ourselves: Do we have the
competencies to empower our students?
 As scholars, we cannot and must not teach what we do not
know. By being naturally curious, we are becoming
students once again. Such curiosity allows us to modify our
philosophies continually and to apply our minds to
discovering how we, and our students, learn to learn.
 Teachers have an obligation to continue to be learners: to
study, to seek out the latest research, to ponder their
developing knowledge of the reading process.

13.  According to Manning, a reading teacher must have
continuing education in the following:
1. The professional literature
2. Subject matter
3. The reading curriculum
4. Reading methodology

14.  The other important role for the reading teacher echoes the
different intangibles and different factors.
 A teacher must be a romanticist, possessing the wisdom
that ensures his/her students’ use of reading as a means of
personal and societal fulfillment.
 According to Manning, these wisdoms include:
 Immersion in the world of books, stories, poetry, and
drama

15.  Being literate exemplars, demonstrating by their
knowledge and by their language familiarity with
literature that has guaranteed personal liberty and
intellectual freedom for all who have known it.
 Understanding and acceptance of why students
communicate as they do.
 Enlightening students to recognize and appreciate the
inherent dignity of all human labor through words of
good moral sense and common decency, and to seek
through language and reading a universe of peace.

16.  The greatest gift the teacher can give: the unbridled
romantic love affair with language and books – a gift
that shall remain long after the sweet gentle memories
of school have dimmed and faded forever.

17.  Differences among pupils
 Age
 Gender
 Culture
 Language
 Intelligence
 Learning styles
 Physical condition
 Attitude/Motive/Self-concept
 Social and emotional factors

18.  Phonology
 Teachers can develop students’ phonological skills through a wide
variety of activities. Rhymes, alliteration (words which start with the
same sounds) and poetry can be used to draw children’s attention to
individual sounds in the language.
 Teachers can focus on individual syllables and sounds in language in
the context of book reading. It does not have to be taught in total
separation from other reading activities.

19.  Fluency
 Teaching word recognition skills is an important first step. The
second step is to ensure that students can develop speed and ease in
recognizing words and reading connected text.
 To assess fluency, teachers need to listen to their students reading
aloud. They should provide feedback to the students about their
reading. They also need to determine how much is understood.
 The reading of texts with high frequency words will encourage
fluency if the texts are interesting and meaningful to the reader.
 For non-native speakers of a language, word recognition ability must
match their oral language development.
 Repeated reading and paired reading (also called buddy reading) are
examples of activities that promote fluency through practice.

20.  Vocabulary
 Vocabulary should be taught directly and indirectly. Direct
instruction includes giving word definitions and pre-teaching of
vocabulary before reading a text. Indirect methods refer to incidental
vocabulary learning, e.g. mentioning, extensive reading and exposure
to language-rich contexts.
 Repetition and multiple exposures to vocabulary items (e.g. through
speaking, listening and writing) are important. This should ideally be
done in connection with authentic learning tasks.
 Vocabulary learning should involve active engagement in tasks, e.g.
learning new vocabulary by doing a class project.
 Word definitions in texts aid vocabulary development.
 Multiple methods, not dependence on a single method, will result in
better vocabulary learning

21.  Comprehension
 Instruction can improve comprehension by focusing on concepts and
the vocabulary used to express them.
 Comprehension can also be enhanced by building on students’
background knowledge, e.g. by having a group discussion before
reading.
 Teachers can guide students by modeling the actions they can take to
improve comprehension. These actions include: asking questions
about a text while reading; identifying main ideas; using prior
knowledge to make predictions.
 Teaching a combination of different strategies is better than focusing
on one.

22.  Comprehension
 Different methods have been found to be effective in teaching text
comprehension. Teachers can use combinations of the following:
 Cooperative or group learning;
 Graphic organizers (e.g. flow charts, word webs);
 Asking and answering questions;
 Story structure;
 Summarizing;
 Focusing on vocabulary.

23.  The posing of provocative questions by the teacher about
reading content is one of the most effective ways of
stimulating children to think as they read about what they
read.
 At the early levels, it is important that teachers frame these
questions in concrete rather than abstract terms.
 Teachers should ensure a repertoire of questions which
over a period of time will cover all aspects of the reading
program.

24.  Leading questions which give an incidental guide or clue to
the to the desired answer often form the bridge from the
recall to the inference type question.
 However, in order to probe more deeply into reader
reaction, teachers must pose questions requiring judgment
or demanding that the answer be justified either from
personal experience or general knowledge.
 Two (2) major cautions about questioning:
 When a question is asked, care must be taken to prevent a focus
which determines the reader’s level of comprehension.
 Both teachers and student usually assume that there is a single right
answer.

25.  The response patterns of the teacher are also important in
promoting reading growth.
• Response that has the effect of cutting off the
1st pupil’s thinking (closure response)
• Verbal response
2nd
• Responses which sustain and reinforce the pupil’s
3rd thinking
• Responses which ensure that understanding of the
4th printed material has developed and has matured.

26.  The purpose for reading is closely connected to a person’s
motivation for reading.
 A powerful way to motivate a child to read is to make a task
interesting.
 Teachers who want to spark interest in reading may
structure a stimulating environment.
 Considering the interest level, prior knowledge and
background of the child will help in motivating the child to
read. The book that you will be using for the child must
have relevance to him/her.
 Make connections between reading and student’s lives.

27.  By talking to students about the different purposes for
reading, they will become more aware of what to focus on
as they read.
 The use of different types of texts (stories, news articles,
information text, literature) promotes different purposes
and forms of reading.
 The use of authentic texts and tasks will promote
purposeful reading.
 Develop a love for reading, because it extends beyond
academic success.

28. According to Hermosa, a positive teacher is one who:
 Creates within his/her classroom a positive atmosphere, a
way of life conducive to promoting reading through positive
effect.
 Is realistic but always looking for the best in his/her
students.
 Is competent, constantly striving to better his/her skills.
 Realizes that positive expectations coupled with high level
of teaching ability promotes maximum achievement from
students.

29. References:
Alcantara, R.D., Cabanilla, J.Q., Espina, F.P., & Villamin,
A.M. (1996). Teaching strategies I for the teaching of the
communication arts: Listening, speaking, reading and
writing. Quezon Ave., QC: Katha.
Bernhardt, E.B., Kamil, M.L., Muaka, A., & Pang, E.S. (2003).
Teaching reading. Brussels, Belgium: International
Academy of Education.
Dauzat, J.A., & Dauzat, S.V. (1981). Reading: The teacher
and the learner. New York, NY: John Wiley and Sons.
Staiger, R.C. (Ed.). (1973). The teaching of reading. Paris:
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization.