Using scaffolded text with systematic progression of spelling patterns to promote Hispanic children’s early literacy

This comparative, descriptive study examined the relationship between text-type use and early literacy outcomes of English language decoding ability. The representative sample was 80 grade 1 students receiving reading instruction using English language materials with a focus on the Spanish speaking, Hispanic English Language Learner (ELL) using scaffolded text when learning to read. The research aims were about specific pairwise comparisons. The comparisons were analyzed with t tests, noting the mean differences in correct number of English words decoded from a list of 253 words. Words correctly decoded were tallied for each student. There were three groups and two comparisons. Group 1: Hispanic, ELL receiving reading instruction using scaffolded text (ST)*. Group 2: Hispanic, ELL using non-scaffolded text (NST)*. Group 3: English only (EO) students using NST. Comparison 1: Group 1 and Group 2. Comparison 2: Group 1 and Group 3. Results show that Group 1 correctly decoded significantly more words than Group 2. Group 1 correctly decoded more words than Group 3; this difference was not statistically significant. Results of this study provide preliminary support for the use of scaffolded text in helping Hispanic ELL decode English text.