Supporting the English Language Learner: Examine the Topic

Examine Cueing Strategies

In this section you will explore an activity to better understand reading as an English Language Learner.

Reading is a complex activity that involves interactions between the reader and the text. A reader's prior knowledge and experiences play a significant role in effective reading and comprehension of text. The more we know about a topic, situation, or event before we read, the better our comprehension will be during and after reading. Readers use their "schema" in conjunction with the text features to construct meaning. These text features include three cueing systems: graphophonic, syntactic, and semantic. Reading may be difficult for English Language Learners because they need to develop the skills and knowledge in one or more of these areas of the reading process.

The interactive activity Examine Cueing Strategies allows you to understand the strategies readers use to comprehend text, and the difficulties English Language Learners face when reading English. A non-interactive version of this activity is available as a PDF document.

	Examine Cueing Strategies

After completing the activity, consider these questions:

• What strategies did you use to make sense of the passage?
• What text clues were most helpful to you?
• What vocabulary and background knowledge did you need to know to complete the passage?

	Submit your written response to the questions.

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