English Language Learners and the Shame of Being a Struggling Reader

• In Event: Poster Session 6
  In Poster Session: Learning and Motivation in Social and Cultural Contexts Poster Session 1

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to tap into the affective and cognitive domains to identify the presence of the emotion of shame in struggling ELL readers. This study uses the Cognitive-Attributional Model and the Reader Self-Perception Scales with 98 fourth graders in an urban elementary school to examine self-perceptions. Nine students, found to have low self-perceptions of their reading ability, were interviewed to investigate and identify possible feelings of shame regarding their reading abilities. Themes were identified through transcribing and coding of the interviews. Results indicated students could be grappling with this incapacitating emotion and further inhibiting their ability to grow cognitively.

Author

• Rhonda D. Goolsby, University of Oklahoma