Year 3 Research: English Language Learners

Dr. Homan recently completed her third year of research charting the links between singing and reading. Fully funded with $300,000 from the Florida Department of Education, this is her largest research project yet, involving more than 700 elementary school children using TUNEin™ to READING.

This research explores TUNEin™ to READING's effect on an important subgroup of struggling readers: children who are English language learners in Florida’s Miami-Dade, Monroe and Orange counties. Reflecting the state’s melting pot, the participants come from families with origins in countries as diverse as Mexico and Haiti.

To meet the needs of this population, in which many students barely know how to read, Dr. Homan is adapting her research protocol with the introduction of a ”shared singing” approach based largely on “shared reading,” one of the most commonly used teaching methods with early readers. She developed this approach together with her fellow researchers on the project, Dr. Linda Evans, a specialist in second language literacy, and Dr. Jim King, who brings deep knowledge of younger struggling readers and research methodology.

Results from the research are expected in 2008. Visit this website for updates!