K-6 Students’ Reading Beliefs and Practices

While debates on approaches to effective reading instruction have intensified, the reading beliefs and practices of students seem to receive little attention. This study is premised on the critical importance of gaining knowledge of the reading beliefs and practices of students, as such knowledge is paramount in planning meaningful instruction. Using data collected by pre-service teachers through observations and interviews, I analyzed the reading beliefs and practices of 85 Kindergarten through Grade 6 (K-6) students. The findings showed that effective reading, from what K-6 students believe, encompasses abilities in linguistic, affective, cognitive, and social domains. In addition, reading practices, as expressed by students and observed by pre-service teachers, were highly marked by sounding out words as a strategy to approach unfamiliar words. Accordingly, I argue for the need to investigate meanings and the practice of "sounding out" given that the English language does not consistently follow graphophonic or letter-sound correspondence.