Teachers’ Perceptions of Response-to-Intervention on English Language Learners’ Reading Proficiency: A Basic Qualitative Study

Abstract

Lacking proficient biliteracy skills is widespread and affects student achievement in bilingual and language learning programs across the globe. The problem is some English learners have low reading skills, which influences their overall academic performance at a bilingual primary school in Southern China. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to understand how English educators at a bilingual primary school in Southern China perceive the effectiveness of using response-to-intervention to improve English language learners’ reading skills. As a literature gap, no study explored the influence of response-to-intervention on improving Chinese students’ English reading. This basic qualitative study is grounded in cognitive load and social constructivist theories, serving as the blueprint for the research questions that seek to investigate how teachers perceive the effectiveness of response-to-intervention in improving language learners’ reading and what facilitates or hinders the framework’s effectiveness. The study involved 15 participants with direct knowledge of how intervention influences reading. Transcripts from the interview protocol were analyzed using thematic analysis aided by manual coding. The findings indicate that response-to-intervention positively influences learners’ confidence levels and reading skills, namely their phonemic awareness, vocabulary development, and reading comprehension. Furthermore, despite the positive influence of home-based support on language learners’ reading, the findings reveal that a poorly organized response-to-intervention program affects teachers’ ability to optimize the framework’s usefulness in effectuating positive results.