Blog #10 Research Project Transcripts

Research paper

Topic: How reading influences foreign and native born children?

Transcript  1 ( interview with an American family)

S:  It was a pleasure to hear your family news and I want to congratulate both of you with on the birth of your first grandchild.

K: My son is Daniel-Michael and my grandson is Matthew. I like them both. My husband’s name Daniel too. He was Danny, now I call my husband Dan or honey it is most of the time, most of the time (laugh). It has to be that way.

S: . The same like in our family. The children have to see it. They do what they have to do and they liked  to copy like little sponges. They learned  manners, they said everything and hopefully in a good way. We worked hard.

K: The children are children. They do what they want to do. You can’t force them, when they’re ready for it they are ready. I taught  the 3 years olds. at the church. It was a preschool on Sunday. I taught the 4 years olds. I enjoyed the 4 years olds because of the words they said. We were moving back and forth, we celebrated their birthdays. We met at the church library, and there were books on the shelf staffed animals and some things on it, you know it we are human nature we can’t to be peculiar up to the full.

S:   They will investigate everything, all even the little things, they have to look at, they have to check what is it.

K: They look all the time, they think you are a text book.

S: So tell me please how your family were looking through education  and your child in it?

K: A typical long time to continue a child  that only we had him. I was working at that time I was a school teacher not retired because I volunteer with children, and I was associate that having a child, also we both were college graduates we had both own a house. My husband was junior and I was in the college. He was a history major and I went to Kean University and it was certainly for teaching they have you don’t have to declare a major or a minor  whatever you know. I was in the college of education, and graduated  Kean University in 1970.

S: It is interesting

K: Of course you know courses in college you do read a lot of books but being a general of elementary major it was an amazing.

S: How did you support your son to get into education?

K: I think he always knew that we wanted him to go to college. He really did want go. He felt that because we were college graduates and he was pursue it and fortunately that was a good thing. Now he got his job.

S: So he is a police officer, right? How he decided to be a police officer?

K: When he graduated from college in 2005. He finished at Rutgers University but they wouldn’t accept his math that was and that was the most difficult subject, but he got fine. When he got to college he really transferred  there because he said it was political science major and they didn’t have that at Rowan. His professor said that he will probably get more out from there. When he got to Rutgers they fit all. He had a good time. He worked also in the library and he wanted to work and got extra money.

S: It was nice story about your family. Now I would like to ask you next question: Did you read to your son?

K: Definitely

S: What were your values, role in deciding to read to your child?

K: I took him to the library, he was a young boy. He was interested in books and picked children books by himself. At home I had a big library and a lot of children’s books, but at that time for older children. Also I bought books for him when we went shopping.

S: Who read the books for him- you or your husband?

K: I basically read for him. I’d get a book for him put a note in it especially caring thing “Sesame Street” was popular then and he was watching. He was watching and he sounded. Disney stories were his favorite. He was very visual, he did enjoy television once in the week. He really as a young child loved history. We used to take him to museums in Washington DC. He liked it there. It is why when he got older that’s why he … he did well in history compared to math, science.

S: Did your son have a favorite topic that he wanted to read about?

K: He got what he liked. He read what he liked and my husband is that way. I was very of high major oriented I had a college education and still wanted to be a mother. I think from my background I know my mother shouldn’t be harm with that in that working, my father had a good job and unfortunately he dropped it, and she was forced to work at this time. We lived with my grandparents. My father actually was stay at home dad.

S: So your grandparents lived together with your family?

K: They had to wait until I was 5 y.o. and they were from my father’s side.

S: What language did you speak at home?

K: My parents spoke Slavish or Polish, my father was of Polish background, 

my mother was Slavonic, though both of them spoke only English. In our family 

definitely we spoke only English.

S: Did you read to your son in other languages beside English, for example in Spanish?

K:  I did prefer to read in English, although I took three years Spanish in high school, I could read and understand everything.

S: How old was your son when you began to read for him?

K: Probably he was a baby, it was tiny books. It was cotton books with a picture in it.

S: How often did you read to your child?

K: We read every night stories, also I did a lot with his prayers too. My husband worked sometime on the weekend. Later he went to get his masters. He was busy most of the time. Sometimes I took him to the library. It had a program for children, timer 2, timer 3. I took him when he was three years old and there were different children in it probably 20 children. The librarian was reading a book to them. I loved to read to my son as he looked at the words. When he was ready then you know reading readiness but it didn’t bother him like I won’t read this book. Some children are very curious it was preparation for reading. While the librarian was reading a book for the children he wouldn’t sit there, he got up and started looking through books and wouldn’t pay attention to her and I was embarrassed, but then I was like wait a minute.

S: What kind of books did you read for Daniel?

K: I read everything, the nursery rhymes, poetry, music books. It was records in the book and you turned the pages but it was record play.

S: What time did you prefer to read to your son in the morning, evening or during the day?

K: When he was little I read for him during the day, like a story time.

S: Did your child prefer to be read in a group or alone?

K: Well when he was very young he wouldn’t sit but when he got older he was able to sit and listen but I sent him to the preschool that we didn’t have with the group like what had happened in the library. He didn’t have difficult time.

S: How old was your son when he began read a books on his own?

K: In first grade. He was six years old. The larger images and of course words in the book. That’s how he learned. He sounded and they were in alphabetical order. He paid attention there. He picked up words very quickly. But he could compare one with the other. When we went to the church and there were books and he looked one after another and it was too helpful and you valued, comfort from that you know.

S: Did he recognize words in the story?

K: When we read a book he looked at the pictures in the book and recognized letters in the book. At a very young age just reading the book and we had a picture of the little boy in the rocking chair and it had a girl too to match it.We didn’t buy a girl we only bought a boy and he sees it and watching the book he began reading probably he was 4 y.o. We were in my mom’s house during Christmas. All he did by himself. The only thing he knows only alphabet and knows the sounds that could be.

S: Was the child able to answer a question about the story?

K: Yes he was good at that.

S: How did parental reading help the child to develop his/her own reading skills and writing skills?

K: Well I think he was an average to the row below on reading respect and we were thinking and Danny we looked at each other oh my God how it could be, this child should be he was mature it just like second grade. We never had problems with homework. He did it on his own. I could explain things to him you know.

S: Did he copy words from the book?

K: Yes, he was ready and we went to a Kindergarten and I was trying to push him like little earlier some writing or whatever. Then in a while he told me “Mommy I can write my name”. But it was only when he was ready. I think when somebody screams at one’s own child and he is not ready, it is not good.

S: Was the child able to retell the story?

K: He liked the stories and yes he was able to retell the story and used to go back to his construction building the farm with the legos.

S: What books does he remember from his childhood until today?

K: “Are you my mother?”; Eric Carl “ Very Hungry Caterpillar ”; “ Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?” and Disney stories. My son liked magnetic books like the classic he was able to create  stories. Actually when he was in elementary school he was a good writer. He did on history of English type, he liked to write stories. They had program in Woodbridge, the program how to teach your child to write and we had paper with “Humpty Dumpty” and he associated with soccer.

S: Did reading to your child help him to become literate?

K: Looking through his life and who is he today definitely he reached his goal and we are very happy  and proud parents.  

 

Research paper

Topic: How reading influences foreign and native born children?

Transcript  2( interview with Russian family)

L: OK Did you read for your child, when she was little?

O: Yes, my husband read, when he wasn’t at home I did. When we read a book for our daughter she couldn’t  sit for too long.

L: Did you take the books at the library or buy them at the store?

O: At home we had our own library but sometime we bought them at the store. I liked to say to my daughter, ” When you will not read children books in childhood you will not have time to read them later.”

Now she likes to read, I can offer a book for her to read or give advice.

L:  In what language?

O:  English. In Russian she is able to express herself, but in reading she can read very little, probably only a title. When she is watching Russian movies, she understands everything. Since she is working at the medical office, where most employees Russian her Russian colloquial language is better. 

L: What parental values, roles did you follow in deciding to read to your daughter?

O: Father decided what to read, because he read a lot of books in his youth.

L: Who read books for you when you were a child?

O: Nobody read for me, but when I got older I liked to read adult books. Such as children literature I didn’t know. Particularly I liked books about the war and partisan. I couldn’t stop reading until I finished that book. I read all books about partisan. When I was little I told my mom when I will be grown up I will be a partisan. Then she asked me “ You will be partisan during the war, who are you going to be when war ends?” Then I was thinking. At school I liked to read books and read all books that were given by the program.

L: What books did you read at school?

O: “ War and Peace” by L. Tolstoy, but really I didn’t like it. The best I liked A.P. Chehov , he wrote very funny stories, then F. Dostoyevsky “Crime and Punishment”, “Brothers Karamazov”. Our daughter watched movies in Russian version but if its in English she could understand more. Now I like to read religious literature, like Protestant and Orthodox, then I meditate them on religious base.

L: How about partisan books? Do you like to read them today or did that chang?

O: Yes it changed. When I came to the USA  I  xeroxed a Russian autor, Dariya Dontsova and read all of it. Later I read in English the author G. Malo “Without Family”, then short stories by  O Henry.  I can’t live without books we grow when we read and our spiritual side increases. When somebody suggested to me to read a book and that book didn’t satisfy me spiritually I just stopped reading it. I like to read philosophical books because they are useful.

L: What language do you speak at home?

O: When we came to the United States of America we spoke in Russian, but then when our daughter went to school we began to talk in English.

L: Did your daughter have friends?

O: Yes she had a lot  and they were American and Russian friends. They  talk to each other in English. She is very friendly.

L: In what language did you prefer to read to your daughter in Russian or in English? 

O: First we read in Russian, because we wanted her to use right diction, build phonetics and use right speech. If she knows two languages it is two languages. Why does she do have to lose what she has. Everything is useful. Good skills of one language, it is skills of two, then three languages.

L: How old was your daughter when you began to read to her?

O: She was 3 y.o. Before that we showed her only pictures and told her about the pictures. When she was 2 y.o. she had so many books - basically children’s books, but she tore them. This problem we solved together by fixing them because I wanted her to forget about this habit. She easily took a book and would throw it.

L: When did you read the books for your daughter - during the day, evening, one time, 

two times in the week?

O: We read to her every day.

L: What kind of books did you read? For example like you mentioned before poems by A. Barto, S.Marshak

O: When she was little we read these poems, fairytales and books about animals. When she got older we read  more serious books but not  fairytales. I read  fairytales but not that often. Books we read for her could have 50-60 pages, I read everyday just several pages and it was during the evening.

L: Did your child prefer to be read to in a group or alone?

O: Our daughter had a hard time when we came to the USA and she didn’t like school.

L: Maybe because of her English language?

O: No, it was her personality. She finished second grade, and her learning skills were a little bit 

higher than other children and she lost interest. It was boring.

L: How old was your daughter when you stopped reading to her?

O: Independently she began to read books when she turned 18 y.o.. Before she didn’t like to read

L: She didn’t like taking out books from the library?

O: Yes she did, she brought them home and then took them back to the library. She never read them.

L: How did you notice reading ability in your child?

O: She didn’t like to read. Then I gave advice what books to read, and she always asked me what the book is about? I gave her short summaries, maybe I wasn’t right but … I gave her direction because books were different. They were about detective, classic and comedy. I was trying to help her but sometime it didn’t work. Later I just brought books to read at home and when my daughter asked me what the books were about, I didn’t answer then she just looked at the books and she began to read them. Now she reads a lot of books- romance, foreign literature for example A. Chechov or F. Dostoyevsky. There is a great contrast between her past and present readings.

L: Did she recognize letters or words in the story?

O: No she didn’t, because she was only listening. When I asked her something about the book right away she lost her interest. Then in a while when she was at school we had a problem. She began to read  words from right side to the left, and mess up with the letters ( б-д; х-ф;(b-d; h-ph) ) in English language (g-d).

L: Was your child able to answer questions about the story?

O: At the end of reading I could ask her ”Did you like this story?” And while reading if she didn’t understand something or just because of her curiosity she could ask ” Why?” Definitely when I asked her questions about the story she was able to answer them because she had a good memory.

L: How did your reading to your daughter helped her in her future reading and writing?

O: I think it did help her. When she is buying presents for children of her friends it is always books. I think  it will stay forever. Family reading will always associate with “Quality time”. Not only this factor influenced her future reading and writing but also responsibility to the family. For example if she had her own business in her daily life she was able to leave everything just because we had family dinner. For me it was very important and I was glad.

L: Did she write or copy letters from the book?

O: No, but she was able to draw a picture after reading. I made a mistake then, when she was little and began drawing but didn’t like to do her homework. I forbade her to draw until her homework was done. Later she stopped drawing.

L: Was she able to retell the story?

O: Yes she could. Poems she memorized since she was 3 y.o.

L: What books she can recall from her childhood?

O: Oh, honestly I can’t say anything about children’s literature, because it was in Russian and then we moved to the US and to the English language…

L: Does she remember any books in English?

O: When we came to the USA she was 7 y.o. Since then she is able to recite all poems, and she did write her own poems.

L: It means that she got something from your readings, which is valuable and priceless.

O: She likes more technical than the humanities subjects, for example math is her favorite subject.

L: Did reading in Russian help her in the college then in university?

O: Yes it did help her. We were able to give her more in Russian than in English. In the college sometime she argue with the professor and she is the best student in the class. We like a lot to argue with her in Russian but then she automatically interprets in English and she understand correct English and Russian and it is very important. If she doesn’t understand some phrase in Russian she will repeat one’s question in English and I’m able to do this. In English she does understand everything. She likes to argue with the professor. For example the professor said that women are less competent than men. She replied that  she disagrees with it and it is not all women are less competent then a men and the same way for the men. The professor agreed with her. I told her, “Don’t do this anymore because you will get a low grade if you will argue with the professor”, and she answered “No mom he is a good professor, I had another professor. I would not argue because I was afraid “. I told her not always to say your point of view even if you don’t like it, just don’t argue. She is very friendly and has many friends. When we are in the store she meets them, when we are outside the same. She is respectful to all her friends and that is her personality. We have to devote our time to our friends too.

L: I am very grateful for your time, and wish all the best for your daughter and family.