本研究描述二個英文程度落後的五年級學童在平衡式閱讀教學教室中的讀寫發展。透過分析學生的個別朗讀紀錄以及書面作業與作品，研究者探索學童在解碼與拼寫以及意義建構二方面的表現及發展。本研究有二個主要研究發現：1) 在解碼方面，二個學童已有一些英文形音對應的知識，但仍然不完整。透過不斷的文字探索、嘗試錯誤、及讀寫練習，二人逐漸能掌握英文字的形音對應關係。2) 在意義建構方面，二人主要是依賴由上而下、以意義為中心的閱讀策略，以及圖像的線索來建構意義。在閱讀有情境的圖畫書或自製書的時候，二人的閱讀比較流暢、投入；但是在閱讀缺乏情境的文本時（如作業單、考卷等），其意義建構則較不順暢。最後，根據研究結論，本文提出教學及研究建議，以供參考。

This paper depicts the English literacy learning of two fifth-grade struggling readers in an EFL classroom which embedded skill learning in meaningful language and literacy activities focusing on story books and leveled picture books. Through examining the child readers’oral reading records and written works, the researchers tried to understand and depict the struggling readers’literacy development as a code breaker and a meaning maker. Major findings include the following. Firstly, as a code breaker, the struggling readers showed partial graphophonemic knowledge of the English alphabet and both children underwent an approximation process in which they made attempts at breaking the codes of the written language, sometimes mistakenly, and gradually became more competent code-breakers. Secondly, as a meaning maker, the two struggling readers demonstrated a meaning-centered, top-down reading strategy and frequently relied on visual cues and story context to access meanings. They displayed traits of a fluent and engaged reader when reading picture story books or self-created books. However, when they were reading or responding to decontexualized text, such as questions in a written test or exercises in worksheets, their reading performance indicated a much poorer reader.
Pedagogical implications for teaching struggling EFL readers are also provided in this study.