I'm not certain why the concept is so hard to grasp: Some people read differently than others. Some people go across the page reading the words not as the associated sounds, but as the concepts linked to those sounds. Deaf people do this by default. Others read along and either inwardly vocalize or silently read along, sometimes even with their lips moving silently over a particularly delicious passage--and even when they're not making any noise, a tongue twister on the page will gag them.

As a writer, you need to learn to appeal to all your readers, not just the ones who read the same way you do.

*sigh*

The Scorched-Earth war between Phonics people and Whole Word people has a lot of casualties among actual early readers and probably millions of pages have been expended in the battles, so why add a few more?

But I'm going to, because this particular study, which is often quoted, is deeply annoying to me.

The first thing to recognize, I think, is that there is no such thing as truly silent reading. All of us subvocalize -- as a matter of fact, reading fluency and comprehension go down significantly if you just hold your tongue while you read. Our subvocalizations are the same as speech; they're more like a kind of short-tongue (analogous to short-hand) that would sound like mumbo-jumbo if it were vocalized, but nonetheless, it's important to even the most literate people, and much more so to children who are just learning to read. It's not so much the sound of the letters, as the act of vocalizing them that makes a difference. In that respect, when we read the example paragraph, we're subvocalizing the words we *think* we're reading, rather than the "words" we're actually reading.

Second, is that that example is pretty misleading. If only the first and last letters matter, the following:

Aoiecrcng to reaecrsh* at an Esglnih ustvrniiey, it dnsoe't mteatr in waht oedrr the ltrtees in a wrod are

should be just as easy to read as the example. But as a matter of fact, it's definitely harder, because the words in the example aren't randomly scrambled. They're scrambled in such a way to leave important aspects of the word (double-letters, ending sounds) intact. The words in the example are badly spelled, but they're not just random, and that makes all the difference.

If the example proves anything, it proves that readers can disambiguate the meanings of many words by reference to context, which depends on neither whole words, nor on phonics directly. This is particularly true because conjunctions, pronouns etc. are generally short, and so we get all of our ifs, ands and buts unscrambled. But if the context isn't so clear, we might be in more trouble.

Like, can anyone tell me what this is, or read it anything like fluently?

Rrvttaeeeesnips and drciet Texas slahl be aootrineppd aonmg the sarveel Stteas wchih may be iuecnldd whtiin tihs Uionn, anodrcicg to tiher rivesecpte Nbrmeus, wichh slhal be drneieermtd by andidg to the wlohe Nuebmr of fere Porness, ildicnnug toshe bnuod to Scerive for a Trem of Yares, and encludixg Iiannds not txead, there fhftis of all ohetr Psneros.

When it comes down to it, easy reading is just that: easy. When we read some ridiculous study in a newspaper maybe a couple of letters mixed up isn't a big deal. After all, newspapers are made to be readable. Under those circumstances we probably employ the least number of resources available to us -- and probably make mistakes, such as substituting a word for its synonym or for a related word, which we cover up so well that we don't even notice (a problem for proofreaders everywhere).

It's what we do when the text is *difficult* for us that matters. It's resources we have at our disposal under those circumstances that should be of interest to teachers, because it is only by encountering difficult texts that students improve rather than merely prove their literacy.

Both whole-word and phonics-based programs have a place here, though to my mind, the importance of context is drastically understated. Probably that's because the only way of improving a student's ability to contextually understand reading material is to give him or her a lot of reading and writing assignments, which is neither "efficient" enough for overworked school systems and parents, nor profitable enough for today's educational companies.

What a crazy idea: maybe the best way to learn to read is...to read a lot.

Nah. It'll never fly.

-Dan

*Did anyone notice that the fourth word in the example is "researchch"?? Maybe adding extra letters doesn't matter either! Or maybe the study is bunk. Perhaps we should ask the researchchers at "an English university" (which one? The University of Made-Up-on-Avon?) to clarify.



[This message has been edited by Daniel Pereira (edited August 16, 2005).]

Eye kood awlsoe "proov" thaat fawnix r mor impawrtent thaan hole wurdh reedin. Ann Inglesh younihvercity sez soe.

Or maybe the fact that you can _____ this sentence without any ________ means that neither words nor sounds are important!

-Dan

Daniel Pereira isn't the author of any books on reading, so he has no financial motivation for pretending his point of view is the right one.

[This message has been edited by Daniel Pereira (edited August 16, 2005).]

Kevin,
I'm pretty sure that the olde English "erbs" was general throughout the country and not just the property of Cockneys. It is still used in parts of Britain outside London.

The Australians seriously pronounce the letter "aitch H" as "Haitch" which the New Zealanders never do--except some of Irish Catholic descent. The Haitch is said to have been learned in schools taught by Irish nuns. The most surprising people use that pronunciation in Australia. They would call the Record company HMV--Haitch MV. Only comedians did that in my youth, or upper class actresses playing Cockneys.
Janet

Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within the Union, according to their respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole number of free persons, including those bound to service for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other persons.

There. Though I will admit that I read the string "and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within the Union, according to their respective numbers" and then just typed it into a search engine to find the rest of the text.

Though I will also admit I'm used to reading 18th C prose, including legalese, so there is an edge there.

Marcia,
I agree that silent reading is as involved in sounds as vocal reading. That was not my own opinion that you quoted. Incidentally, all of my poems are really meant to be read aloud in one's head. They can be read aloud but I prefer them to be absorbed through the skin ;)

My own early education was based on the Montessori method and I simply read like I walked or breathed. It was utterly painless and rapidly became second nature. I'm sure the main part of the teaching was phonics.
Janet

[This message has been edited by Janet Kenny (edited August 16, 2005).]

Kevin,

Plus you've been up to your eyeballs in taxes stuff in the other thread.

But really, did you read it fluently? How long did it take to decode that? Is the study correct?

-Dan

All,

This doesn't answer anything but I thought I'd bring up an intrisically interesting anecdote from the annals of reading. If we're to believe St. Augustine, reading silently may be datable to the 4th century A.D. Or maybe Augustine's observation of St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, reading "with silent tongue and voice," is just the earliest mention of silent reading in the west (The Confessions, Book V).

As the proud papa of kindergaartener who is reading at a clip, I believe in "the hundred languages of children." That is, kids possess multiple means and strategies for learning and literacy. Early education teachers who are artists--something that our education policies and funding priorities discourage as much as possible--are capable of fostering the development of each child along unique paths according to the child's innate strengths and problem-solving styles.

By the way Janet and Dan, I've been led to believe that New Zealand is ground zero for some of the most interesing early literacy education in the world: Whole Language pedagogy, Mari Clay, Reading Recovery, etc. I don't know much about it, but it sounds fascinating. I've also been led to believe that these advances would not have been possible without the inherent challenges of teaching literacy in a bilingual Maori-English environment.

If anyone has further insight, I'd be captive.

John

Thanks for posting that Janet. We have a 1 year old, so we're both very keen to instill an interest in talking and reading. I was a late reader myself (as far as I can recall) and was still reading E Blyton till about 13, when I suddenly realised how silly her stories were.

[quote]John wrote:
By the way Janet and Dan, I've been led to believe that New Zealand is ground zero for some of the most interesing early literacy education in the world: Whole Language pedagogy, Mari Clay, Reading Recovery, etc. I don't know much about it, but it sounds fascinating. I've also been led to believe that these advances would not have been possible without the inherent challenges of teaching literacy in a bilingual Maori-English environment.

If anyone has further insight, I'd be captive.

John

John, Sylvia Ashton Warner, teacher and writer, is celebrated for her advances in the field of teaching Maori children to read:
Sylvia Ashton Warner

I had an aunt who was born towards the end of the 19th century, who had an international reputation for her children's verse-speaking choirs. She was a teacher and even had a poem published in an anthology which included Robert Frost. Her New Zealand school verse-speaking choirs were broadcast regularly on the BBC during WW2. Recordings which were shipped to London! Keeping up the spirits of the British Empire I suppose. She was my father's oldest sibling. My father was born in 1900 and she was a great deal older.

I recently received a gift from a friend of hers. My aunt wrote a book about poetic meter for children. I had no idea. It wouldn't have interested my parents. Alas it's packed with the books ready for transfer to Queensland. When I was still in my pram she had me reciting:
A birdy with a yellow bill
hopped upon my windowsill.
Cocked its saucy head and said:
"Ain't you ashamed you sleepy head".

Scouts honour. I recited that before I could walk ;)

My aunt's name was F. Alexa Stevens. The F stood for Flora.
Janet



[This message has been edited by Janet Kenny (edited August 17, 2005).]