Reading Essentials

You probably became a fluent reading so long ago, that you have forgotten what the process was like. Good schools and educated families train students effectively, and almost any method will work for well-to-do children. But what if you must learn a new script without help? Let the following experience teach you how our brain best learns reading. This module prompts participants to explore what reading methods may be more effective for learners who have no prior knowledge about a reading system.

People were not born with an inherent ability to read. Reading arose only a few thousand years ago, and it depends on brain circuits that are used to find small objects or recognize faces. This module digs deep into the ways our brain perceives letters. It discusses the functions involved in visual perception. For beginners, these mechanisms have significant implications. Difficulties in seeing the letters or distinguishing among them reduce opportunities to learn. If we understand the specifics, we can take measures to improve them. Instruction therefore becomes more efficient: children can learn in fewer trials and in less time. And all can learn rather than the best few

This neurological functions that determine reading acquisition take place outside our consciousness, so we are unaware how they work and how important they are. To get the benefits of complex cognition, students must first automatize these “low level” functions. Only then can students effortlessly learn information from texts.

Reading fluency does not develop in a linear fashion. The process is more like an airplane taxiing on a runway and then taking off. As the airplane starts to move, we decode text laboriously, letter by letter. But by the time the airplane reaches cruising altitude, we recognize words as if they were faces! In this module you will learn more about this fascinating story and its implications for reading large amounts of text.

The previous modules dealt with letters and the visual impressions they make on us. This module discusses what happens to the recognized words. To develop effective reading programs, it is important to understand how memory works and how information is processed.

The general reading principles hold for all languages Activation of the visual word form area and working memory capacity may help set standards for fluency and comprehension that are similar across languages and scripts. But some take much longer to automatize than others. More characters, more complex shapes, greater spelling inconsistency require longer instruction, more learning materials, longer teacher training, longer school years, more funding. They also increase the probability of failure among students. This module presents research pertinent to reading acquisition of various languages and scripts.

The need for speed seems difficult for many people to comprehend. Inevitable the question arises about how students comprehend, how comprehension can be taught, and how to deal with claims that students may be reading fast enough but not comprehending. This module offers some answers to the questions.

Most countries are multilingual. Some speak two or three languages, while others such as Nigeria have more than 400. Most students of Europe and North America attend schools in the languages they speak. However, in multilingual countries, children may start school and learn the official language at the same time. To make things worse, the official languages used in much of the world are English, French, Portuguese, or Arabic, which have spelling complexities. Predictably learning outcomes tend to be low. Thus poor multilingual countries face complexities in basic provision of education that most well-to-do countries never had to face.

To meet enrollment demands, the poorest countries must recruit and train some 1.9 million additional primary school teachers by 2015, including 1.2 million in sub-Saharan Africa. However, people willing to become teachers often have limited education, despite advanced diplomas. The usual inservice or even preservice training often does not result in behavioral changes under such circumstances. Have some variables been overlooked?

A teacher writes a text on the blackboard. The better students are asked to go to the blackboard and read it, pointing to the words with a stick. The rest repeat what was said. They may appear to read, but if the words are switched around, they often cannot do so. This method is sometimes called “traditional rote memorization”, but in fact nothing significant is memorized; only 2-3 words are repeated together, and they make no sense. Even the better students have no material for practice.

But why have textbooks at all? Some middle-income schools, from Brazil to the US, have abandoned textbooks; students instead read authentic texts. Those same students have dozens of books at home. Their parents help, teachers are highly trained. The same tendency for short or even non-existent books has been transmitted to low-income countries, where students have no books of their own. Without practice material, they cannot memorize letters or increase speed.

There is a broad consensus about reading goals; classes should have practically no illiterate students, and at least 80% of students should learn to decode. By the end of grade 2, students should be reading 45-60 words per minute in order to be able to learn from printed materials. To monitor these goals, measurement is needed. This module and its associated readings give some essential information and answer some frequently asked questions.

The course thus far has presented variables important for reading acquisition. This module synthesizes the research into a minimal number of daily activities aimed at teaching consistent orthographies to nearly all students in the first semester of grade 1. (For syllabic scripts, the essential matrices can be taught in this timeframe, and English is exempt.) The recommended activities correspond to the state of research in mid-2014 and may change as new research appears.

Jolly Phonics, EGRA Plus, GILO (Girls Improved Learning Outcomes), CAMaL, Molteno Institute, NLAP

Aga Khan, PHARE, Mango Tree, Systematic Method For Reading Success (SMRS)

After children fail and drop out illiterate, it is still possible to attend youth or adult literacy classes. However, many adult literacy programs have high teacher and student absentee rates, and high dropout. Social factors certainly affect attendance. Young adults must spend time at work and fulfill responsibilities towards parents and children. Unfortunately adult literacy is in a vicious circle of poor quality courses, poor results, and subsequently limited financing

Plans for a pilot and subsequent scale-up, political realities and other issues, and a strategy to scale up implementation success from 20% to 80% in low-income countries. The strategy ought to dramatically decrease illiteracy in low-income countries.