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HOW CHILDREN LEARN TO READ.   Term Paper ID:28321 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Compares & contrasts different theories on reading & literacy. Effective teaching methods & techniques.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Compares & contrasts different theories on reading & literacy. Effective teaching methods & techniques. Paper Introduction: This paper compares and contrasts theories about how children learn to read and what methods are most effective for teaching reading. Literacy is an essential skill in contemporary society, and considerable research has been devoted to understanding how it is acquired. Yet experts still do not agree on the use of phonics, the rote memorization of rules, or a whole-language approach, in which complete immersion leads to the ability to read. Some argue for a combination of techniques but disagree on the relative proportions of each. Experts also disagree on how early to begin teaching reading and the content of the materials that ought to be presented during the early stages. This paper examines the writings of several different researchers in the field and compares the themes and theories of each. Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1983.Itzkoff, Seymour W. . Jeanne Chall also believes that basal readers and other standardizedtexts miss the need for significant content, and she has some even morespecific suggestions about what beginning readers should be using as theirtexts. He does not make any restrictions based on age. literacy revolution brought about by the greatincrease of knowledge and by the efficiency of the media to convey it.This knowledge revolution has brought with it the need for a greater levelof literacy among more people than ever before" (Stages 3). He writes,"Children taught exclusively through the various versions of systematicphonics programs . Blumenfeld contends, "Achild can learn an initial sight vocabulary faster than he can learn thealphabet and letter sounds. Blumenfeld argues forbeginning instruction at home, suggesting that this "is not a difficulttask, but it does require three basic elements: time, patience, andorganization" (227). He says, "I believe that any child is quite capableof understanding that learning is an orderly process and proceeds inlogical steps" (23 ). Yet experts still donot agree on the use of phonics, the rote memorization of rules, or a whole-language approach, in which complete immersion leads to the ability toread. Chall strikes a middle balance. They do not agree on specifics, but their views helpto continue a lively debate. He writes, "Through reading and literacyflows a human being's perception of experience and knowledge" (xiv). These three experts illustrate the broad range of thinking aboutreading and literacy. He believes, "Most children areready to benefit from systematic reading instruction from about the age ofsix years and six months" (48), suggesting that earlier attempts to forcethe process will only confuse children. But their reading speeds were so slow and halting that by thetime they got to the end of a sentence they had forgotten the beginning"(xv). Yethe contends that too much emphasis on underlying rules can take away thejoy that reading should bring. . The content of what is read is also a source of disagreement.Blumenfeld is highly critical of the classic "Dick and Jane" stories,arguing that their limited vocabulary "relies heavily on storyinterpretation to provide clues" to meaning that is conveyed using just 17words to talk in detail about the lives of its main characters (36). . Each supports his or her position withresearch and a wealth of observable evidence. Phonics relies on the "look-say" method of learning and requires thestudent learn a series of rules before beginning to try to read.Proponents argue that phonics takes longer to get the child started butprovides a sounder basis for long-term learning. [which] is simply insufficient for an individual if he or she is tofunction in our society to his own maximum benefit" (17). She observes, "My own personal content preference for first andsecond graders is folktales and fairy tales. Experts also disagree on how early to beginteaching reading and the content of the materials that ought to bepresented during the early stages. This paper examines the writings ofseveral different researchers in the field and compares the themes andtheories of each. Blumenfeld is one of the strongest critics of the whole-word method that was once the usual way of teaching children to read. All three of these experts have studied their field carefully anddeveloped strong opinions about key aspects of the process by whichchildren learn to become literate. They have universal appeal"(311). He contends that phonics tends to make children hate the process ofreading, even if it does help them to master it. Some argue for a combination of techniques but disagree on therelative proportions of each. He writes, "Readinga story with a simple line of meaning and pictures to help with the contextis a good way to begin instruction for sight recognition of words" (75).He dislikes the basal readers, with their formulaic content, arguinginstead for true literature, which he defines as "books written at theappropriate age levels of the child but having genuine substance and artcompared to the skill-building materials one finds in basals" (1 8). In this, Itzkoff agrees. Stages of Reading Development. The publication in 1955 of Rudolf Flesch's book, Why Johnny Can'tRead, touched off a firestorm of controversy within the educationalcommunity. Westport, CT: Praeger, 1996.----------------------- 8 Works CitedBlumenfeld, Samuel L. She believes that some combination ofwhole-language methodology and phonics is the most effective way to teachchildren. we start withwhole words, which are a big step ahead of individual letters, deliberatelywithhold elementary alphabetic information from the child, then skip andjump around among complex, irrelevant concepts" (64). .. The book showed dramatically how the traditional methods ofteaching reading had failed to teach a substantial portion of America'schildren. Chall suggests that literacy is an even more critical skill in themodern age than it was during earlier, simpler times. The age at which children should begin to learn to read is also thesubject of debate. The New Illiterates: And How to Keep Your Child From Becoming One. Samuel L. Yet Blumenfeld contends that whole-language instruction simplyconfuses children. Itzkoff believes that this foundation is beyondthe capabilities of children at this stage of development. She notes, "From birth untilthe beginning of formal education, children living in a literate culturewith an alphabetic writing system accumulate a fund of knowledge aboutletters, words, and books" (Stages 13). Some experts believe that children should be encouragedto begin recognizing words or learning the alphabet as soon as possible,usually about the time they begin to speak. indicates that a code-emphasis method - i.e., one that viewsbeginning reading as essentially different from mature reading andemphasizes learning of the printed code for the spoken language - producesbetter results" (Learning 3 7). Hewrites, "Not only does this method not teach the child to read, but itplaces almost insurmountable obstacles to his ever learning to read" (31).Flesch's groundbreaking book inspired a rising interest in phonics, andBlumenfeld is one of the technique's boosters. She writes, "We arenewly entered on a . Again, Chall strikes a middle balance. Learning to Read: The Great Debate. This paper compares and contrasts theories about how children learnto read and what methods are most effective for teaching reading. . . In his view, theextensive rules and concepts of phonics are a more rudimentary set of ideasand are therefore a better place to begin than is the whole-languageapproach. . Children Learning to Read: A Guide for Parents and Teachers. . Itzkoff suggests that context is more important. New Rochelle, NY: Arlington House, 1973.Chall, Jeanne S. Jeanne S. She cites "research [that]. . He writes, "In the sight method, . Whole-language instruction, on the other hand, is not a universalpanacea, even in the eyes of some of its most vocal supporters. He argues that context is important primarily to the extent that ithelps to reinforce the phonics rules that the child is learning. His argument is more positive thanBlumenfeld's and more focused on finding techniques that work to createeffective, engaged readers. He believes that, while some children learn fasterthan others, all can benefit from preschool instruction, beginning withlearning the alphabet. Heasks, "Why spend so much time on the life details of these fictionalcharacters if the sole objective is learning to recognize seventeen words?"(41). He argues that effective teachingof the complex process of reading requires the child to have developedother, more fundamental skills, skills that are simply not reachable bymost children at the early preschool level. However, this initial success is deceptivebecause it does not provide the foundation for learning thousands ofadditional words" (141). Itzkoff argues for astrictly limited use of phonics but calls it "only a brief way-station onthe road to true or fluent reading" (34). InItzkoff's view, "The real danger of whole language is that the young childwill be abandoned by the school, untaught" (114), yet he still believesthat the whole-language approach comes closest to providing the "richliterate experience" that he believes learning to reading ought to be (34). Itzkoff, on the other hand, contends that children should not and, infact, cannot be forced to begin certain learning processes before they haveachieved certain stages of development. She believes that every individualprogresses through the same series of stages of development in learning toreading and becoming a more sophisticated reader and writer, but that thisprocess begins at different ages and proceeds at different speeds with eachindividual child. Indeed, in an era of multiculturalism, teachers need to guardagainst using any reading texts that are too bound up in a white,Eurocentric focus. Literacyis an essential skill in contemporary society, and considerable researchhas been devoted to understanding how it is acquired. might be able to decode a word to its soundequivalent. However, Seymour W. New York: McGraw- Hill, 1967.Chall, Jeanne S. Therefore, the point at which an individual is ready tobegin learning to read on a formal basis will vary and requires sensitivityon the part of parents and teachers, rather than an arbitrary scale showingwhen a child "should" begin reading. Blumenfeld argues thatineffective reading programs (which he defines as those that focus on whole-reading approaches at the expense of understanding the rules behind thewords on the page) have led to "semiliteracy, or functional illiteracy . If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.