Return-Path: <nifl-4eff@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id i12INcI19891; Mon, 2 Feb 2004 13:23:38 -0500 (EST) Date: Mon, 2 Feb 2004 13:23:38 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <5.1.0.14.2.20040202132733.01ab87e0@pop.utk.edu> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-4eff@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-4eff@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-4eff@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: Brenda Bell <bsbell@utk.edu> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-4eff@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-4EFF:2666] Re: Amy's post on aaace list X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"; format=flowed X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 5.1 Status: O Content-Length: 13033 Lines: 274 Hello everyone! Nothing like forgetting to check the To: line before sending a message! Sorry sending this message to the list instead of to Meta only. I will forward Amy Trawick's recent posting that I referred to in my message. Brenda Bell (trying to do too many things at once.....) At 01:12 PM 2/2/2004 -0500, Brenda Bell wrote: >Meta - did you see Amy T's post on the aaace list? on evidence-based >reading ....... Would be good to post it to 4EFF... >B. > >At 12:37 PM 2/2/2004 -0500, you wrote: >>Colleagues, >> >>This message was posted to another list in response to the questions about >>scientifically-based reading research. This is a most interesting >>perspective, >>and the bibliography is quite valuable. Thanks to Ann Murr. >> >> >>Janet Isserlis asked: >>“What are these ‘studies’? What passes for research that informs >>our work, >>what research ‘counts’ to legislative people?” I’d like to briefly >>summarize the research that has informed our work at the Drake University >>Adult >>Literacy Center, where volunteers offer one-to-one tutoring for adults >>who enroll in >>order to improve their reading and writing proficiencies. >> >>I am a practitioner-researcher and have been in the adult literacy field for >>six years. After just a year of tutoring adults who struggle to learn to >>read >>and training volunteers to tutor, I discovered that learning progress was not >>happening when using authentic text which required word recognition through >>memorization, guessing, and guided phonics instruction. Instruction in word >>structure while writing letters to pen pals was very “hit and >>miss.” This >>instruction did not have the systematic intensity which learners needed >>to address >>their learning struggles. >> >>I began reading the research on why children fail to learn to read – >>because >>the adults we serve failed to learn to read as children. This is what I have >>found in my reading of quantitative, i.e., scientifically-based, reading >>research: >> >>Groundbreaking work in neuroscience informs educators about cognitive >>processes involved in translating speech to print and print to speech and >>how these >>mental processes do not become automatic for one in five learners (Shaywitz, >>2003). Research has identified the differing cognitive processes of children >>and adults who fail to reach levels of functional literacy. Beginning with >>Isabella Liberman in the late ‘70s and continuing with Shaywitz, Paulesu, >>Richards, (see accompanying bibliography) and others, brain scan >>technology reveals >>that persons who struggle to learn to read have brain activity patterns that >>differ from the brain activity patterns of competent readers. This >>brain-based >>difference manifests itself in the lack of perception of the speech sounds of >>which words made, i.e., a lack of phonemic awareness, and great difficulty in >>combining and segmenting these sounds (phonological processing >>skills). Their >>brains are truly “not wired” to learn to read. >> >>Quantitative researchers are able to separate distinct factors which >>influence learning, i.e., verbal and nonverbal I.Q., family educational >>background and >>income, ethnicity, age and sex. Through this process, scientifically-based >>research has determined that children and adults who lack adequate phonemic >>awareness and phonological processing skills do fail to reach competence in >>literacy. Pratt and Brady (1988) looked at the reading skills and >>performance of >>good and poor readers in 3rd grade and in ABE classes. They found that both >>child and adult poor readers “display deficiencies in phonological >>processing.” >> In fact, the adults scored more poorly on the “sounding-out” tasks >> than did >>the children. Read and Ruyter (1985) found similar results when >>investigating good and poor readers in 5th grade and adults in a >>Wisconsin prison. While >>the adults had more extensive banks of memorized non-decodable sight words, >>they performed more poorly than the children on tasks measuring phonological >>processing skills. Read and Ruyter concluded that “ the only hope >>seems to be in >>teaching these skills.” (p. 51) >> >>Four years ago at the Drake University Adult Literacy Center we began an >>informal screening process to determine each adult learner’s level of >>phonemic >>awareness and phonological processing skills. Every adult, regardless of >>education or incoming reading level, has demonstrated the lack or >>phonological >>processing skills identified in the scientific research. (This is our >>qualitative, >>observational research.) Several had already earned a GED but stated >>emphatically, “Take me back to the very beginning. I’m tired of >>feeling dumb with >>words!” >> >>We began using direct, systematic instruction which activates learning with >>multisensory, hands-on learning of the sounds of our alphabetic language and >>then in the structure of how sounds and syllables combine as text. >>Minimally-trained volunteers have the materials and structure to address >>the learning >>challenges that face persons who have failed to learn to read through more >>traditional methods. >> >>My background and previous teaching experience was as an early childhood >>educator. When I began studies in an adult learning masters degree >>program, I >>addressed the issue of whether or not adults and children learn in different >>ways. My conclusion was that we all learn best in the context of >>“doing”, >>through hands-on experiences in a meaningful >>context. Developmentally-appropriate >>instruction is necessary at ALL ages, not just for young children. If an >>adult >>does not know how sounds correspond to letters, it IS appropriate to teach >>that adult the sounds (phonemes) and how they combine into words. >> >>I have observed that adults in our Center immediately transfer that >>information into decoding (reading) text at work, on street signs, and in >>books that >>they read to their children. They have the background knowledge and >>experience >>to apply what they are learning within the structured tutoring setting to the >>broader context of their lives. One of the women I tutor has a cleaning >>business. She is now able to read the notes left for her by her >>employers so that >>she can clean exactly what they want her to. Her tearful comment when we >>began working on multisyllabic words was: “You mean I don’t have to >>be afraid of >>the big words anymore?”! >> >>Experimental research also has investigated the effects of structured, direct >>instruction for children who are failing to learn to read. Children in the >>successful Reading Recovery program made greater reading gains when receiving >>direct instruction in phonological processing skills (Iverson and Tunmer, >>1993). An intensive investigation into literacy learning in Title One >>reading >>classes found that the only children whose reading scores improved were >>those who >>received direct, systematic instruction. (Foorman, et al., 1998) >> >>There is a dearth of research on the effect of instruction with adults. We >>are collecting data in our Center and hope to have it compiled in the near >>future. >> >>For those whose brains are not “wired” to process words efficiently, >>we have >>observed that it takes much time for structured, multisensory practice in >>order for adults to internalize word structure information. Memorization >>alone >>just doesn’t compute. >> >>We who teach most often learned to read effortlessly; we have strengths in >>verbal intelligence. Until we witness the struggles of those who have >>invested >>great effort in learning to read but have failed (to this point in time), we >>think that given appropriate text and context, these adults WILL learn to >>read. >> However, persons who have very low verbal intelligence but who are skilled >>in visual-spatial, mechanical, inter or intrapersonal, or kinesthetic >>intelligence will continue to fail to reach functional literacy >>competence without >>instruction that is informed by science. >> >>Reading problems are not caused by low intelligence, by a literacy-deprived >>environment, by lack of motivation to learn or by emotional turmoil, although >>learning is certainly affected by all these factors. Science has identified >>the root cause of reading problems as neurological. Educators are >>challenged to >>act on this evidence. >> >>Certainly literacy learning must occur within the context of meaningful text >>and life application tasks. Literacy is more than the learning of discrete >>skills. But adults who failed to learn to read as children will continue to >>struggle to become fully literate until they learn the basic structure of our >>alphabetic language. They must internalize the knowledge that words are >>constructed from sounds and that those sounds correlate with >>letters. When we do not >>act on the evidence from science, we undermine the effectiveness of our >>instruction. >> >>I will close with this anecdote: During his third tutoring session with me, >>a college student (who was tested as reading at the 6th grade level) tapped >>out 3 sounds /f/ /a/ /d/. After several attempts with saying the discrete >>sounds but not perceiving how the sounds combined into a word, he finally >>exclaimed, “Fad! That’s how you spell ‘fad’? I wouldn’t spell >>fad that way! It’s >>a damn-ass shame I never learned the little words before!” Later he >>declared, >>“This is productive! Learning is fun!” >> >>Instruction which is informed by science IS productive - and empowering for >>all of us as learners. >> >>Anne Murr >>Coordinator >>Drake University Adult Literacy Center >>Des Moines, IA 50311 >> >>Bibliography >>Bell, L. & Perfetti, C. (1994). Reading skill: Some adult comparisons. >>Journal of Educational Psychology, 86, 244-255. >> >>Bradley, l. & Bryant, P.E. (1983). Categorizing sounds and learning to >>read— >>a causal connection. Nature, 301, 419-421 >> >>Bus, A.G. & van IJzendoorn. (1999) Phonological awareness and early reading: >> A meta-analysis of experimental training studies. Journal of Educationa.l >>Psychology, 91, 403-414. >> >>Byrne, B. & Ledez, J. (1983). Phonological awareness in reading-disabled >>adults. Australian Journal of Psychology, 35. 185-197. >> >>Felton, R.H., Naylor, C.E., Wood, F.B. (1990). Neuropsychological profile of >>adult dyslexics. Brain and Language, 39, 485-497. >> >>Foorman, B., Fletcher, J., Francis, D., Shatschneider, C., Mehta, P. (1998). >> The role of instruction in learning to read: Preventing reading failure in >>at-risk children. Journal of Education Psychology. 90. 37-55. >> >>Iverson, S. & Tunmer, W. E. (1993) Phonological processing skills and the >>reading recovery program. Journal of Educational Psychology, 85, 112-126. >> >>Liberman, L. & Shankweiler, D. (1985). Phonology and the problems of >>learning to read and write. Remedial and Special Education, 6, 8-17. >> >>Paulesu, E., Démonet, j.-F., Fazio, F., McCrory, E., Chanoine, V., >>Brunswick, >>N., Cappa, S.F., Cossu, G., Habib, M., Frith, C.D., Frith, U. (2001). >>Dyslexia: Cultural diversity and biological unity, Science, 291, 2165-2167. >> >>Perfetti, C. A. & Marron, M.A. (1995). Learning to read: Literacy >>acquisition by children and adults. National Center on Adult Literacy, >>Technical >>Report TR95-07. >> >>Pratt, A.C., Brady, S. (1988). Relation of phonological awareness to reading >>disability in children and adults. Journal of Educational Psychology, 80, >>319-323.Read, C. & Ruyter, L. (1985). Reading and spelling skills in >>adults of >>low literacy. Remedial and Special Education, 6, 43-52. >> >>Read, C., Zhang, Y., Nie H., Ding, B. (1986). The ability to manipulate >>speech sounds depends on knowing alphabetic writing. Cognition, 24, 31-44. >> >>Richards, T., Corina, D., Serafini, S., Steury, K., Echelard, D., Dager, S., >>Marro, K., Abbott, R., Maravilla, K., Berninger, V. (2000) The effects of a >>phonologically-driven treatment for dyslexia on lactate levels as measured by >>proton MRSI. American Journal of Neuroradiology, 21, 916-922 >> >>Shankweiler,D., Liberman, I., Mark, L., Fowler, C., and Fischer W. (1979). >>The speech code and learning to read. Journal of Experimental Psychology: >>Human Learning and Memory, 5, 531-545. >> >>Shaywitz, S. (2003) Overcoming dyslexia: A new and complete science-based >>program for reading problems at any level. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. >> >>Shaywitz, S., Shaywitz, B., Pugh, K., Fulbright, R., Constable, R.T., Mencl, >>W.E., Shankweiler, D., Liberman, A., Skudlarski, p., Fletcher, J., Katz, L., >>Marchione, K., Lacadie, C., Gatenby, C., & Gore, J. (1998). Functional >>disruption in the organization of the brain for reading in >>dyslexia. Neurobiology, >>95, 2636-2641. >> >>
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