Jumpstart/Academe Learning Centre

Synthetic Phonics and WordAloud – the answer to Dyslexia

July 16, 2007 at 4:27 am (article)

Synthetic Phonics and WordAloud – the answer to Dyslexia

John C.D. Nissen
updated 24th November 2005
The research
The central problem of dyslexia, i.e. learning to read, can be solved with the right method and tools. A remarkable study of schools in Clackmannanshire shows the effectiveness of synthetic phonics, compared to conventional teaching using analytic phonics – and children with dyslexia are not left behind. One head teacher said that it had been a life-changing experience, although she admitted that some teachers in the school had been reluctant to drop the old methods. She used to wonder why so many of her children failed to learn to read with the old methods, and now they were all succeeding, with a remarkable improvement in self-esteem for dyslexic children who had been previously struggling.

The literacy problem
A quarter of UK children leaving primary school are unable to read, and Tony Blair admits that this is a scandal. Furthermore nearly a quarter of adults in both UK and US are illiterate. Part of the problem is the difficulty of the English language, in having countless spelling rules and exceptions. Thus for example children in Italy learn to read much faster than in England, because Italian has simple spelling rules, with few exceptions to them. Another problem is the proportion of people with dyslexia, estimated at between 4% and 10% in Europe and America. But the main problem is how reading is taught. Previous research has shown the importance of phonics, and phonic awareness, in the teaching of reading. This is now accepted practice in most UK schools, although a few teachers cling to the “whole word” or “whole language” approach and deprecate phonics. The Clackmannanshire study shows how synthetic phonics, properly taught from the first term at primary school, is a dramatic improvement on conventional teaching practice, and it shows that 100% literacy is possible, even in a deprived area of Scotland. This has profound implications on the national literacy strategy (NLS).

The conventional method
In conventional teaching, such as prescribed by the National Literacy Strategy, children start by learning the letters of the alphabet. They are shown how letters represent sounds. They are shown large-print books, and an adult reads out the words, whilst pointing to them. Then they are taught the commonest words to build up a basic vocabulary. They are then shown ways to analyse and decode the less common words from the pattern of the word. They are initially taught to analyse words in terms of the first sound in the word (the “onset” part), for example a group of words beginning with ‘g’. Then they move on to consider the sounds in other parts of the word (the “rime” part). Such analysis gives rise to the term “analytic phonics”, also known as “implicit phonics”. It is a top-down phonics approach. New words are analysed with respect to existing words, e.g. having a different initial letter. When a child is unable to decode a word, they are encouraged to guess the word from context. Their learning of the decoding rules for mapping letters (or letter combinations) to sounds is often spread out over two or three years. Long vowel sounds “er” and “ar” are typically left to the second year. This hampers the child in the ability to read on their own, and the child has to rely overly on guesswork.

we read:

All teachers know that pupils become successful readers by learning to use a range of strategies to get at the meaning of a text. This principle is at the heart of the National Curriculum for English and has formed the basis of successful literacy teaching for many years. The range of strategies can be depicted as a series of searchlights, each of which sheds light on the text.Successful readers use as many of these strategies as possible.

  a.. phonic (sound and spelling)   b.. knowledge of context   c.. grammatical knowledge   d.. word recognition and graphic knowledge

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Press Releases and Congressional Testimony US

July 16, 2007 at 4:10 am (article)

Press Releases and Congressional Testimony
Press Releases

Northup Hails Final Report of National Reading Panel as Much-Needed Resource in America’s Classrooms

Source: Office of Congresswoman Anne M. Northup, 3rd District of Kentucky

For Immediate Release Thursday, April 13, 2000

WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 13, 2000) – Today, Representative Anne M. Northup joined with the National Reading Panel, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and the Department of Education in releasing the Panel’s long-awaited final report, “Teaching Children to Read.”

Rep. Northup led efforts to establish the Panel with the introduction of her bill, H.R. 2192 in the 105th Congress. In 1997, Congress commissioned the Panel as part of the FY98 Labor, Health and Human Services Appropriations Bill in response to the growing concern that America’s children were being left behind.

“A child’s success in school — and in life — is dependent upon his ability to read. That’s why it is so discouraging that nearly 69 percent of America’s fourth graders can’t read at a proficient level. It underscores the urgency of this crisis. Congress has tried spending more money and implementing new programs and so are many of our states, but our children clearly are not getting what they need. Thankfully, the National Reading Panel has delivered the knowledge and the tools we have been lacking,” Northup stated.

“The Panel’s report gives teachers and parents clear direction on how children learn, what intervention is needed and when it is needed to develop successful reading,” Northup said. “Teachers have been barraged with conflicting information — all claiming a scientific basis — about how children best learn to read. Now they will be equipped with scientific research from a panel that is credible and independent. I am convinced that so many teachers are yearning for clearer direction on how to teach reading and that they will embrace the findings of this Panel.”

“A six year old is only six once. If we don’t reach these youngsters now, we can’t come back 15 years later and make it right. It is time for action. The Panel’s findings need to reach our schools, teachers, parents and universities as soon as possible. And literacy programs funded by Congress in the future should reflect the findings of this Panel,” Northup concluded.

The National Reading Panel was created by NICHD and the Department of Education. It includes 14 individuals who are leading scientists in reading research, representatives of colleges of education, reading teachers, administrators and parents. During the last two years, the panel held five field hearings to consult with stakeholders in education and listen to their concerns. They then assessed the current status of research-based knowledge, including the effectiveness of various approaches to teach children to read and the readiness of application in the classroom.

The National Reading Panel found that there is a clear and distinct pattern that children go through as they learn to read. It starts with phoneme awareness and phonics instruction, which leads to fluency. It is important to understand that children won’t become fluent until they have the foundation of phonemes and phonics established. In Kindergarten and first grade, phoneme awareness and systemic phonics instruction are essential for children at-risk.

The Panel’s findings are welcome news given the staggering statistics. In 1994, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) found that 42 percent of fourth graders read below basic levels. The 1998 NAEP showed that the situation was not improved. The results found that 69 percent of fourth grade students are reading below the proficient level.

This is confirmed by the 1999 National Education Goals Report which finds that the U.S. has failed to increase the percentage of students scoring at or above proficient in reading for students in grade four. The report indicates that only 31 percent of our nation’s fourth graders read at or above the proficient level, meaning 69 percent of our students are failing.

In 1994, the NAEP revealed that reading problems affect students in virtually every social, cultural and ethnic group. According to the results, 29 percent of whites, 69 percent of African Americans, 64 percent of Hispanics, 22 percent of Asian Americans and 52 percent of American Indians read below basic levels in the fourth grade.

For more detail about the National Reading Panel’s report, please visit their website at http://www.nationalreadingpanel.org.

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