Learning to read: an unnatural act

Gough, Philip B.; Hillinger, Michael L.

doi:10.1007/bf02653717

Cited by 389 publications

(211 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…They have weak decoding skill and spelling skill yet often they are able to read many real words (Ehri & Wilce, 1983;Perfetti & Hogaboam, 1975). The explanation usually given for this is that poor readers notice and remember visual cues in the words (Gough & Hillinger, 1980). However, as we found in our earlier study (Ehri & Wilce, 1985), visual associations are harder to remember than phonetic associations.…”

Section: From Cue Reading To Cipher Readingmentioning

confidence: 61%

“…We have been involved in a dispute with Phil Gough over this question, and we have conducted two studies to attempt to settle the issue. Gough and Hillinger (1980) propose that beginning readers pass through two stages in their use of graphic cues to read words. We will call children in the first stage cue readers and children in the second stage cipher readers.…”

Section: Xepsimentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In most cases, the visual cues selected are unrelated to the meanings of the words, and they are never related to sounds. Gough and Hillinger (1980) speculate that children use visual cues in learning to read their first 40 or so words. In attempting to employ this technique with more and more words, cue readers run into trouble.…”

Section: Xepsimentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Of particular interest were the novice readers who had just moved into word reading and could read only a few words, certainly fewer than 40. We reasoned that if Gough and Hillinger (1980) are right, these children should find it easier to learn to read words having distinctive visual cues than words having phonetic cues, whereas if we are right, they should learn the phonetic spellings more easily than the visual spellings.…”

Section: Xepsimentioning

confidence: 99%

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Learning to Read and Spell Words

Ehri¹

1987

Journal of Reading Behavior

298

196

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Learning to read and spell words is a central part of becoming literate. During text reading, most words are processed, and skilled readers are able to do this effortlessly. How they become skilled at processing graphic cues has been the focus of our research. Findings indicate that prereaders do not acquire graphic skill by learning to read signs and labels in their environment. Rather, mastery of letters is required. Whereas prereaders use visual or context cues to identify words, as soon as children move into reading they shift to letter-sound cues. Initially, words are read by accessing remembered associations between a few letters in spellings and sounds in pronunciations. Later, when decoding skill matures, complete spellings are analyzed as phonemic symbols for pronunciations and are stored in memory. Various studies indicate that having a visual picture of speech in memory is an important part of a person's information-processing equipment. Spellings may influence how words are pronounced, what sounds people think are in words, how quickly people judge spoken word rhymes, how rapidly pronunciations change over time.Although the great debate about methods of teaching reading may be over, it is not true that all the mysteries of beginning reading instruction have been solved. There are plenty inviting attention. We know that code emphasis programs produce better beginning readers than meaning emphasis programs (Chall, 1967). However, we do not yet understand how or exactly why. There are many ways to structure phonics instruction. Sounding out and blending may or may not be taught. Segmenting words into phonemes may or may not receive attention.

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Section: From Cue Reading To Cipher Readingmentioning

confidence: 61%

Section: Xepsimentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Xepsimentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Xepsimentioning

confidence: 99%

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Learning to Read and Spell Words

Ehri¹

1987

Journal of Reading Behavior

298

196

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“…The fact that this distinction is overlooked suggests that Bryant and Bradley need to clarify what they mean by a visual strategy. Very likely it is similar to Gough and Hillinger's (1980) idea of code learning which precedes the development of deciphering (decoding) skill and which characterizes the way prereaders learn to read words before they master the alphabet and begin using partial phonetic cues (Ehri & Wilce, 1985).…”

mentioning

confidence: 90%

Book Reviews

Ehri

McConaughy

Marjorie

et al. 1986

Journal of Reading Behavior

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The focus of the book is on backward readers, that is, children who are reading far below the level expected from their intelligence. Its purpose is to consider research on why these children have difficulty learning to read, what the best way to teach them might be in order to lessen their difficulties, and how such difficulties can be prevented in the first place. Bryant and Bradley believe that "a solution is very close" (p. 3). This is why they have written the book.The authors hold positions in the Department of Psychology at the University of Oxford, and they have conducted numerous studies to answer these questions. Much of their research is summarized in the book along with other selected studies.The book is written in a style suitable for teachers and parents who are interested in the subject but who may have little background or tolerance for technical terminology and methodological and statistical details of studies. Although this does simplify the text and make it more readable, it sometimes leaves the reader without sufficient information to understand the studies fully.In considering what research studies reveal about deficits claimed to cause reading problems, the authors develop criteria for evaluating the adequacy of such studies. This section is valuable in showing how the designs of many poor-reader studies fail to rule out alternative explanations for their results. Several improvements in designs are recommended. One is to compare backward readers to younger normal readers matched for reading age rather than to older better readers matched for mental age. This design rules out the possibility that any observed deficits are a consequence of learning to read. Another recommended design is to study reading development longitudinally in order to show that purported causal deficits precede and predict the development of reading skill. A third design is a training study in which purported causal deficits are manipulated experimentally to demonstrate cause-effect relations directly and to show that training effects are specific to reading achievement and do not include unrelated skills such as mathematics.Studies presenting evidence for several deficits are considered and found inadequate. This includes studies of visual perception, modality crossing, word production speed, and word memory. There are two kinds of difficulties, however, where the evidence is considered to be strong. One involves a deficit in phonemic awareness. Backward readers 257

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Small versus large unit theories of reading acquisition

Seymour

Duncan

1997

Dyslexia

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Accounts of the early stage of reading acquisition distinguish between a small unit approach, in which the learning of letters and their correspondence with phonemes is emphasised, and a large unit approach in which a naturally developing awareness of rhyme provides a basis for structuring vocabulary and reading new words by analogy. Studies of normal reading development suggest that small units are emphasised in the initial stage and that the use of larger units does not become apparent until the second or third year of learning. This sequence is also reflected in the development of a conscious (metalinguistic) awareness of speech segments.

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Learning to read: an unnatural act

Cited by 389 publications

References 13 publications

Learning to Read and Spell Words

Learning to Read and Spell Words

Book Reviews

Small versus large unit theories of reading acquisition

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