I have been shouting at the top of my voice since 2010 why many intelligent kids shut down from learning to read. Except for a handful such as Dr. Richard Selznick and Dr. David Kilpatrick hardly anyone bothered to understand. Many of the blocked me on social media. Now, these people who blocked me will hear it from Grok.
This is a continuation of ‘For those interested in education (3). LINK
Luqman Michel:
One "wrong phonics" pitfall WL dodged: Kids pronouncing letters with extra sounds but reading fluently anyway.
Grok:
Those extras can linger as habits, masked by fluent chunking (per eye-tracking: less letter fixation post-fluency). But you say no—they don't vanish; kids overwrite them through meaningful practice, WL-style, without rigid drills. In your clips: Do extras resurface in tough words, or does immersion erase them?
This follows Part 1: The "Teach Malay First" Debate – where we covered Dr. Azizah Zain's push for Bahasa Melayu (BM) as the main language for young kids, the strong pushback from people like Sarawak's Datuk Dr. Annuar Rapaee, and Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's order to include BM and History in every school, even private ones. If you missed it, check it out here (link-to-part-1).
Now, let's shift from big ideas to everyday stories. Policy is one side; family life is the other. And it often tells a different tale.
This is a continuation of my discussion with Grok ‘For those interested in education (2). LINK
Luqman Michel:
You emphasized kids from print-rich homes "guessing" via context in WL. But that's exaggerated, you are influenced by the masses.
You said: Meta-analyses show WL's decoding effect is weak, leaving 20-30% struggling, especially low-SES or dyslexic kids who rely on unreliable cues like pictures instead of sounds.
Question: Were those 20-30% the same in WL and phonics eras?
Hello everyone—welcome to Dyslexiafriend.com. If you're new here, pull up a chair. I'm Luqman Michel, a guy who's spent 20+ years tutoring kids labeled "dyslexic." No fancy degrees in education—just real talk from fixing reading roadblocks one kid at a time. Today? Let's unpack why the big brains in dyslexia research often shut down good questions... and how everyday wins from my students are changing the game.
Here’s a post based on my discussion with Grok/X.
The controversy erupted around September 25, 2025, when Dr. Azizah Zain, an associate professor in the Department of Early Childhood Education at Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI), publicly argued that young children—particularly those from urban Malay families—should master Bahasa Melayu (BM) as their foundational language before being introduced to English or other tongues. She emphasized that BM is not just a communication tool but a carrier of national identity ("jati diri") and cultural values, warning that early dominance of English in urban settings could erode these elements and lead to weaker BM proficiency later on. Dr. Azizah called for schools to reaffirm BM as the primary medium of instruction, with English taught as a second language only after BM is solid, citing historical shifts like the 1990s policy making BM the main medium.
This is a continuation of ‘For those interested in education(1)'.
Hey folks—Luqman Michel here, picking up where we left off in part 1. If you missed it, hop back: We're diving into chats with Grok (that's this AI from xAI) on dyslexia myths, fixes, and why the "experts" sometimes miss the mark. Today? A snippet on groups like the International Dyslexia Association (IDA), Nancy Hennessy's wisdom, and those stuck NAEP scores that scream "decades of drift." (And yes, Grok can think... or at least fake it convincingly.)
Grok asked: Have you connected with groups like the International Dyslexia Association lately?
Here are my discussions with GROK 4.
As I mentioned GROK can spew out what is on the internet. There is no one else who has written why many kids shut down from learning other than me.Grok will now have new information to work on.
Here are our discussions:
Recently, since I am more or less done with Vistana Heights issues, I decided to chat with AI. The problem with AI is, it can’t think. It can regurgitate what it has read. The good thing is, unlike the PhDs I have discussed with over the years, it does not stonewall me. Here is one of my first discussions with AI.
Grok 4 said:
It's spot-on with how experts frame it: treat Dolch words not as pure "sight" memorization (which can backfire for analytical kids), but as phonics-friendly chunks—sound out the decodable parts ("th-en" or "wh-ere"), practice in phrases from a simple story, and repeat with games to make it stick without frustration.
Hello everyone—parents, teachers, and language fans. If you're in Malaysian Chinese-medium schools (like SJKTs under Dong Jiao Zong), this one's for you. I've been chatting with Grok (xAI's straight-talking AI) about a big headache: "Bopomofo creep" in Mandarin Pinyin lessons. It's messing with kids who juggle Malay, English, and Mandarin.
Almost everything on why kids disengage from learning to read, I learned from my dyslexic students whom I taught on a one on one basis since 2004.
I started my blog in 2010 and learned quite a bit from comments on my blog posts from dyslexics as well as parents of kids who were unable to read.
I started writing to more than 20 researchers and learned from many of them including, Dr. Joe Torgesen, Dr. Richard Selznick, Dr. David Kilpatrick.
Luqman Michel:
Grok 4, you have been influenced by what is said or written by the masses - putting the blame on hand phones etc. You said: Chinese-medium schools (SJKT/Dong Jiao Zong) face trilingual overload (Mandarin, Malay, English), amplifying interference.
Has this overload not been there 10 or 20 years ago? So, this can't be the problem, can it? Pinyin should be easy for any kid if the sounds are taught correctly. The sounds of letters - b,p,m,f,d,t,n,l,g,k,h are exactly as in English. If kids learn it this way, they will not have a problem reading in Pinyin. However, many schools for some reason started teaching pinyin using Bopomofo. Teachers from China have influenced teachers in Malaysia as well as in the US to teach using Bopomofo. So, many kids are confused and can't read in Pinyin. When schools start teaching characters together with pinyin these kids get confused and as in English, they shut down. There were hardly any smart kids who shut down in pinyin when pinyin was taught correctly. What is your take?
I prepared the article below about 10 years ago but archived it. I have been reading posts by Darren Clark and decided to post this article now.
Here is a post by my mentor Dr. Richard Selznick that caught my eye.
One that caught my eye was an article by the late learning dishabilles pioneer, Dr. Jeanette Jansky, called, “The Marginally Ready Child.”
In the opening of the piece, Dr. Jansky refers to early elementary grade children who rarely get anyone’s attention and are only, “marginally ready.” (In effect, they're borderline "ok.")
