Wednesday, December 22, 2021

Neurological processing - December edition of Nomanis

 


This article, written by Rosalie Martin, appeared in the Dec 2021 edition of Nomanis.


Here are extracts and my comments.

Following the evidence

 

But high-quality evidence from studies across the world point at reading and writing as tasks overwhelmingly mediated by the phonemic (speech sound) processing areas of our brains. It has been shown that this continues to be so, even in accomplished readers and writers. The brain integrates print-based information with spoken language through neurological processing that is phonemically based.

 

My comment:

Does the brain integrate print-based information with spoken language through neurological processing that is phonemically based?

 

For the past decade I have written saying that if we want kids to be able to read we must teach them the correct pronunciation of sounds represented by letters. 

 

Fortunately, a majority of kids learn to read despite being taught the pronunciation of phonemes with extraneous sounds. 

 

My question to Rosalie Martin and to all the others at Nomanis is how are kids who have been taught pronunciation of phonemes with extraneous sounds able to connect the sounds of individual letters learned wrongly to words and end up reading fluently.

 

Best-practice teaching from this knowledge will allow all children, including those with developmental language disorder, dyslexia and other complex learning profiles, to progress in the fastest, surest way. It is the right thing to do; and when done, is inherently satisfying. It will require new learning for practitioners, and will raise the cost of training and supporting them. But it’s costlier not to. Not doing so has the logic of a compound-interest loan.

 

My comment:

 

These kinds of sweeping statements are made by every other writer on this subject. What is ‘best practice teaching’? 

 

What new learning do practitioners have to learn? 

 

Nomanis is published and totally funded by MultiLit Pty Ltd and is provided free to anyone who is interested. Please feel free to share with your colleagues and friends.

 

Emeritus Professor Kevin Wheldall AM, Joint Editor

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