Evasive answers

 

I asked the same question I asked for many years on Twitter and other social media. I always get evasive answers. Read my question carefully and see if the answer below is appropriate.

This is the question I asked on LinkedIn.

But the question remains. Why don't kids who learn to read in Malay and Hanyu Pinyin effortlessly, have phonemic awareness when learning to read in English?

Emma Hartnell-Baker replied as follows:

Luqman Michel, among others, Torgesen (Preventing Early Reading Failure, 2004) is often cited - with appropriate prevention (early intervention and instruction that meets individual needs), approximately 95% of children can become successful readers. This figure is also tied to his research on reading interventions for already struggling readers, particularly those with dyslexia. His work emphasised the importance of early, intensive, and systematic instruction in phonemic awareness and phonics to help nearly all children learn to read.

We’ve known for decades how to ascertain which children are most at risk of being failed (as early as six months). This is because, despite almost all children having the ability to learn to read without difficulties, a huge number are taught as if all are robots, ready to be programmed in the same way and at the same time. As a result, many are first failed, and then someone wonders what to do with those (usually around 1 in 4). They typically receive the same programme but in smaller groups or on a 1:1 basis. Madness. The ideal window is birth to 7 for the kick-start stage (give me then as toddlers and they’re reading independently by 5) - & once struggling they lose motivation.

My comment/questions now:

What is ‘appropriate prevention’?

What are the individual needs?

All kids, everyone, need to be taught consonant sounds correctly. This is the appropriate prevention – to prevent the kids from being confused.

After my research, I did not get a chance to discuss further with Dr. Joe Torgesen, as he was not in the contact address, I had discussed with him in 2010.

I believe he was discussing kids who had difficulties with phonological awareness deficits.

I quote the late Siegfried Engelmann:

Well, yeah, from the beginning, that was our motto, and it offended a lot of traditional educators. But it was: If the learner hasn't learned, the teacher hasn't taught, and it's not a question of the learner's ability, it's a question of the teacher's ability. These kids are capable of learning, certainly at different rates, but learning anything we want to teach them.

Read more of my post at LINK.