Dyslexics and phonological processing

 

In my post about why many schools in China are teaching Pinyin using Bopomofo initial sounds, DrJulie Safri made a comment and this is a short extract that I decided to reply to separately from the rest of her comment.

DrJulie Safri

Good morning Luqman, let me clarify my statement.....Dyslexia is a neurodevelopmental condition, meaning it originates from differences in how the brain processes language, particularly phonological information. However, it is important to note that these neurological differences don’t mean a person with dyslexia cannot learn to read, they just require tailored, evidence-based instruction that accommodates their unique learning needs.

My thoughts:

“Tailored, evidence-based instruction that accommodates their unique learning needs” is something I’ve frequently heard from many teachers providing intervention for dyslexic kids.

I don't know how the brain processes languages and would be grateful if DrJulie Safri can educate me and whoever else is interested. 

Asking for my credentials.

 

I made a comment on Facebook stating that I have worked in the accounting and auditing field for most of my adult life. Following that, I received a comment from Suri Charles, who is aware of my previous experience teaching dyslexic children before transitioning to teaching their parents.

David (Dyslexic) Chalk (Part 2)

                                                  Listen to the YouTube of David. LINK

The following is extracted from this website with my thoughts.

By 62, David Chalk had seen it all. While David conquered the world, he never managed to achieve the only thing he always had truly wanted, To Read Fluently.

He was a popular media personality, had built his business empire, made millions, was awarded a doctorate in technology by the University of the Fraser Valley for holding the world's only true patent in cyber security and was described as having a brilliantly gifted mind.

 

My thoughts:

I have repeatedly said that my so-called dyslexic students are smart kids. They have done exceptionally well in schools and Universities.

David (Dyslexic) Chalk (Part 1)

 

David Chalk posted the following on LinkedIn and let us study this.

This is what is about him on his profile.

About

Through my life experiences, I work to empower those who have struggled and suffered through schooling, particularly with reading difficulties and labeled dyslexic.

These struggles lead to a loss of confidence and self-esteem often manifesting as sadness and shame.

 

The following is what he posted on LinkedIn.

Why do kids shut down from learning to read?

 

Recently I posted a video broadcasted in over 100 countries that teaches the wrong sounds of the letters. Many toddlers listening to this video will shut down/disengage from decoding and blending. Those promoting this video claim it to be an entertainment video.

You can find the video here. LINK

I made a comment

According to some, this is an entertainment programme, not an educational one so it does not matter. These clowns have made many believe that kids can differentiate between what is entertainment and what is academic.

Is this how to teach the sounds of the letters? The British are the main culprits in creating 'dyslexic' kids.

Suri Charles commented as follows:

Most ‘Dyslexics’ Are Created by Misguided Teaching

 

 

I recently shared some thoughts with Ethan Lynn regarding a pervasive issue in education: many educators struggle to understand why some children cannot read. They either don’t understand or refuse to accept that the reason is confusion caused by teaching consonants with extraneous sounds.

 

This brings to mind a response I received from some ‘experts’ in Australia in 2020 regarding phonics instruction. You can read more about it here. LINK

Shut down kid or dyslexic

 

I have always maintained that a majority of kids who are classified as dyslexic are shut down kids.

I just received a message from the father of a kid who I taught to read when she was in grade two.

She could read in Malay and Hanyu Pinyin but could not read at grade level in English.  

She is one of 39 out of 137 graduates from University Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) who graduated with a distinction.

Here is my post in 2019 about her Matriculation results I posted in December 2018. LINK

Alphabetic and syllabic system

 

For an alphabetic system, the beginner has to first become aware of individual phonemes in spoken words to subsequently learn that those phonemes are represented by letters.

Mandarin does not use an alphabetic system. It is syllabic. The learner has to be aware that spoken words are comprised of syllables. 

Similarly, when teaching kids Pinyin we should teach them syllables as illustrated in the Pinyin chart on my post at LINK

Pinyin Chart - Purple Culture

 

 

Click for a clear view of one of the many Pinyin charts above online. LINK

Click on the sound files of any of the letters on the first line. b p m f d t n etc. 

This is how many teachers in China and Taiwan teach kids to read in Pinyin. Like kids who are taught English letters with extraneous sounds the intelligent kids who cannot make sense of how ‘bo-ai’ combines to make bai; ‘mo- an’ combines to make man; ‘fo-ang’ combines to become fang; ‘lur-ei’ combines to make lei, shut down/disengage from learning to read.

Robert Matthews and his argument for Bopomofo

 

Robert Matthews LinkedIn Profile says the following:

My eclectic background (linguistics/biology/humanities+Chi/Fre/Span/Russ), teaching experience, and grasp of technology, make me suited for challenging jobs requiring advanced language skills, especially technical translation, indexing and language training.

Robert Matthews (馬學進) who lives in Taipei wrote the following on Quora in response to my answer.

Robert Matthews:

This addendum is an extended response to a comment by Luqman Michel, who is very upset that Bopomofo (which he seems to regard as backward and harmful), is somehow harming the teaching of Pinyin in Malaysia.

There are teachers from Tianjin, China who are teaching Pinyin using Bopomofo sounds. This is why I asked this question. We in Malaysia did away with Bopomofo in the 70’s and introduced Hanyu Pinyin. Why can’t China get rid of Bopomofo in China?

My response:

Turning a school around

                                                            

Here is an interesting thread on Twitter on turning schools around by a Former school leader, Director - author, radio presenter and SEN parent who has more than 3,600 followers on Twitter. 

Most educators are good at going around the mulberry bush repeating the same thing again and again expecting different results.

graham Chatterley @grahamchatterl2 29.1.24

If you are bragging about turning a school around, but your exclusion figures are sky high and you are sending parents elsewhere, you haven’t turned anything around, you’ve taken a massive shortcut. If you cherry pick your students of course results go up.

Musings of a centrist by Dr. Sam Bommarito - Part 2

                                                                        

Here is another extract from Dr. Sam’s post:

There is more than one way to teach phonics. I’ve written about that point many times.

Some students NEED a synthetic phonics approach. This is especially true for dyslexic students. The key place where folks working under the balanced literacy umbrella went off the tracks was their failure to ensure dyslexic students got the synthetic phonics they needed. In some instances, that involved giving them little or no phonics. In other cases, that involved giving them the wrong kind of phonics. The wrong kind of phonics for them is phonics taught using inquiry methods- analytic phonics being the best example of that kind of approach.

The main point I want to make again today is that it is time to try something we’ve never tried in the whole history of the reading wars. That is to adopt a centrist position, using ideas from all sides.

Behind & Beyond Sold a Story with Emily Hanford

                                                   

S2 E1: Behind & Beyond Sold a Story with Emily Hanford

Reading Road Trip

Here is an extract from the podcast above and my comments. LINK

It is a profound misunderstanding of journalism. What role does a journalist play? A journalist hasn’t been the thing they are covering; a white house reporter hasn’t been the president… The point of journalism is to investigate and uncover important stories. Journalists ask questions and explain things and we investigate and we look at the data.

I have referred Emily to my book Shut Down Kids and asked her if she has any idea why many kids shut down/ disengage from learning to read. How do these kids get to grade level and are maintained at grade level after a short intervention period?

What have Emily and APM investigated following my several emails to them beginning in 2017?

What data did they look at?

Dr. Anuar Ahmad and PISA results

                                                          

                                                                     Dr. Anuar Ahmad

Recently I saw a Facebook post by one Dr. Anuar Ahmad who has a following of 64K members. He writes many articles on education in Malay on Facebook. His motto on his Facebook profile is: "The great aim of education is not knowledge but action.” – Herbert Spencer

I have copied below his article dated 7.12.23 translated into English by Google and my comments. I hope to be able to pick his brains on this matter. 

Dyslexia – What % of the world is dyslexic

                                                       

Here are a few tweets and my response.

Luqman Michel @luqmanmichel

Most of the so-called dyslexic kids are kids who have disengaged from learning to read due to confusion. They shut down from learning to read. Get rid of the root causes and you will not have to blame Phonics or Lucy Calkins or BL.

Teaching EcoSystems Matter @CreditFlex

Not sure I’d say “most”. But really have had difficulty narrowing down the real percentage.

Luqman Michel @luqmanmichel

The dyslexia advocates try to convince the world it is around 15 to 20%. Some researchers have said it is about 2 %. Recently David Boulton said it s/b around 3 to 5 %.

Here is the latest discussion between David Boulton and Andrew Johnson where this is mentioned. LINK

The human mind is like the human egg.

 

Let us begin with a tweet directed to Dr. Sam Bommarito and his reply.

To my following tweet on 14.8.23:

I wrote emails to both of them (David Boulton and Andrew Johnson) in 2015. Both refused to accept what I discovered and wanted research reports to support what I discovered. Dr. Sam, do we need research reports for everything? Can't we think logically anymore?

 

Dr. Sam Bommarito @DoctorSam7 responded as follows:

In the world of research, there is the issue of replication. You have to be able to replicate results for them to be significant, replication requires formal studies.  One of the key issues here is. If you use your methods on other children and from other places will they still progress? So the answer is if you want other people from other places to consider your (approach) yes you do have to do research.

Union Reception - Neuroscience news - Part 1

 

I happened to read an article on Neuroscience news and decided to write to the press office.

 

The following day I received the message below:

Union Reception <Union.Reception@brunel.ac.uk>

We at the Union do not know who the author of the article is so unfortunately cannot help with your query.

Sorry about this.

Literacy myth busting by Lyn Stone - podcast

 

Yesterday, I listened to a podcast by Kate of IDA Ontario and Lyn Stone from Australia.

The topic was: Literacy Myth-Busting with Lyn Stone (LINK)

The episode was propaganda against Balanced Literature and Whole Language and nothing more.

Hundreds of children didn’t progress because of instruction. (Lyn)

Different perspectives – Part 2 - PHONICS

I have said for many years that one of the reasons why many kids shut down/ disengage from learning to read is due to teaching the sounds represented by letters wrongly. A majority of these kids are wrongly classified as dyslexic.

Many educators have disagreed with me.

Let us examine the reason for the different perspectives.

Explanation of my lessons

 

The lessons I have posted on my blog are very simple. Many of the lessons consist of only a few lines.

The lessons are designed to get the dyslexic/disengaged students back on track. They had disengaged from learning due to confusion as a result of the reasons explained in my post at LINK.

These lessons ensure that any disengaged student will soon learn the correct pronunciation of the consonants and also learn that letters represent more than one sound. This is the basic idea of my lessons.

The idea is to get the disengaged kids to unlearn what they have been taught wrongly.