[AAACE-NLA] Thinking, Languaging, and Literacy

Wed Jun 13 16:05:09 EDT 2007

Thank you so much for championing this research, Tom.  We were stunned to
find no research on reading and audio learning available when we began to
wonder if an audio version of our low-literacy prenatal guide Baby Basics
would be of use to those who could not read the guide - we also wondered if
a translation done for a primarily oral language, such as Hmong or French
Creole would be useful.  In addition to doing a research review, (and
calling Tom Stitch of course)  I also called Audible, the on-line retailer
of audio books.

Anecdotally I knew there was an audience for audio books amongst reluctant
readers.  My first job in book publishing was in Audio Publishing at
Bantam - turning Louis L'Amour and  other great works of literature
into "books on tape", complete with fake horsehooves from coconut shells.
We used to donate some of the tapes to Senior Centers and I know they were
beloved.  Also, my son's reading comprehension far exceeded his skills - and
I am convinced that reading the books while listening to the tapes helped
him learn to read.   Makes sense to me that this would work for adults - I'm
going to try it this year with pregnant adults - complete with sound affects
(no horsehooves though) I'll tell you what I find.

But meanwhile, anyone else want to try.
Lisa Bernstein

On 6/12/07, tsticht at znet.com <tsticht at znet.com> wrote:
>
> June 12, 2007
>
> Auding and Reading: Factors Affecting Fluency and Comprehension in
> Language
> Processing by Ear and by Eye
>
> Tom Sticht
> International Consultant in Adult Education
>
> Both listening to and comprehending speech, joint processes herein
> referred
> to as auding, are limited by at least two factors: (1) the rate at which
> one can think, and (2) the rate at which pre-linguistic knowledge can be
> converted into language, a process called languaging.
>
> Similarly, to the extent that reading involves transforming the written
> language into the same internal language as that used in auding, then both
> languaging and thinking rates will limit the rate at which reading can
> occur.
>
> Languaging involves both the re-coding of pre-linguistic thought into
> language and the formation of articulatory motor programs used to produce
> speech. For this reason, the rate at which one can form internal
> articulatory motor codes and execute them may indicate the rate at which
> people will speak and, hence, the rate at which an auder can process
> incoming information and turn it into language and then comprehend it.
>
> If you say a syllable such as "ta, ta, ta, …etc" as rapidly as you can for
> a
> quarter of a minute, multiple by four and count the number of such
> syllables
> per minute, you will probably come up with something around 350 syllables.
> Dividing by 2.5, an estimate of the average number of syllables in English
> words, you will end up with a word articulatory rate of about 140 words.
> Studies of the reading aloud rates of TV, radio, and readers of books for
> the blind indicate that on average they read at about 175 words per
> minute,
> plus or minus 25 wpm. At the lower level of 150 wpm this is close to the
> 140
> words calculated with the articulatory syllable method.
>
> Research with high and low literacy young adults indicated that for them
> to
> release a button when a light came on produced a reaction time of abut 500
> milliseconds (ms), about half a second. But when they had to release a
> left
> hand button when a left hand light come on or a right hand button when a
> right hand light came on, the time to make the decision between left and
> right caused the reaction times for high literacy adults to increase to
> 680ms, while the low literacy adults jumped to 790ms, 100ms longer than
> the
> high literacy adults. This suggests that many lower ability literacy
> adults
> may take longer than higher ability literacy adults to form thoughts from
> visual information, including that picked-up by reading.
>
> The 1972 National Assessment of Educational Progress had 17 year old youth
> silently read passages of 10th grade and college level difficulty knowing
> they would be tested for comprehension afterwards. They read at median
> rates of 195wpm and young adults (26-35 years old) read comparable
> materials at median (50th percentile) rates of 187wpm. Those adults at the
> 25th percentile read at some 145wpm those at the 75th percentile read at
> around 230wpm.
>
> These research studies suggest that both listening comprehension (auding)
> and reading are limited by how rapidly one can think (indicated by the
> reaction time studies) and how rapidly thoughts can be encoded into
> articulatory motor programs for speech (indicated by the articulatory
> demonstration and silent reading rates). There is also a limited research
> base suggesting that training less able reading adults, to aud more
> efficiently may improve their reading fluency.
>
> But overall, there is very little research with adults on the
> relationships
> among thinking rates, articulatory programming, listening and reading
> rates. Given the research that suggests strong relationships among these
> thinking and language processes and the development of reading fluency and
> comprehension, both areas of adult literacy training that are being
> emphasized today, this is an area of research that should be pursued with
> some urgency.
>
> Thomas G. Sticht
> International Consultant in Adult Education
> 2062 Valley View Blvd.
> El Cajon, CA 92019-2059
> Tel/fax: (619) 444-9133
> Email: tsticht at aznet.net
>
>
>
>
>
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-- 
Lisa Bernstein
Executive Director
The What To Expect Foundation
144 W. 80th Street
New York, NY 10024
212-712-9764
www.whattoexpect.org

Providing prenatal health and literacy support so that women in need know
what to expect when expecting.
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