[NLA] Re: Reading Instruction and Policy Advocacy

[tom zurinskas]

I was asked some questions to which I reply.

Tom, did you come to appreciate the importance of
phonemic awareness and develop your expert
understanding of it as a result of a mandate to use it
as a teaching methodology? 
- In truth, my exposure to phonetic awareness happened
in 1st grade back in the 50's.  My teachers explained
that letters are meant to stand for sounds and after
practice I was able to sound out words as I read them.
 I was not so frustrated by new words and was given
tools to figure them out.  I could see some logic to
it.  The silent “e” rule was logical.

If a mandate was the trigger, was it all that was
needed? 
- I don't know if my teachers were mandated or chose
phonetics.  I'm glad they chose it.

Could you have developed your understanding from
someone telling you what the research said, or did you
need to read it, conduct it, and/or experience it
yourself? 
- I was a kid.  I did what my teacher told me.  I
didn't know what was right or wrong.  And having
experienced it, I think it was right.

If teachers understand how to teach reading, then they
won't need a mandate to get them to do it. 
- Agreed.  So what does a teacher understand?  Did not
the national reading panel enhance this understanding?

If they don't understand, a mandate will not make them
understand (<and understanding is sometimes a far cry
from doing). 
- If they don't understand then a mandate (prescribed
teaching method) would be essential for them I should
think until they do.  If we are to be against mandates
in general (and I’m not, because we all conform to
hundreds of mandates, rules, contracts, procedures,
standards) I understand that in California in 1986 it
was mandated that phonics teaching be dropped.  

Given the scarcity of resources, it makes sense to
concentrate them closest to learners (e. g. , use them
to help teachers develop their understanding and
skills) <rather than to create policy and the
bureaucracy needed to enforce that policy. 
-  Is there a scarcity of resources anywhere is USA? 
Should we favor an inferior teaching method because of
it?  I don’t think this is an issue.   

I approach reading instruction from the "decoding"
level.  This is very basic.  With truespel I use the
26 letters of the alphabet to spell the 40 sounds of
the foenubet (the total set of phonemes (sounds) of a
language) - my own term.  This is a world's first
because it allows keyboard entry of phonetic spelling.
 This should be our new pronunciation guide spelling. 
A new truespel ebook is just coming out on all the
ways we spell phonemes.  It give a the know knowledge
as to what is the best guess as to how to pronounce
letters in words for sounding out purposes.  This is a
new understanding.

Our learners depend on our teachers for understanding.
 Teachers should give  the student the means to sound
out and figure out words for themselves.  This is
means teaching phonetics.  One of the members of the
National Reading Panel said "Not teaching phonetics is
akin to malpractice."

Tom z


=====
Read all about truespel at truespel.com.  
Convert text to truespel USA accent by copy/pasting it at: http://www.foreignword.com/dictionary/truespel/transpel.htm

__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! News - Today's headlines
http://news.yahoo.com
_______________________________________________
NLA mailing list: NLA at lists.literacytent.org
http://lists.literacytent.org/mailman/listinfo/nla
LiteracyTent: web hosting, news, community and goodies for literacy
http://literacytent.org