Remember Dolch?

His reading lists  for children were based on the actual words  
children actually spoke and heard.

Andrea

On Sep 19, 2008, at 2:41 PM, Steve Kaufmann wrote:


> Tom,

>

> You wrote:

>

> "Listening has been identified as a critical work-related skill but  

> it has

> been almost totally ignored in national assessments of adult  

> literacy. 2008

> is the 100th anniversary of E. B. Huey's 1908 classic book, "The  

> Psychology

> and Pedagogy of Reading" in which he stated that, "The child comes  

> to his

> first reader with his habits of spoken language fairly well formed,  

> and

> these habits grow more deeply set with every year. His meanings  

> inhere in

> this spoken language and belong but secondarily to the printed  

> symbols...."

>

> It seems incredible that such an obvious truth, and one that was  

> described 100 years ago, has been neglected in the fight to improve  

> literacy. The less well I read a language, the more I vocalize when  

> reading. Listening, or hearing, or auding as you put it, is the  

> foundation for learning to read, whether for our first language, or  

> for subsequent languages. The power of the MP3 player makes auding  

> easier to do than ever.

>

> Here in Canada there is much public posturing about fighting  

> literacy. There are spelling bees, and  book reading promotions.  

> Much money is raised by well intentioned people. The results are  

> disappointing.

>

> I believe that far more could be achieved if there were one website  

> with a vast collection of sound files and transcripts, of all  

> kinds. These should consists of ordinary conversations between  

> people of different ages and interests,radio programs, songs,  

> articles on different subjects, including civics, and even  

> university courses. The download of the sound files and text files  

> should be free and their distribution unrestricted. The site should  

> be the subject of a massive promotion campaign. Friendships and  

> mentoring relationships could be built up via such a site.

>

> I often hear that the adult ESL learner or person with low literacy  

> cannot afford a computer or MP3 player. I do not believe this is a  

> real obstacle. There are libraries, schools, and other places to  

> access computers. An MP3 player is not expensive. It is simply a  

> matter of getting people to realize that they need to listen in  

> order to read, and after listening they need to read.

>

> If you have a seminar near Vancouver BC please let me know. I would  

> love to attend.

>

> Steve

>

>

>

> -- 

> Steve Kaufmann

> www.lingq.com

> 1-604-922-8514

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