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[ProfessionalDevelopment 2557] Re: The "Decoding" of words, sentences, and paragraphsBruce C bcarmel at rocketmail.comFri Sep 26 13:40:34 EDT 2008
Hi Steve and the list You make an important point about "meaning." Not every teacher, I am sad to say, cares much about comprehension. So it's great that we are even talking about it. I am not exactly what you mean when you say "there is nothing wrong with the overall meaning being unclear." I think you mean that learners and teachers benefit from understanding that there is no single correct interpretation of a text. (There are, of course, valid and not-so-valid interpretations.) Also, when we read, we may not be clear about the meaning of the text until we have finished it. I may need to talk to others about or ask questions about what certain words, statements, or references mean. Is MY interpretation of YOU on-target? :) --- On Fri, 9/26/08, Steve Kaufmann <steve at thelinguist.com> wrote: > From: Steve Kaufmann <steve at thelinguist.com> > Subject: Re: [ProfessionalDevelopment 2545] Re: The "Decoding" of words, sentences, and paragraphs > To: bcarmel at rocketmail.com, "The Adult Literacy Professional Development Discussion List" <professionaldevelopment at nifl.gov> > Date: Friday, September 26, 2008, 4:58 PM > I am not sure if this refers to native speakers learning to > read their own > language, or non-native speakers learning to read another > language. If it is > the latter, then I think it is normal for a learner to > focus on decoding > individual words. By decoding individual words, the learner > gets some idea > of the overall meaning, but still an unclear idea. There is > nothing wrong > with the overall meaning being unclear, and I believe it is > important to > convince the learner that this fuzziness of meaning is > absolutely normal and > OK. The language will only become clearer over time. In the > meanwhile it is > important to keep listening and reading and learning words. > In my > experience, the learner's time is best spent on > acquiring more exposure to > the language, rather than trying to fully understand what > he or she is > reading or listening to, or for that matter trying to > produce the language > with any accuracy. > > I believe that insofar as immigrant language learners as > concerned, greater > benefit would be achieved if a large number of immigrants > were assigned a > personal tutor with whom he or she met infrequently, either > face to face, or > by phone or computer. This language coach could then > provide advice and > encouragement and guidance. The present > instruction-intensive format does > not take advantage of the potential energies and learning > efficiencies that > would accrue from a more learner-centred approach. And if > the learner is not > interested in learning, chances are that he or she is not > learning very much > in class either. > > Steve > On Fri, Sep 26, 2008 at 7:38 AM, Bruce C > <bcarmel at rocketmail.com> wrote: > > > Hello List: > > I believe that decoding is an extremely important > component of reading, but > > it is not the only component. Understanding > conventions of print and > > different genres, using and having background > knowledge, being able to > > relate text to self/text to the world/text to other > texts, using context to > > inform decoding, and being able to make predictions > are among the many other > > skills needed to be a good reader. > > > > I did some in-depth interviews with beginning readers > and found "decoding" > > was all they cared about. Comprehension was not the > goal for them. Decoding > > was the goal. I believe many beginning readers would > feel satisfied and > > successful if they accurately decoded each word of a > text yet did not > > comprehend its meaning. > > > > This is sadly reinforced by many teachers who teach as > if they believe the > > same thing. > > > > From Bruce Carmel > > Turning Point > > Brooklyn NY > > > > > > > > > > > > > <http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/Adult_Literacy_Professional_Development> > > > > > > -- > Steve Kaufmann > www.lingq.com > 1-604-922-8514
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