How should reading be taught?
A
Learning to speak is automatic for almost all children, but learning to read requires elaborate instruction and conscious effort. Well aware of the difficulties, educators have given a great deal of thought to how they can best help children learn to read. No single method has triumphed. Indeed, heated arguments about the most appropriate form of reading instruction continue to polarize the teaching community.
B
Three general approaches have been tried. In one, called whole-word instruction, children learn by rote how to recognise at a glance a vocabulary of 50 to 100 words. Then they gradually acquire other words, often through seeing them used over and over again in the context of a story.
C
However, many linguists and psychologists objected strongly to the abandonment of phonics in American schools. Why was this so? In short, because research had clearly demonstrated that understanding how letters related to the component sounds in words is critically important in reading. This conclusion rests, in part, on knowledge of how experienced readers make sense of words on a page. Advocates of whole-language instruction have argued forcefully that people often derive meanings directly from print without ever determining the sound of the word. Some psychologists today accept this view, but most believe that reading is typically a process of rapidly sounding out words mentally. Compelling evidence for this comes from experiments which show that subjects often confuse homophones (words that sound the same, such as ‘rose’ and ‘rows’). This supports the idea that readers convert strings of letters to sounds.
D
In order to evaluate different approaches to teaching reading, a number of experiments have been carried out, firstly with college students, then with school pupils. Investigators trained English-speaking college students to read using unfamiliar symbols such as Arabic letters (the phonics approach), while another group learned entire words associated with certain strings of Arabic letters (whole-word). Then both groups were required to read a new set of words constructed from the original characters. In general, readers who were taught the rules of phonics could read many more new words than those trained with a whole-word procedure.
E
If researchers are so convinced about the need for phonics instruction, why does the debate continue? Because the controversy is enmeshed in the philosophical differences between traditional and progressive (or new) approaches, differences that have divided educators for years. The progressive challenge the results of laboratory tests and classroom studies on the basis of a broad philosophical skepticism about the values of such research. They champion student-centred learning and teacher empowerment. Sadly, they fail to realise that these very admirable educational values are equally consistent with the teaching of phonics.
F
If schools of education insisted that would-be reading teachers learned something about the vast research in linguistics and psychology that bears on reading, their graduates would be more eager to use phonics and would be prepared to do so effectively. They could allow their pupils to apply the principles of phonics while reading for pleasure. Using whole-language activities to supplement phonics instruction certainly helps to make reading fun and meaningful for children, so no one would want to see such tools discarded. Indeed, recent work has indicated that the combination of literature-based instruction and phonics is more powerful than either method used alone.
Teachers need to strike a balance. But in doing so, we urge them to remember that reading must be grounded in a firm understanding of the connections between letters and sounds. Educators who deny this reality are neglecting decades of research. They are also neglecting the needs of their students.
Reading Passage has six sections, A-F.
Choose the correct heading for sections B-F from the list of headings below.
Write the correct number, i-ix, in boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet.
List of Headings
i Disagreement about the reading process
ii The roots of the debate
iii A combined approach
iv Methods of teaching reading
v A controversial approach
vi Inconclusive research
vii Research with learners
viii Allowing teachers more control
ix A debate amongst educators
Example: Section A ix
1 Section B
2 Section C
3 Section D
4 Section E
5 Section F
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage?
In boxes 6-10 on your answer sheet, write
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this
6 The whole-language approach relates letters to sounds.
7 Many educators believe the whole-language approach to be the most interesting way to teach children to read.
8 Research supports the theory that we read without linking words to sounds.
9 Research has shown that the whole-word approach is less effective than the whole-language approach.
10 Research has shown that phonics is more successful than both the whole-word and whole-language approaches.
Complete the summary of sections E and F using the list of words, A-G, below.
Write the correct letter, A-G, in boxes 11-14 on your answer sheet.
List of Words
A the phonics method
B the whole-word method
C the whole-language method
D traditionalists
E progressives
F linguistics
G research studies
In the teaching community, 11 ______ question the usefulness of research into methods of teaching reading. These critics believe that 12 ____ is incompatible with student-centred learning. In the future, teachers need to be aware of 13 _____
so that they understand the importance of phonics. They should not, however, ignore the ideas of 14 _____ which make reading enjoyable for learners.
1. Question 1 - Section B
- Nội dung chính: Đoạn này mô tả một trong các cách dạy đọc – cụ thể là whole-word instruction, trong đó học sinh học nhận diện từ bằng cách ghi nhớ.
- Trích dẫn: “Three general approaches have been tried. In one, called whole-word instruction, children learn by rote…”
- Phân tích: Đoạn đang giới thiệu một phương pháp dạy đọc.
→ Heading phù hợp nhất: iv – Methods of teaching reading
2. Question 2 - Section C
- Nội dung chính: Đoạn này nói về tranh cãi về quá trình đọc, đặc biệt là: đọc bằng sound (phonics) hay đọc trực tiếp từ chữ viết
- Trích dẫn: “Advocates of whole-language instruction have argued… people often derive meanings directly from print…”
“most believe that reading is typically a process of rapidly sounding out words mentally.”
- Phân tích Hai quan điểm: đọc từ chữ → nghĩa, đọc từ chữ → âm → nghĩa
→ Đây là bất đồng về bản chất của quá trình đọc.
Heading phù hợp: i – Disagreement about the reading process
3. Question 3 - Section D
- Nội dung chính: Đoạn này mô tả thí nghiệm nghiên cứu với người học.
- Trích dẫn: “a number of experiments have been carried out… firstly with college students”
- Nội dung: dạy sinh viên đọc bằng Arabic letters, so sánh phonics vs whole-word
→ Đây là nghiên cứu thực nghiệm với người học.
Heading phù hợp vii – Research with learners
4. Question 4 - Section E
- Nội dung chính: Đoạn này giải thích tại sao tranh cãi vẫn tồn tại.
- Trích dẫn: “the controversy is enmeshed in the philosophical differences between traditional and progressive approaches.”
- Phân tích: Tranh cãi xuất phát từ: triết lý giáo dục khác nhau → Đây chính là nguồn gốc của cuộc tranh luận.
Heading phù hợp ii – The roots of the debate
5. Question 5 - Section F
- Nội dung chính: Đoạn này nói rằng: nên kết hợp phonics + whole-language, không nên dùng riêng lẻ.
- Trích dẫn: “the combination of literature-based instruction and phonics is more powerful than either method used alone.”
→ Ý chính: kết hợp hai phương pháp
Heading phù hợp iii – A combined approach
6. Question 6
Keywords
Vị trí: Paragraph C
Trích dẫn: “people often derive meanings directly from print without ever determining the sound of the word.”
Phân tích
Whole-language cho rằng:
→ Hai ý trái ngược.
Đáp án: FALSE
7. Question 7
Tìm trong bài:
→ Không đủ thông tin.
Đáp án: NOT GIVEN
8. Question 8
Statement: Research supports the theory that we read without linking words to sounds.
Keywords
Paragraph C
“Compelling evidence… supports the idea that readers convert strings of letters to sounds.”
Phân tích: Research nói: người đọc chuyển chữ thành âm thanh, đọc không liên kết với âm → trái ngược
Đáp án: FALSE
9. Question 9
Statement: Research has shown that the whole-word approach is less effective than the whole-language approach.
Paragraph D -Thí nghiệm so sánh:
Trích dẫn: “readers taught phonics could read many more new words than those trained with a whole-word procedure.”
Phân tích: Bài đọc không so sánh whole-word với whole-language. → Không có thông tin.
Đáp án: NOT GIVEN
10. Question 10
Statement: Research has shown that phonics is more successful than both the whole-word and whole-language approaches.
Bài đọc chỉ chứng minh: phonics > whole-word - Không có nghiên cứu nào nói: phonics > whole-language.
→ Statement quá rộng so với dữ liệu. Đáp án: NOT GIVEN
11. Question 11
Paragraph E
Trích dẫn: “The progressive challenge the results of laboratory tests…”
Phân tích: progressives nghi ngờ giá trị của nghiên cứu.
Đáp án: E – progressives
12. Question 12
Paragraph E
Trích dẫn: “They champion student-centred learning…”
Ý của đoạn: progressives cho rằng phonics teaching không phù hợp với triết lý đó.
→ đáp án: A – the phonics method
13. Question 13
Paragraph F
Trích dẫn: “learn something about the vast research in linguistics and psychology that bears on reading.”
→ teachers cần hiểu research studies.
Đáp án: G – research studies
14. Question 14
Paragraph F
Trích dẫn: “Using whole-language activities… helps to make reading fun.”
→ phương pháp làm đọc thú vị.
Đáp án: C – the whole-language method
