tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/reading-wars-78402/articlesreading wars – The Conversation2019-11-11T19:03:06Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1266062019-11-11T19:03:06Z2019-11-11T19:03:06ZReading is more than sounding out words and decoding. That’s why we use the whole language approach to teaching it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301036/original/file-20191111-194656-et3ac6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Words can say different things depending on their context.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/jNkvZ8hx8QQ">Annie Spratt/Unsplash</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When I was younger I decided to learn Greek. I learnt the letter-sound correspondences and could say the words – the sounds, that is. But although I could and still can decode these words, I can’t actually read Greek because I don’t know what the words mean. </p>
<p>Being able to make the connection between the letters, their combinations and the sounds that make up the words wasn’t all I needed to be able to read. It was an easy way to learn but it didn’t provide me with the whole picture.</p>
<p>As we read, and understand what we are reading, we don’t just use our knowledge of the letter-sound correspondences, which you may know as phonics or phonemic awareness, we also use other cues. These include our knowledge of the topic, the meaning of words in the context of the topic, and the flow and sequence of the words in a sentence. </p>
<p>Good readers use a <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-do-we-learn-to-read-76283">full repertoire of skills</a>, each dependent on the other. And a whole language approach to teaching reading is about arming new readers with this repertoire.</p>
<h2>What is the whole language approach?</h2>
<p>A whole language approach to teaching reading was introduced into primary schools in <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/20201409?seq=6#metadata_info_tab_contents">the late 1970s</a>. There have been many developments in this area since, so the approach has been adapted and today looks quite different from 40 years ago. </p>
<p>To begin with, let’s dispel some myths about a whole language approach to teaching reading. It is not learning to read individual words by sight. Nor is it learning a list of vocabulary only. </p>
<p>A whole language approach to teaching reading is not opposed to teaching the correspondence of a letter or letters to sounds to help sound out unfamiliar words. Nor is it opposed to learning how to blend sounds together to decode a word by using the first letter/s of a word, the end of the word and the letter/s in the middle.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/reading-progress-is-falling-between-year-5-and-7-especially-for-advantaged-students-5-charts-124634">Reading progress is falling between year 5 and 7, especially for advantaged students: 5 charts</a>
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<p>But just knowing <a href="https://theconversation.com/seven-things-to-consider-before-you-buy-into-phonics-programs-50702">sounds is not the same as knowing how to read</a>. In 2000, the US National Reading Panel’s analysis of <a href="https://www.nichd.nih.gov/sites/default/files/publications/pubs/nrp/Documents/report.pdf">scientific literature</a> on teaching children to read found systematic phonics instruction (teaching sounds and blending them together) should be integrated with other reading instruction to create a balanced reading program. </p>
<p>The panel determined that phonics instruction should not be a total reading program, nor should it be a dominant component. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301050/original/file-20191111-194637-asga65.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301050/original/file-20191111-194637-asga65.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301050/original/file-20191111-194637-asga65.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301050/original/file-20191111-194637-asga65.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301050/original/file-20191111-194637-asga65.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301050/original/file-20191111-194637-asga65.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301050/original/file-20191111-194637-asga65.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301050/original/file-20191111-194637-asga65.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">It’s all Greek to me if I don’t know what the words mean.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from shutterstock.com</span></span>
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<p>In 2011, the UK introduced a <a href="https://www.elgazette.com/point-of-view/">mandatory phonics screening check</a>, for year 1 students, to address the decline in literacy achievement in the middle years of school. Children were prepared for the test using a government-approved synthetic phonics program. But in 2019 around 25% of <a href="https://www.elgazette.com/point-of-view/">year 6 students</a> failed to reach the minimum requirements in reading.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-coalitions-10-million-for-year-1-phonics-checks-would-be-wasted-money-116997">The Coalition's $10 million for Year 1 phonics checks would be wasted money</a>
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<p>Australia’s <a href="https://research.acer.edu.au/resdev/vol15/iss15/2/">own national inquiry into teaching literacy</a> noted the same conclusions as the US national reading panel.</p>
<p>This view aligns with the whole language approach in the 21st century, which advocates <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-balanced-approach-is-best-for-teaching-kids-how-to-read-37457">a balanced</a> way of teaching reading in the early years. This includes: </p>
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<li>explicit teaching of decoding skills (how to break up a word to work out how it is pronounced)</li>
<li>connecting the decoding of word/s to their meaning</li>
<li>learning to read frequently used words that can’t be sounded out or broken up into different sounds (the, were)</li>
<li>learning the meaning of new words from the context they are in (looking at the words before and after and at what the sentence is about)</li>
<li>understanding what the text being read is about (literally and interpretively)</li>
<li>building a wide vocabulary</li>
<li>understanding how images and words work together</li>
<li>promoting a love of the English language and an interest in reading.</li>
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<h2>Let’s not put kids off reading</h2>
<p>The whole language approach provides children learning to read with more than one way to work out unfamiliar words. They can begin with decoding – breaking the word into its parts and trying to sound them out and then blend them together. This <a href="https://www.elgazette.com/point-of-view/">may or may not</a> work. </p>
<p>They can also look at where the word is in the sentence and consider what word most likely would come next based on what they have read so far. They can look beyond the word to see if the rest of the sentence can assist to decode the word and pronounce it. </p>
<p>We do not read texts one word at a time. We make best guesses as we read and learn to read. We learn from our errors. Sometimes these errors are not that significant – does it matter if I read Sydenham as “SID-EN-HAM” or “SID-N-AM”? Perhaps not.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.academia.edu/6039210/The_Limit_of_Phonics">Does it matter</a> that I can decode the word “wind” but don’t pronounce the two differently in “the wind was too strong to wind the sail”? Yes, it probably does. </p>
<p>Teaching children to read or to see reading with a focus on phonics and phonemic awareness gives them <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/2048-416X.2013.12000.x">the illusion “proper” reading is mere decoding and blending</a>. In fact, it has been argued this can <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/2048-416X.2013.12000.x">put children off reading</a> when entering school. While some gain may occur in the first years, over time <a href="https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/67b5/05897dd56e820db8b8062f6d78b0c0b7b9fa.pdf">achievement deteriorates</a> for children in high-performing and low-performing schools.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/enjoyment-of-reading-not-mechanics-of-reading-can-improve-literacy-for-boys-91321">Enjoyment of reading, not mechanics of reading, can improve literacy for boys</a>
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<p>A whole language approach doesn’t argue against the importance of phonemic awareness. But it acknowledges it is not all that should be included in reading instruction. </p>
<p>It is important to <a href="https://www.nichd.nih.gov/sites/default/files/publications/pubs/nrp/Documents/report.pdf">assess children’s reading</a> from the beginning of schooling and continually determine how they are progressing. Teachers can then select specific strategies to improve individual children’s reading competence and increase their skills to build fluent and confident readers.</p>
<p>A whole language approach to teaching reading advocates for teaching phonics and phonemic awareness in the context of real texts – that use the richness of the English language – not artificial, highly constructed texts. However, it also acknowledges this is not sufficient. Being able to decode the written word is essential, but it isn’t enough to set up a child to be a competent reader and to be successful during and after school. </p>
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<p><em>Read the accompanying article on teaching to read using explicit phonics instruction <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-every-child-needs-explicit-phonics-instruction-to-learn-to-read-125065">here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/126606/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Katina Zammit is affiliated with the Australian Literacy Educators Association. </span></em></p>A whole language approach to teaching reading gives kids a whole linguistic picture of how words work. This includes teaching individual letters and sounds, as well as what the words mean in context.Katina Zammit, Deputy Dean, School of Education, Western Sydney UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1250652019-11-11T19:02:48Z2019-11-11T19:02:48ZWhy every child needs explicit phonics instruction to learn to read<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301035/original/file-20191111-194665-12cq6ns.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Phonics allows children to read nonsense words, such as ones found in Dr Seuss books.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/p_KJvKVsH14">Josh Applegate/Unsplash</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Being able to read means being able to make meaning from printed words. At a functional level, we read to get the message – such as how many times per day to take our medication – but <a href="https://www.maryannewolf.com/reader-come-home-1">in a literate society reading provides</a> much more. A successful reader is someone who can access the thoughts, opinions, memories, theories, desires, experiences and feelings of others.</p>
<p>Reading is a transformative experience. But it is also a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.3109/17549507.2015.1112837">“biologically unnatural” process</a> humans have been doing for only a brief time in evolutionary terms. Unlike acquiring spoken language, children <a href="https://www.aft.org/sites/default/files/reading_rocketscience_2004.pdf">need to be taught how the English writing system works</a> and how to master the code for both reading and spelling.</p>
<h2>The written English code</h2>
<p>Written English is considered a code because letters and letter combinations (graphemes) represent spoken speech sounds (phonemes). The English alphabet has 26 letters, which represent 44 speech sounds. This means some letter combinations (graphemes) comprise more than one letter. For example, in the first sound of “ship” two letters, “s” and “h”, make one grapheme that represents the phoneme “sh”.</p>
<p>For beginning readers, being able to connect graphemes to their corresponding phonemes is not an intuitive, natural process. </p>
<p>Learning the complex code is best done through <a href="https://www.edweek.org/ew/issues/how-do-kids-learn-to-read.html">explicit and systematic phonics instruction</a>. This involves <a href="https://search.informit.com.au/fullText;dn=284195782446653;res=IELHSS">directly teaching children</a> to associate graphemes with their corresponding phonemes. </p>
<p>Instruction starts using a clearly defined (systematic) sequence of letters, starting with only a few correspondences reflecting simple code (such as single letters) and progressively moving to complex code, such as “ng” and “ough”, once mastery is achieved at each level. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301041/original/file-20191111-194665-yjxlm6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301041/original/file-20191111-194665-yjxlm6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301041/original/file-20191111-194665-yjxlm6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301041/original/file-20191111-194665-yjxlm6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301041/original/file-20191111-194665-yjxlm6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301041/original/file-20191111-194665-yjxlm6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=592&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301041/original/file-20191111-194665-yjxlm6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=592&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301041/original/file-20191111-194665-yjxlm6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=592&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">English has 44 speech sounds.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from shutterstock.com</span></span>
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<p>Once children have learnt a few grapheme-phoneme correspondences, they will be explicitly shown how to segment words (containing only known correspondences) into their constituent parts and blend them together to decode and read the word. At this point, children will be able to read short <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-whats-the-difference-between-decodable-and-predictable-books-and-when-should-they-be-used-106531">decodable books</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-whats-the-difference-between-decodable-and-predictable-books-and-when-should-they-be-used-106531">Explainer: what's the difference between decodable and predictable books, and when should they be used?</a>
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<p>All children must learn to decode. Without decoding skills, children could not read made-up words such as Harry Potter’s “quidditch”. Nor could they read unfamiliar names (of places such as Oodnadatta) or medication names (such as azithromycin) as these have no other cues to guide the reader to pronunciation. </p>
<h2>Why phonics works</h2>
<p>Synthetic phonics instruction aligns with the two strongest and most well-regarded theoretical frameworks in <a href="https://www.edweek.org/ew/issues/how-do-kids-learn-to-read.html">contemporary reading science</a>.</p>
<p>The first is the <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00401799">simple view of reading</a> developed in 1986, which has more recently (2018) been reformulated as the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19404158.2019.1614081">cognitive foundations of learning to read</a>. This holds that reading comprehension is made up of two mutually dependent and essential processes: being able to decode words and being able to understand what connected text means. </p>
<p>The simple view theory had provided <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0741932518767563?casa_token=eVUkhonKW6cAAAAA%3Ab_mKIqBhxics0yvdYHozkSBHvscfnI_YuF-HgSUC6Xm5yvl_X-9GVhdkC7eWavpJtG3hH_lr8Q1K">valuable insights into the cognitive processes</a> necessary for reading comprehension. Evidence <a href="https://pubs.asha.org/doi/full/10.1044/1092-4388%282006/023%29?casa_token=Q0xTHxENvYwAAAAA:DmgfcQ3GTI2mtpqrg5gAB2muNDZOFst3SpfYJ2-xN4--PBa97bRXL7IQH6tTlPELq_yWI9eOoFfJgw">also shows</a> the model to be a valid means of sub-classifying children as “able readers”, “poor decoders” and/or “poor comprehenders”.</p>
<p>The second framework is <a href="https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/ioep/clre/2006/00000004/00000001/art00002">dual route theory</a> (<a href="https://maxcoltheart.files.wordpress.com/2019/02/drc-psychreview2001.pdf">developed</a> in 2001). This refers to the fact some words readers encounter are already stored as <a href="https://www.cec.sped.org/%7E/media/Files/Professional%20Development/Webinars/Handouts/Excerpts%20from%20Equipped%20for%20Reading%20Success.pdf">recognisable letter strings</a> in their long-term memory. We instantly recognise these words when we see them, through the lexical route. </p>
<p>But unfamiliar words need to be decoded, via a phonological (sound-based) route, using knowledge of how letters and letter combinations (graphemes) map onto speech (phonemes). As we become more skilled as readers, we access more words automatically.</p>
<p>Dual route theory aligns with <a href="https://www.cese.nsw.gov.au/publications-filter/cognitive-load-theory-research-that-teachers-really-need-to-understand">cognitive load theory</a>. This is the idea that there is only so much information a human brain can hold at any one time unless there is a dedicated and structured opportunity to practise and rehearse it.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301046/original/file-20191111-194628-s1kdca.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301046/original/file-20191111-194628-s1kdca.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301046/original/file-20191111-194628-s1kdca.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301046/original/file-20191111-194628-s1kdca.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301046/original/file-20191111-194628-s1kdca.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301046/original/file-20191111-194628-s1kdca.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301046/original/file-20191111-194628-s1kdca.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301046/original/file-20191111-194628-s1kdca.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Children should be taught word structures, so they can read unfamiliar words without context – like Cowra Boorowa.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/29901446@N07/2799180151/in/photolist-5gmwJK-4czneg-4detJa-4zz3Dc-43Dvjp-hQTpCi-ifPJ2-JyMXXa-5eXDk4-4WUPTH-6gU19c-4cDnkE-KcYoc1-2bAJEQK-7sxXyV-C9ZrkN-XLa9AN-2h9967q-8mkDJK-5gqSb5-2h4wSHG-VRjEwB-MoDJFy-Zr64dn-KCaefC-JenRQ8-XN2SpQ-2h4yHRH-sWhdxN-23x8uZP-2h4wSAx-2h4yHTm-KtvtQ3-21Yur5J-26ieuCe-27zatiy-29Noy3e-98EGyP-9bqpYK-vu8ox-4w3rEe-fHSsa-7sBVWb-7sBUmS-brDWMu-583W3i-brDWSw-UfRkcJ-UggKms-5v9GTC">Brenden Ashton/Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>In line with this, the workings of the English writing system are best taught <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1529100618772271">explicitly and systematically</a>, so beginning readers are not put into the unfortunate and unnecessary situation of being cognitively overloaded. The risk of cognitive overload is high when the code is shown to children in an unsystematic, unstructured way or, even more worryingly, if it is assumed children will intuitively understand the code simply by exposure to written text. </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-explicit-instruction-and-how-does-it-help-children-learn-115144">Explainer: what is explicit instruction and how does it help children learn?</a>
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<p>Instruction should also include an emphasis on morphology (word building, such as happy, unhappy, unhappily) and etymology (<a href="https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=d">study of word origins</a>), so students recognise patterns and relationships between words.</p>
<p>Although knowing how to decode words is fundamental to <a href="https://www.edweek.org/ew/issues/how-do-kids-learn-to-read.html">becoming a reader</a>, teaching children to crack the code should also be done alongside instructional practices that ensure <a href="https://bep.education/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Bringing-Words-to-Life-Booklet.pdf">rapidly expanding vocabularies and world knowledge</a>, so children can bring language skills and background knowledge to the task of comprehending what they read.</p>
<h2>Covering all bases</h2>
<p>A significant proportion, <a href="https://dyslexiaida.org/ladder-of-reading-infographic-structured-literacy-helps-all-students/">close to 40%</a>, of children manage to learn to read without explicit and systematic phonics instruction (or with phonics instruction of variable impact) due to a confluence of biological and environmental advantages. These children may receive less structured initial reading instruction that encourages them to use a variety of strategies, such as picture and context cues, before attending to the graphemes within a word.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/reading-progress-is-falling-between-year-5-and-7-especially-for-advantaged-students-5-charts-124634">Reading progress is falling between year 5 and 7, especially for advantaged students: 5 charts</a>
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<p>The remaining 60% of children taught in this way are <a href="http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4240019">highly vulnerable</a> to falling behind as readers. And the proportion of vulnerability increases <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books/about/Language_at_the_Speed_of_Sight.html?id=JqZVDgAAQBAJ&amp;printsec=frontcover&amp;source=kp_read_button&amp;redir_esc=y#v=onepage&amp;q&amp;f=false">with the level of disadvantage</a>. </p>
<p>No teacher of children in their first year of school can reliably identify, in the first term, which children will struggle with reading and which will get there seamlessly. To wait until a year (or more) has passed and then try to back-fill and close this gap shows a poor understanding of the importance of making every day count in children’s early learning. </p>
<p>We <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19404158.2013.840887">should be teaching</a> <a href="https://dyslexiaida.org/ladder-of-reading-infographic-structured-literacy-helps-all-students/">95% of children</a> to read successfully, so need to be using high-impact teaching approaches from the outset, with all children. </p>
<p>If not explicit and systematic phonics instruction, <a href="https://www.heinemann.com/products/e07433.aspx">what is the teacher’s time being spent on</a>? Teaching words from flash cards for children to learn as wholes without any analysis of what is happening within the word? Or promoting inefficient strategies (<a href="https://www.readingrockets.org/article/use-context-cues-reading">ironically those used by weak readers</a>) such as trying to work out what “kind” of word might work? </p>
<p>Even more bizarrely (and unhelpfully), children might be encouraged to “get their mouths ready” to read an unfamiliar word. It is not a child’s mouth that needs to be ready for learning to read, but her brain. </p>
<p>We must provide and promote reading instruction approaches that ensure the overwhelming majority of children learn to read in the early years of school, regardless of their starting point. </p>
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<p><em>Read the accompanying article on the the whole language approach to teaching reading <a href="https://theconversation.com/reading-is-more-than-sounding-out-words-and-decoding-thats-why-we-use-the-whole-language-approach-to-teaching-it-126606">here</a>.</em></p>
<p><em>This article initially said the dual route theory was developed in 2012. This has now been corrected to 2001 and the reference updated.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/125065/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Pamela Snow receives funding from the Australian Research Council (Discovery and Linkage Programs), Criminology Research Council, Jack Brockhoff Foundation, and Pam Gunn Memorial Trust.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tanya Serry is affiliated with Learning Difficulties Australia and edits the Australian Journal of Learning Difficulties. She is also a member of Dyslexia Victoria Support. She receives funding from the Victorian Department of Education and the Jack Brockhoff Foundation.</span></em></p>English is a code-based language, with 26 letters to represent 44 speech sounds. Children must first learn to master the code if they want to be successful readers.Pamela Snow, Professor and Head, Rural Health School, La Trobe UniversityTanya Serry, Senior Lecturer, La Trobe UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1246342019-11-10T18:57:31Z2019-11-10T18:57:31ZReading progress is falling between year 5 and 7, especially for advantaged students: 5 charts<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300772/original/file-20191107-10910-1jn8jms.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Are we failing to challenge the reading
skills in advantaged students?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>There is a hidden problem with reading in Australian schools. Ten years’ worth of NAPLAN data show improvements in years 3, 5 and 9. But reading <em>progress</em> has slowed dramatically between years 5 and 7. </p>
<p>And, somewhat surprisingly, the downward trend is strongest for the most advantaged students.</p>
<p>Years 5-7 typically include the transition from primary to secondary school. Yet the reading slowdown can’t just be blamed on this transition, because numeracy progress between the years has <em>improved</em>. So, what is going wrong with reading?</p>
<h2>Reading base camp is higher each year</h2>
<p>Progress in reading is like climbing a mountain. The better your reading skills, the higher you are. The higher you are, the further you can see. And the further you can see, the more sense you can make of the world. </p>
<p>Like a real mountain, the reading mountain must be tackled in stages. <a href="https://www.nap.edu.au">NAPLAN</a> – the National Assessment Program, Literacy and Numeracy – provides insight into those stages, by measuring reading skills at years 3, 5, 7 and 9. </p>
<p>The good news is that the average level of reading skills of year 3 students – reading base camp – is getting higher. </p>
<p>To make the results easier to interpret, I’ve converted the NAPLAN data into the <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/widening-gaps/">equivalent year level</a> of reading achievement. For instance, in 2010, children in year 3 were reading at equivalent year level 2.6 when they sat NAPLAN. This means they were four-and-a-half months behind a <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/910-Mapping-Student-Progress-Technical-Report.pdf">benchmark</a> set at the long-run average for metropolitan non-Indigenous students.</p>
<p>By 2019, the mean reading achievement among all year 3 children was equivalent to year 3.0, meeting this benchmark. </p>
<p>Over ten years, the improvement has been worth about five months of extra learning.</p>
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<h2>Reading progress improved in years 7-9</h2>
<p>There is more good news in secondary school. Recent cohorts have made better progress between years 7 and 9 than earlier cohorts. My best estimate is that learning progress has increased by almost three months of learning over this two-year stage of schooling. </p>
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<p>Students in years 3-5 haven’t made the same gains. But (if anything) they are heading in the right direction.</p>
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<h2>But progress in years 5-7 has fallen</h2>
<p>Something is going wrong between year 5 and 7. Students are making <em>six months</em> less progress than they used to. It’s not that they are getting worse at reading; they just aren’t climbing as fast as previous cohorts.</p>
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<p>This drop in reading progress can’t simply be attributed to the transition from primary to secondary. Among other things, numeracy progress during this stage of schooling has increased by about six months since 2010.</p>
<p>It’s as if students have started skipping a term in each of their final two years of primary school, but only in English, not in maths. And not all groups of students are affected equally.</p>
<h2>Advantaged students are affected the most</h2>
<p>Reading progress has slowed the most for students from advantaged backgrounds. For instance, students whose parents are senior managers make ten months less progress from year 5 to 7 than earlier cohorts. </p>
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<p>Interestingly, the student groups with the biggest slowdown in years 5-7 have also shown the most improvement in year 5 reading. </p>
<p>This pattern – big gains in year 5 that evaporate by year 7 – rules out poor early reading instruction as a cause. This reading problem isn’t about <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/phonics-975">phonics</a>, but a failure to stretch students in upper primary school. </p>
<p>My analysis also shows:</p>
<ul>
<li>the years 5-7 reading slump is happening in every state and territory</li>
<li>Queensland and Western Australia had big drops in years 5-7 reading progress in 2015, the year those two states moved year 7 from primary to secondary </li>
<li>students from English-speaking backgrounds are affected more than those who don’t speak English at home</li>
<li>neither gender nor Indigenous status affects the strength of the slowdown.</li>
</ul>
<h2>So, what is going on?</h2>
<p>Maybe some primary school teachers focus more on helping students reach a good minimum standard of reading, and not on how far they go. This fits with the trend in year 5; no need to push hard if students are already doing well. </p>
<p>But it doesn’t explain the large drop in progress in Queensland and WA the year they shifted year 7 to secondary school.</p>
<p>Maybe schools push hard on literacy and numeracy until students have done their last NAPLAN test in that school. This would help explain the 2015 drop in reading progress for Queensland and WA, but not the divergent picture for reading and numeracy progress, including in the Queensland/WA change-over year. </p>
<p>Maybe students are reading less as technology becomes ubiquitous. This could explain the difference between reading and numeracy. But why would it reduce progress between years 5 and 7 but not between years 3 and 5 or 7 and 9? </p>
<p>Increased use of technology also fails to explain the sudden slump in <a href="https://www.qld.gov.au/education/schools/programs/year7">Queensland</a> and <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-03-26/year-7-shift-to-high-school-feature/3913606">WA</a> in 2015.</p>
<p>Other potential explanations need to explain the complex pattern of outcomes, including the fact the reading slowdown is so widespread even while numeracy progress is going the other way.</p>
<p>My best guess is that some advantaged primary schools focus on literacy and numeracy until the year 5 NAPLAN tests are done, but then switch to project-based learning, leadership or year 6 graduation projects. These “gap year” activities don’t displace maths hour (which drives numeracy progress) but may disrupt reading hour or other activities that build reading skills. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, disadvantaged primary schools are very aware of the need to keep building their students’ reading levels to set them up for success in secondary school.</p>
<p>This story is speculative, but it fits the data. </p>
<h2>What next?</h2>
<p>Education system leaders need to figure out what is happening in reading between years 5 and 7, and quickly. They should look closely at upper primary years, as well as the transition to secondary school. This is much more subtle than a traditional back-to-basics narrative.</p>
<p>In the meantime, teachers in years 5, 6 and 7 should be aware their students are making less progress than previous cohorts, and focus on extending reading capabilities for students who are already doing well. All students deserve to climb higher on their reading mountain.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/124634/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Grattan Institute began with contributions to its endowment of $15 million from each of the Federal and Victorian Governments. In order to safeguard its independence, Grattan Institute’s board controls this endowment. The funds are invested and Grattan uses the income to pursue its activities.</span></em></p>Years 5-7 typically include the transition from primary to secondary but the reading slowdown can’t just be blamed on this, because numeracy progress has improved. So what’s going on with reading?Peter Goss, School Education Program Director, Grattan InstituteLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.