How the Brain learns to read August 20, 2013 Educating the non-traditional student
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Transcript of How the Brain learns to read August 20, 2013 Educating the non-traditional student
HOW THE BRAIN LEARNS TO READ
AUGUST 20, 2013
EDUCATING THE NON-TRADITIONAL STUDENT
Amy Lincoln, PhD, CCC-SLP
About myself…
Speech-Language Pathologist Learning Disability Specialist PhD in Neuroscience
17 years experience working with children with language and learning disabilities
Epicenter Therapy Services www.epicentertherapy.com
Agenda for the talk…
Provide an overview of the connection between spoken language and reading
Examine the complexities of the learning-to-read process
Consider the unique struggles of non-traditional, ELL students, who are learning to read
The foundation to reading is built on the child’s language system…
1. Spoken Language
• Language is VERY complex for typically developing children in their native language
• Language development is interrupted for IA (internationally adopted) children
• Not all “language” is alike
Spoken Language
Processing Spoken Language BRAIN BASICS
Brain uses Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas for language comprehension and expression
Also uses other neural networks in the left hemisphere
Ability to acquire spoken language is encoded in our genes
Diminishes around 10-12 years of age
Language is complex…
Consider this… A single human voice can pronounce all the
hundreds of vowel and consonant sounds that allow it to speak any of the estimated 6,500 languages that exist today
Learning Phonemes
Units of sounds Combine to form syllables Infant’s brain can respond to all (300+) Only those that are repeated get
attention By age one, neural networks focus on
sound in the infant’s environment # of phonemes in a language may vary
from 11-141
Words
Vocabulary Development First words are usually nouns, labels Action and relationship words come later
Consider this… By age 6…
Expressive vocabulary is ~ 2500+ words Receptive vocabulary is ~ 20,000+ words
Hart & Risley, 2003
The power of VOCABULARY
One study of early vocabulary demonstrated that toddlers (3-4 yrs.) from various socio-economic groups demonstrated the following average # of vocabulary words: Welfare child (529 words) Mid/Low SES (749 words) Upper SES (1,116 words)
Six years later, early scores were predictive of listening, speaking, syntax, semantics and reading skills at age 9-10.
Proust and the Squid, Maryanne Wolf, p.123
Vocabulary
“When one realizes that children have to learn about 88,700 written words during their school years and that at least 9,000 of these words need to be learned by the end of grade 3, the huge importance of a child’s development of vocabulary becomes crystal-clear.”
Language complexity grows exponentially
Phonemes: sounds Recognize hierarchy of language: nouns,
verbs, rules of grammar Vocabulary Morphemes: word parts (-s, -ed) Sentence level Speaking/Understanding
Explicit and inferred
ESL or ELL
ESL – English as a second language ELL – English Language Learner Because most adoptive parents do not speak
the child’s birth language, children quickly lose their abilities in that language Children adopted prior to the age of 2, develop
English similar to native speakers Children adopted at ages 3-4 years lose most
expressive use of their first language in 6-12 weeks
Older kids…??
Language Development in IA Children, Gindis, 2004
“Language Lurch”
The transition period when the first language skills have disappeared and their new language skills have yet to fully form.
“Remember: Language is a powerful tool used in the regulation of behavior: When this tool is taken away from a child, a host of behaviors can be observed…”
Pallier et al., 2003
Brain Basics…
Functional MRI studies of adults who were internationally adopted as children confirm that adult adoptees no longer recognize nor understand their first language, even those who were adopted at school age.
However, the same fMRI studies also confirm that internationally adopted adults process their new adopted language using different areas of the brain than those of native-language speakers.
Language vs. communication Communicative Language
Language skills needed for social interaction in everyday practical contexts
Basic pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar “Picnic Lunch” language
Cognitive Language Is a tool of reasoning, a means of literacy, and
a medium for academic learning “4th Grade Science Project Language”
Development of Cognitive Language
Children are predisposed to cognitive language mastery through their earlier experiences with the language
This step is what the majority of IA children miss in their early development
“Also, as their first language is rapidly lost and their new first language is still weak is a significant interruption of their language development”
Language Development in IA Children, Gindis, 2004
English Language “Mastery”
Communicative Language
≠Cognitive Language
• Learning to read is hard!• Reading requires good auditory
processing, visual processing and language processing (cognitive language) skills
2. The Reading Process
Learning to read
Relatively NEW phenomena Genes have not incorporated reading
into their coded structure If reading were a natural ability,
everyone would be doing it…
How hard is it to learn to read?
“Why is it that the hardest thing children are ever asked to do is the first thing they’re asked to do?!”
-Merryl Pischa, Reading Specialist
Nearly two-thirds of low-income 4th graders cannot read at the proficient level
Nearly 40 million adults (in US) are functionally illiterate
No one method or program has surpassed all others
How the Brain Learns to Read, David Sousa, p. 4-5
Studies Show…
Novice readers use different cerebral pathways than proficient readers
People with reading difficulties use different brain regions to decode written text than do typical readers
The brains of people with reading problems work harder than those of skilled readers
Even though dyslexia is a brain disorder, it is treatable
Brains of young struggling and dyslexic readers can be rewired to more closely resemble those used by typical readers
The reading process
decoding & meaning
Language Processing(Cognitive Language)
Auditory Processing
Visual Processing
Things that can go wrong with reading…
Auditory Problems• Preven
ts hearing the phonemes correctly
Visual Problems• Prevents
seeing letters clearly
• Prevents processing visual information accurately
Auditory/Visual Processing• Timing
s are not synchronized
Semantics• Word
meaning is not known
Working Memory• Memory
does not hold sounds or words long enough to attach meaning
Things that can go wrong with reading…
Auditory Problems• Preven
ts hearing the phonemes correctly
Visual Problems• Prevents
seeing letters clearly
• Prevents processing visual information accurately
Auditory/Visual Processing• Timing
s are not synchronized
Semantics• Word
meaning is not known
Working Memory• Memory
does not hold sounds or words long enough to attach meaning
Auditory Processing
Awareness that speech is composed of sounds (phonemes)
Recognition that written spellings represent sounds (alphabetic principle)
Understanding that phonemes can be manipulated
Phonemic awareness strong predictor of reading success in later grades
Phonemic awareness…
Vowels
Vowel Chart representing where in the mouth vowel sounds are produced…
Source: wikimedia.org
Our brains are wired to hear our native language…
American-English Vowels Amharic Vowels
Things that can go wrong with reading…
Auditory Problems• Preven
ts hearing the phonemes correctly
Visual Problems• Prevents
seeing letters clearly
• Prevents processing visual information accurately
Auditory/Visual Processing• Timing
s are not synchronized
Semantics• Word
meaning is not known
Working Memory• Memory
does not hold sounds or words long enough to attach meaning
Visual Processing Skills, necessary for reading…
Eye-tracking and peripheral vision Eye teaming and convergence Eye focusing stamina and accuracy Visual discrimination Visual figure ground Visual processing speed Part/whole relationships
http://www.mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk/people/matt.davis/cmabridge/
Visual Processing…
Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.
Visual Processing
Can you read this? Can yOu ReaD this?
How about these… هذا تقرأ أن يمكنك
你能讀 మీరు� ఈ చదు�వుకోవచ�
Можете это прочитать
Visual Processing
Visual spatial patterns in reading Left to Right Front to Back Top to bottom
Culturally based Learned through repeated exposure to
books
Visual Processing:Alphabetic Principle
Learning letters IS NOT EASY… The letters are abstract and unfamiliar to new
readers There are about 44 English phonemes but only
26 letters-each phoneme is not coded with a unique letter
There are over a dozen vowel sounds but only five letters- a,e,i ,o,u – to represent them
The reader needs to recognize that how a letter is pronounced depends on the letters that surround it (e.g., pet, Pete, pea)
Alphabetic Principle: Example
There once was a beautiful bear who sat on a seat near to breaking and read by the hearth about how the earth was created. She smiled beautifully, full of ideas for the realm of her winter dreams.
Alphabetic Principle: Example
There once was a beautiful bear who sat on a seat near to breaking and read by the hearth about how the earth was created. She smiled beautifully, full of ideas for the realm of her winter dreams.
Things that can go wrong with reading…
Auditory Problems• Preven
ts hearing the phonemes correctly
Visual Problems• Prevents
seeing letters clearly
• Prevents processing visual information accurately
Auditory/Visual Processing• Timings are
not synchronized
• Retrieval Speed
• Having the knowledge PLUS getting to it quickly
• Takes practice and repetition in controlled practice
Semantics• Word
meaning is not known
Working Memory• Memory
does not hold sounds or words long enough to attach meaning
Strategies
Provide controlled text for practice Phonetically controlled readers Keep presenting age-level interests
Provide minimal pair drills bot/dot
Do receptive and expressive drilling Which one says “kuh”, What does “K” say
Provide sentences with key words missing, have child provide word
Things that can go wrong with reading…
Auditory Problems• Preven
ts hearing the phonemes correctly
Visual Problems• Prevents
seeing letters clearly
• Prevents processing visual information accurately
Auditory/Visual Processing• Timing
s are not synchronized
Semantics• Word
meaning is not known
Working Memory• Memory
does not hold sounds or words long enough to attach meaning
Strategies for Semantics
Time “Meaningful” repeated exposure Previewing Generating/Answering questions Recognizing story structure Summarizing Mental Imagery (exposure to technology provides
images-students need to have directions for how to do this)
Paraphrasing THEMING* (when varied classroom activities center
around a theme, students can more easily comprehend their related readings
Things that can go wrong with reading…
Auditory Problems• Preven
ts hearing the phonemes correctly
Visual Problems• Prevents
seeing letters clearly
• Prevents processing visual information accurately
Auditory/Visual Processing• Timing
s are not synchronized
Semantics• Word
meaning is not known
Working Memory• Memory
does not hold sounds or words long enough to attach meaning
Working Memory
Stress
Working Memory
Some things to consider
ESL Students & Reading
First Priorities…
Health Attachment Adjustment
How the Brain Learns to Read, Sousa, p.107-108
Remember…spoken language is the foundation to literacy
“It is generally counterproductive to hasten young non-English speaking children into reading English without adequate preparation in speaking English” Reading in any language requires a solid,
mental lexicon of spoken vocabulary Learning to speak English should be the
first priority
Ideally, research supports…
Children should be taught to read in their native language first
Bilingual lessons and cooperative learning both increase ESL student achievement
But… **Bilingualism is not an option for the majority
of IA adopted children** It is most productive to concentrate on
developing and facilitating mastery of spoken English and reading will follow Forget the grade level!!
Thank you!
Q & A