An introduction

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The Amazing Act of Reading

• An introduction

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• We are going to be focusing on reading, but as
  you will learn, all of the tasks involved in
  learning EFL--or any language
• are really intertwined, interrelated, use brain
  functions that complement each other
• and the more tasks you do together, the more you
  help each individual task!

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What will we study?

• what is reading? What does it involve? For native
  speakers? What happens when we learn a new
  language?
• What origins of language and English specifically
  effect how the language is constructed? How
  learners learn it?
• What happens biologicallyin the learner's body
  and brain? Which parts of the body send messages
  to the brain? What parts of the brain receive
  them?
• What goes "wrong" or differently with SEN?
• Based upon the biology and origins of language
  and language problems, why are multi-sensory
  learning and other rehabilitative techniques so
  popular? Why aren't they used for everybody?

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• We will start to explore these issues today and
  in later sessions (the brain and multi-sensory
  learning)(We have already heard from one of
  Israels experts in reading and multi-sensory
  learning.)
• We will continue our "overview" as well as hear
  some presentations from students based upon our
  projects during the semester.
• And we will focus on Strategies and classroom
  techniques and materials, including adapting
  materials. In our "Intro" session, we will not be
  covering Orton-Gillingham or other techniques in
  depththis is the area that Advanced students
  will be studying. But you are welcome to delve
  into their web page, and resources pages on the
  issues that I will be posting during the next few
  weeks.

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• So welcome to the Amazing Act of Reading
• it really is Rocket Science?

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A bit of background

• The remedial reading grandfather Dr. Samuel
  Orton
• Those that worked with him
• Anna Gillingham, Bessie Stillman
• Katherine Hickey studied with the Orton society,
  and developed the approach in England
• There are MANY, MANY approaches to working with
  dyslexia and reading, but most are based on
  Ortons work
• Remedial reading approaches were designed for
  native speakers. Adapted for ESL (English as a
  Second Language, where the student is surrounded
  by the language) and FURTHER adapted for EFL!

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What does reading involve?Earlier this year we
said it involved decoding, comprehension
retention

• Recognizing individual letters of the alphabet.
• Understand that the letters represent speech
  sounds, which can be blended to form words.
• Attach meaning to the words. (Pronunciation alone
  does not indicate success with the task of
  reading.)
• Decode the words accurately, fluently, and
  automatically.
• Understand syntax.

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And. . .

• Background knowledge
• link new information to what they have already
  read, as well as to their background knowledge,
  and use this to anticipate forthcoming
  information.
• Strategies
• Connected text, construct sentence meanings and
  retain them in memory as they move on to new
  sentences.
• At the same time, monitor word recognition to
  make sure that the words activated in their minds
  fit within the meaning of the context.
• (Pre-reading)
• And do students have to understand that letters
  on paper print text message?

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• The ability to read and comprehend depends upon
  rapid and automatic recognition and decoding of
  single words. Slow and inaccurate decoding are
  the best predictors of deficits in reading
  comprehension.
• NICHD

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• Children with reading disabilities usually take
  longer to learn the sounds of the alphabet.
• As these children learn to read, they may have
  difficulty in putting together the sounds of
  letters, to make a word or divide words into
  their separate sounds.

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Automaticity

• Fluent readers perform all the steps with such a
  high degree of automaticity that they do not even
  realize what is involved.
• e.g. once the readers decodes a word, she must
  remember how to read it next time

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Are we programmed for reading and writing???

• Human beings are programmed for languagebut not
  for reading and writing.
• These are skills that must be learned.
• Some individuals learn these skills with
  seemingly little effort, while others struggle
  until they are taught in a skilled manner.

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What is dyslexia?

• Many people think that dyslexics see words
  backwardse.g., was for saw.
• Dyslexia is much more complicated.
• It is difficulty dys with language lexia

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Learning and Reading Disabilities

• Learning Disabilities a variety of disorders
  that affect how we get, keep, understand,
  organize, and use information.
• Learning disabilities are caused by damage to a
  specific part of the brain and a person is either
  born with a learning disability or can develop
  one because of an injury that causes damage to
  certain brain functions.

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Learning and Reading Disabilities

• LDs range in severity and interfere with one or
  more of the following important skills
• oral language (e.g., listening, speaking,
  understanding)
• reading (e.g., decoding, comprehension)
• written language (e.g., spelling, written
  expression)
• mathematics (e.g., computation, problem solving).
• organizational skills, social perception and
  social interaction.
• Reading disabilities have been called
• Developmental Reading Disorder and Dyslexia

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Bottom line

• Dyslexia or learning disabilities or
• reading disabilities or
• language learning disabilities
• varies along a continuum
• no matter what we label them,
• no two are alike

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What are common problems?

• Visual or Auditory
• Discrimination between one letter and another
• Sequencing intake and output in the same order!
• Memory remembering accurately what is heard or
  seen
• Focus (Figure/ground) (the ability to listen to
  the teachers voice above all distracting
  background noises or to focus on one word on a
  blackboard filled with text)

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• Spatial (space)
• Orientation (right/left)
• Sequencing (ordering of letters in spelling)

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• Temporal (time)
• Orientation (today and yesterday)
• Sequencing (before and after)

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Other problems that affect learning

• Listening or following directions
• Organization
• Physical coordination
• Poor attention (with or without hyperactivity).
• Social or emotional difficulties.
• Low self-esteem.

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What is English all about?
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• The language system in the brain is a
  hierarchical series of steps with phoneme
  processing (single sounds of language) at the
  very bottom.
• If learners have trouble with this first step, it
  is difficult to accomplish the next steps in the
  hierarchy which include
• recognizing whole words,
• understanding what they mean,
• and remembering them.

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The basic elements of reading

• Phoneme
• shortest unit of sound that can be recognized as
  being different and distinct from other sounds in
  a given language.
• What are the initial sounds?
• tab cat
• Being aware of a phoneme being able to detect
  distinct sounds when presented in isolation or
  when embedded in other utterances.

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Phonemic awareness

• Understanding that words are composed of discrete
  elements of sound that are blended together to
  create meaningful units.
• Current research shows us that difficulties in
  phonemic awareness can often lead to later
  problems in learning to read.

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• Phonemic awareness is the ability to identify,
  sequence, and manipulate individual sounds
  (phonemes) within words.
• Sat has three phonemes
• stamp has five phonemes
• and three has only three phonemes

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Phonological vs. phonemic awareness

• Phonological awareness is sometimes described as
  the awareness of and ability to deal with
  syllables and smaller word units such as onsets,
  rimes, and phonemes.
• While phonological awareness and phonemic
  awareness are often used interchangeably,
  phonological awareness may be considered a
  broader concept than phonemic awareness.

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Onset and rime

• Technical terms used to describe phonological
  units of a spoken syllable.
• A syllable can normally be divided into two
  parts
• the onset, which consists of the initial
  consonant or consonant blend,
• and the rime which consists of the vowel and any
  final consonants.
• So in the word "strap", "str" is the onset and
  "ap" is the rime. Words which share the same rime
  will also rhyme, but the spelling will be
  constant and not vary as it does with rhyme.

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Phonology

• Study of the sound system of the language.
• The term phonics refers to the sound-symbol
  relationships, in English, between speech sounds
  and letters of the alphabet. Phonetics is the
  science of the production and perception of
  speech sounds.

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Morphemes

• Smallest unit of meaning in the language.
• Free morphemes are elements of the language that
  can stand alone, such as the words run, dog,
  and house.
• Bound morphemes are elements of the language that
  cannot stand alone and must be combined with
  another morpheme, such as a prefix (re-, un-,
  dis-) or a suffix (-ing, -ly).
• Morphology is the study of the combination and
  behavior of these morphemes. It is the study and
  description of patterns of word formation in a
  language.
• Note Syllables vs. morphemes interchangeable

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• Syntax governs the order of words in a sentence.
  
• Meaning is affected by this sequencing of words.
  A sentence lacking proper syntax (Green my is
  house) will not convey meaning, but a sentence
  with proper syntax (My house is green) will.
• SemanticsSemantics refers to word meaning, how
  words relate to one another, and what words mean
  in sentences. GrammarGrammar is the set of
  rules that describes how to structure a language.
  These rules dictate the way sequences of words
  may be combined to form acceptable sentences.
  Grammar also includes the rules of morphology,
  syntax, and semantics.

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• Morpheme - smallest unit of meaning
• Syntax - word order
• Semantics - study of word meaning
• Morphology - study of word formation
• Phoneme - shortest unit of distinct sound
• Phonology - study of the sound system of the
  language
• Grammar - rules describing language structure
  (including morphology, syntax and semantics)

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• Vowels and consonants differ in how they are
  produced and how they are used.
• Combinations of sounds 44 sounds in the
  English language!

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Language influences

• English is a language of rules!
• New words frequently enter English from other
  languages
• English started out with Germanic Anglo-Saxon
• French influencesgrammar, syntax, suffixes
• The Renaissance brought from science and the arts
  Understanding of Greek and Latin morphemes helps
  students with comprehension, building vocabulary
  and spelling
• New words regularly enter the language to explain
  new phenomena or advances in science and
  technology (e.g., Internet, microchip).
• The printing press helped standardize the
  spelling of English.
• Throughout the history of the English language,
  pronunciation of some words changed while the
  spelling remained the same.
• This helps to explain the seemingly irregular
  spellings of certain words.

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The Brain! and Multi-sensory learning
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The brain!!!

• What does the brain have to do with reading
  (Hint relay central?
• What goes wrong?
• How can we fix it?

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Its difficult for some brains to acquire reading!

• Mid-19th c. language capacity in the left
  hemisphere
• Early 20th--language dysfunction might be due to
  innate developmental factors and not to lack of
  intelligence
• Orton (1920s)many individuals with speech
  problems, also had difficulty learning to read
  and write despite normal intelligence.

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• Recent research has identified what may be the
  biological origins of a reading disability.
• Individuals with reading disabilities have areas
  around the fissures on the left and frontal lobes
  of the brain that are over developed.
• Other research suggests that some individuals
  with a reading disability may adapt by taking
  advantage of a superior visual processing ability.

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The basicsLanguage-related parts of the brain
and their functions
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Represents the left hemisphere of the brain.
While both hemispheres contribute to language
function, language is processed primarily in the
left hemisphere.
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The basics

• Cerebrummain part of brain.
• hemispheres --Divided into right and left halves
• Cerebral cortexlayers of nerve cells on surface
  of both hemispheres.
• Lobesdivide the cortex
• Gyrus--individual fold of cortex
• Sulcus or fissure--cleft produced by this fold

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• posterior or anterior--
• Areas of the brain can be described as posterior
  or anterior to other brain regions.
• Posterior means to the rear or behind.
• Anterior means at or toward the front.

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• Language functions--primarily in regions of the
  cortex in the left hemisphere.
• The cortical area of the right hemisphere also
  performs language functions

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Functions

• Cortex ( which includes the parietal, temporal,
  and occipital lobes)
• receive visual, auditory, tactile, and
  kinesthetic information,
• organize it for analysis,
• then disregard, store, or transmit the
  information as appropriate.

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• Frontal Lobe Master Functions
• regulate attention and concentration.
• Formulate plans in response to information
  from cortex,
• organize the plans into behaviors,
• and execute the behaviors or actions.

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Parietal Lobe

• Perceives movement and direction, including
  left/right direction.
• Locate touch and percieve texture
• Process feedback from movements, actions, speech,
  writing.

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Postcentral gyrus

• Sensory strip
• Location parietal lobe just behind the central
  fissure,
• Receives information through touch and transmits
  it to parietal lobe.
• The left sensory cortex receives sensations
  primarily from the right side of the body, and
  the right sensory cortex receives sensations
  primarily from the left side of the body.

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Occipital Lobe

• Linked with vision--record, analyze, code, and
  store visual information.
• Predominant at the back of the occipital lobe.
• This is the primary visual area.
• Integrated near the angular gyrus (juncture of
  lobes).

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Temporal Lobe

• Auditory functions.
• This area in each hemisphere receives 60 percent
  of its information from the opposite ear and 40
  percent from the ear on the same side.

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Wernickes area

• Responsible for decoding sound and associating it
  with its source
• discriminating between sounds, and
• analyzing sound sequences.
• also important in understanding spoken word and
  in reading and writing.

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What goes wrong? Ectopias!

• Dylsexiais it all in your mind?
• http//www.interdys.org/servlet/compose?section_id
  5page_id47
• Disruption of the brain during gestation starts a
  cascade of events resulting in reorganization of
  neuronal circuits and networks.
• This reorganization isnt the best way to acquire
  language, and doesnt do well in the typical
  educational system.
• Learning difficulties may result depending on the
  severity and location of brain alterations,
  cognitive strategies that compensate and other
  conditions.

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• nerve cells in unusual parts of the cerebral
  cortex
• clusters of "ectopic" neurons are seen in the
  outside layer of the cerebral neocortexthe layer
  that usually doesnt have any cell!
• Ectopias are densely and aberrantly connected
  with other brain areas.
• Thus, one result of ectopia formation is the
  alteration of brain organization.
• E,g, Normal brain assymetricaldyslexic
  symmetrical
• (auditory area of temporal lobe)

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• Another change involves part of the visual path
  that may be functionally deficient in dyslexics
• This visual processing disturbance could
  interfere with normal reading ability.

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• Deficits in other sensory paths, such as the
  auditory system could interfere with the normal
  acquisitions of phonological skills.

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• Functional meaning of changes is not always
  clear.
• Differences in brain organization sometimes may
  result in a processing advantage.

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Fixing it the multisensory way?

• Because the brain itself is organized to
  integrate multisensory information, it is most
  effective to present information to students in
  multisensory ways.
• A multisensory approach facilitates the
  processing of information because it integrates
  all of the students modalities for reception and
  expression.

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Angular Gyrus

• The area at the juncture of the temporal,
  occipital, and parietal lobes is called the
  angular gyrus. It is an area of communication
  among all three lobes.
• Visual, auditory, tactile, kinesthetic, and
  vestibular information is integrated in the
  angular gyrus.
• This area makes it possible to associate a
  printed word, processed in the occipital lobe,
  with sensory experiences (how the word sounds,
  the movements used to write the word, how the
  mouth moves to speak the word) processed in the
  parietal lobe. The angular gyrus also fosters
  connections between meaning and the spoken word
  processed in Wernickes area.

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Frontal Lobe language output

• Regulates attention and concentration by
  formulating plans, behaviors, and actions.
• Essential for language output

To repeat a heard word, the stimulus moves from
the primary auditory area to Wernickes area.
From there it is transmittedto Broca's area,
(integrative region in the frontal lobes in which
information is coded, sequenced), and transmitted
to the motor region for output as speech.
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• To vocalize a written word, the information from
  the visual stimulus passes from the visual cortex
  in the occipital lobes to the angular gyrus.
• The angular gyrus associates the visual stimulus
  with the auditory form processed in Wernickes
  area.
• From this point the process is the same as
  speaking a heard word.
• From Wernickes area, the stimulus is sent to
  Brocas area to be coded, sequenced, and
  transmitted to the motor region for output as
  speech.

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Processing language

• Writing in response to a spoken instruction
• Recognition of the spoken word. Often depends on
  perception of very slight differences. Occurs in
  the primary auditory cortex of the temporal lobe.
  
• Analysis of phonemes on the basis of prior
  learning.
• This analysis probably occurs in Wernickes
  area.
• 3) Most people pronounce an unfamiliar word
  before writing it. This takes place in Brocas
  area.
• 4) Word is said aloud. Its phonemes, along with
  feedback derived from the speech act, are coded
  into letters. This takes place in the angular
  gyrus.
• 5) The resulting information is transmitted to
  the frontal regions of the left hemisphere where
  it is organized into the proper sequence to form
  words.
• 6) A motor plan for executing the act of writing
  is developed and transmitted to the motor cortex
  in the right hemisphere. Its output is written
  language.

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Why is the auditory processing important?

• Comprehension of a written word requires one to
  call to mind the words auditory form.
• A child typically learns to understand written
  language by associating it with spoken language,
  which he or she already knows.

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Sensory input

• Large areas in the motor and sensory cortex are
  designated to parts of the body involved in
  language function.
• The sensory cortex receives action produced
  through the motor cortex as new sensory input.
  This new input is feedback for the student.
• The sensory feedback generated by the act of
  writing is
• Kinesthetic and tactile (intentional movements of
  the fingers, thumb, hand, arm, and shoulder, as
  well as contact of fingers and hand with pencil
  and paper).
• Visual (sight of letters written on the paper).
• speaking is
• Kinesthetic and tactile (movement of the mouth
  muscles feeling and placement of the face, lips,
  teeth, gums, jaw, tongue, and pharynx).
• Auditory (sound of the word as it is produced).
• reading is
• Kinesthetic (eye muscle movements movement of
  the vocal tract, mouth, lips, etc. when reading
  aloud).
• Visual (sight of letters and words).
• Auditory (reading aloud, subvocalizing, or
  mentally recalling the auditory form of the words
  viewed).

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What is the best remedial reading approach?

• There are many remedial reading approaches that
  are used effectively (and some that are
  ineffective or ineffectively used) to work with
  native speakers, ESL and EFL students. Most
  studies agree that differences in approaches are
  not significant as long as the following factors
  are part of the approach
• Diagnostic and prescriptive
• Explicit instruction
• Multi-sensory
• Structured cumulative
• cognitive
• Some studies have also found that
• regularity of instruction (several times in week)
  
• in smaller groups
• is more effective.

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Multi-sensory overcomes deficits

• Due to visual and/or auditory processing
  deficits, individuals with dyslexia have
  difficulty coping with the symbols of language.
  Presentation of material is therefore
  multisensory
• Instruction employs, in addition to the senses of
  sight and sound, the kinesthetic and tactile
  pathways. Students feel and touch to help them
  compensate for visual and/or auditory
  difficulties. Note research findings that are
  still "out" on whether it is proven that MS is
  neededhowever, lots of experience and common
  sense corroborate the need for this.

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• Orton--teachers of dyslexic individuals should
  base their instruction on the language
  triangle.
• Following Ortons lead, all remedial programs
  have adopted this approach!

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• A multisensory approach aids the processing,
  retention, and application of information because
  it engages and integrates all of the students
  channels of reception and expression.
• For reading, the initial input is visual (seeing
  the letter symbols) through the kinesthetic and
  tactile pathways (voicing, tracing, feeling
  letter shapes) to the auditory (producing
  sounds).
• For spelling, initial input is auditory (hearing
  the dictated word) and moves through the
  kinesthetic pathway (writing the word) to the
  visual (seeing the printed letter or word).

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• In the temporal lobe this information is
  auditory.
• In the occipital lobe the information is visual.
• In the parietal lobe the information is
  kinesthetic and tactile.
• Modality-specific information processed in each
  lobe is integrated with information received
  through other modalities, in the area where the
  three lobes are adjacent to one anothera region
  called the angular gyrus.

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Remember

• Multisensory
• Auditory components hearing and processing
  sounds, sound discrimination and production of
  sounds
• Visual components letter symbols printed
  letters or words
• Kinesthetic/tactile voicing, tracing, feeling
  letter shapes

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What is the best remedial reading approach?

• There are many remedial reading approaches that
  are used effectively (and some that are
  ineffective or ineffectively used) to work with
  native speakers, ESL and EFL students. Most
  studies agree that differences in approaches are
  not significant as long as the following factors
  are part of the approach
• Diagnostic and prescriptive
• Explicit instruction
• Multi-sensory
• Structured cumulative
• cognitive
• Some studies have also found that
• regularity of instruction (several times in week)
  
• in smaller groups
• is more effective.