Looking At Reading In Our Schools Today

Taupo Times, Volume XIV, Issue 59, 29 July 1965, Page 2

Looking At Reading In Our Schools Today

What is the hasic problem of reading in New Zealand schools, asks Mr P. H. Jones, of Taupo, in a series of articles in which he attempts to answer just this problem. This is the seeond of the series: —

The S.R.A. Spelling Laboratory lays down three principles: © Spelling is a skill depending less on intelligence than comprehension does ® English being 85 per cent phonetic, the approach to spelling should tae phonetic • Words should be pronounced syllable by syllable and not by individual letters. ORAL READING One high school pupil said he had never read aloud in his life. How the pendulum has swung! Once, to

assess the quality of reading, inspectors heard every child read aloud. In the Auckland pamphlet, Reading in the Primary School," we find: |lt is grossly unfair to ask a child who is all too aware of his incompetence as a reader to display his weakness in front of his peers." Is oral reading to display "improvement" not encouraged, because an omission from the list of 30 skills is "ability to pronounee what is read?" GUESSING GAME Reading by look-and-say has been likened to a guessing game, Dr Flesch says reading is not taught at all; that children are taught to gues^ unknown words or wait till teacher tells them. Professor Dolch says: {When a child does not know a word, tell him." Professor Bond says clues aid them on guessing a word asTt is detrimental to spell or sound out the words because sounding-out interrupts the meaning. Another writer says: "If his first guess goes wrong he can guess again." Our Education Department calls it "intelligent guessing." But teachers of remedial classes say years of guessing makes their work difficult. Bright children have been known to substitute, without detection, in front of inspectors, known words for unknown. Look-and-say has been called "a difficult, complicated, time-consuming, unin-

teresting, unserviceable exercise in visual recall." PLAYWAY, PHONETICS Oddly enough those who dislike the term are those who invented it back in 1937 when Dr Susan Isaacs used the word "play" 28 times in one lecture to teachers. Pupils are expected to memorise whole words, as Chinese do with their 40,000 characters. Dr Flesch says that mention of these phonetics arouses furious hostility, derision or icy silence. Yet some experts say bright pupils are good readers because of unusual phonic ability. Others declare phonics won't work because English is only 85 per cent regular. The official viewpoint is that success depends on a thorough knowledge of hoth phonetic and structural anaiysis. Dr Seuss derides "controlled" words thinking it an insult for a child to receive through his ears 30,000 words but is allowed only 1000 through his eyes. Two authorities, Betts and Preston, state that phonic skills are crucial. Our Education Department offers strange advice: "Perhaps the most debated question of all is what about phonics? Phonics, like politics and religion, is a highly emotive word. In any discussion therefore it is wise to avoid the term altogether or else define very carefully just what is meant by the word."