[senco-forum] Dyslexia and general learning needs

Reading is the retrieval and assimilation of the intellectual content of text.

Stuart's message touches on some highly significant points about the reading process which stem from the fact that there is no professional agreement about what reading is.

He says 'reading is normally silent'

Reading is not normally silent - reading is always and can only be silent.

Reading is a receptive activity during which, meaning is 'received' and assimilated and assimilation of meaning is necessarily, a silent process.  

The process involves decoding the text at a sub-vocal level - it is 'spoken' silently within the reader's head - this is beyond dispute.

If reading is a receptive active then, by definition, Reading Aloud is not 'reading' at all because it is an EXPRESSIVE activity - it is the act of communicating the assimilated meaning to another - a process which involves necessitates emphasis and intonation.

When a competent reader is required to read an unfamiliar passage aloud to an audience - he or she will always 'read it through' first in order to communicate it more effectively. More intelligent, competent readers do it differently. They read it through at least twice before attempting to communicate the meaning to others.

When a teacher says to a poor reader, 'Bring your book and read to me!' the poor reader suffers the terrors of hell because they are being asked to do something that intelligent, competent readers would not dream of doing.   The only option available to them is to glance (silently) at a sentence or phrase and attempt to read it before trying to read it aloud to a teacher - this is the mechanism which is responsible for the destruction of self-esteem which is a feature of all failing readers and it is the skipping mechanism which they have to repeat throughout their attempt at reading aloud to a teacher.

Stuart, I'm glad to have got that off my chest -   again!

Eddie C.