Return-Path: <nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id f9RL68005137; Sat, 27 Oct 2001 17:06:08 -0400 (EDT) Date: Sat, 27 Oct 2001 17:06:08 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <136.3b155b9.290c7b43@aol.com> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: LELemke@aol.com To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-LD:3668] No support for Phonetic awareness as cause of reading X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Mailer: AOL 5.0 for Mac sub 36 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Status: O Content-Length: 1928 Lines: 31 As we all know, a statistician can find a way to prove or disprove about anything. I teach the Language! program during the day to my students with learning disabilities. Yes, I realize there are people for whom phonics may as well by Greek, but there are far more who, once they learn the codes, their reading (and spelling) takes off like a house afire. The research for the Language! program is extensive and certainly indicates that phonics is beneficial. I also teach GED/ABE, and I have an adult learner who learned to read by "sight reading." When she came to me, she read at the K or 1st grade level. By incorporating phonics as an adjunct to her sight reading skills, her reading level is now at the 5th grade level. When she came and told me she can now read the Bible AND the Sunday School lessons, we both had tears in our eyes. Cliff, you certainly have an impressive background, and I feel silly almost even attempting to pass on what I have learned to someone with your life experiences. But remember this. Every method out there has its good points. I incorporate whatever works in my public school middle school as well as in my GED or ESL teachings. But believe me, if one is not taught that /tion/ says shun or that /c/ and /g/ take on a soft sound (/s/ and /j/ respectively), then that person will never be able to figure out a word he/she has never seen before. I know because my husband has a masters degree, yet because he learned to read by sight, when he comes across an unknown word, he has to ask me how to pronounce it as he has not a clue. A good examply is /architecture/. CH can be Ch like in church, SH like in Chicago, and /k/ like in Christmas, chemistry, etc. Without that info, which I teach in my phonics program, it is very difficult to know where to go with a word like that. So, Cliff, my advice is: Use it all. Hope this helps, Ellie Lemke
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