Return-Path: <nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id e9C4X9911347; Thu, 12 Oct 2000 00:33:09 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 12 Oct 2000 00:33:09 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <000c01c0312d$1ffae6c0$9671c0d0@default> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: "Anita VanOuwerkerk" <aharvan@pnx.com> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-POVRACELIT:181] Re: LD Discussion as it relates to this list X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.00.2314.1300 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; Status: O Content-Length: 5831 Lines: 122 Hi, I taught children who were diagnosed as primarily retarded for many years. I concur totally with the statement that phonemic awareness but not phonics is very important in a child's learning to read. I taught initial consonant sounds, final consonants and vowel patterns in rhyming words. It was very effective for children and is recommended by LVA in TUTOR 7 for adults. I find that approach equally effective for adults. Some may want or need more phonics and that is appropriate, but my experience indicates that context clues fill in the gaps most of the time. Anita Van Ouwerkerk aharvan@pnx.com ----- Original Message ----- From: Mary Ann Corley <macorley1@earthlink.net> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov> Sent: Wednesday, October 11, 2000 11:15 PM Subject: [NIFL-POVRACELIT:180] LD Discussion as it relates to this list > Anne, George, and others on this list who are interested in learning > disabilities (LD) issues: > > Thanks for your helpful insights on this topic. I don't know if there are > complete answers to this issue yet, but there is a growing body of evidence > from research being done across the country by the National Institute of > Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) that points toward the critical > role of phonemic awareness > in reading skills acquisition. (The NICHD studies have yet to be replicated > on adults.) These studies declare > with confidence that phonemic awareness (not phonics) is the most potent > predictor of a child's ability to learn to read (to decode, that is, or to > map sound to print). This does not negate the whole language approach to > reading, but rather says that the answer is neither phonics nor whole > language--but a balanced approach of both of these. But reading entails > more than decoding. Accurate decoding is critical to building automaticity > and fluency in reading. Automaticity and rapidity of decoding are critical > to reading comprehension, because the learner who struggles and labors to > decode words soon loses the meaning of the text. Comprehension is dependent > on the reader's knowledge of language structure, including phonology, > morphology, orthography, semantics, syntax and text structure. > > For your reference: There's an incredible report (1999) by Louisa C. Moats > entitled "Teaching Reading IS Rocket Science: What Expert Teachers of > Reading Should Know and Be Able to Do." It can be downloaded from the > American Federation of Teachers (AFT) webpage. (Louisa is the project > director of the NICHD Early Interventions Project.) > > But---more to the point of this discussion list--allow me to share with you > some thoughts that have been rattling around in my head for some time on how > persons who live daily with the effects of LD, poverty, racism, or language > and cultural acquisition problems may share some common issues of limited > access to social/political/economic opportunities. I welcome your > comments/reactions: > > The traditional definitions of LD say that it is presumed to be > neurologically based. The manifestations of LD are problems in > understanding or using spoken or written language (I won't go into specifics > here in the various skill areas). During my tenure at the National ALLD > Center, I came to understand that persons with LD often suffer > discrimination on a personal as well as an institutional level because of > there "different-ness." There is research evidence that persons with LD > experience higher rates of unemployment or underemployment in low-paying, > low-prestige jobs than the population in general. Yet, we know that persons > with LD can be wonderfully creative, highly intelligent, and multi-talented > individuals. Is the employment discrimination they experience different > from that experienced by persons who live with the effects of poverty or > racism? > > As the National ALLD Center trainers conducted the initial round of Bridges > training across the country, we kept getting the question: How are these > manifestations of LD different from the language acquisition problems that > our ESL students have? How are they different from the problems > demonstrated by persons who are/were educationally disadvantaged, had > limited opportunities to learn, or grew up in a different culture, for > example, one of intergenerational poverty? > > These questions really gave us pause. Apparently, the manifestations of > information processing problems can be the same or similar, but the root > causes of the problems can be different, e.g., poverty, racism, language and > cultural acquisition problems. Does this mean that the instructional > strategies that are effective for persons with LD may also be effective for > other low-achieving learners? We think so. Can we say this with > confidence? No. If our field is to move forward, research of issues such > as the above is critical. We must get to the point where we can define the > instructional interventions that are proven effective for adult learners, > particularly those who have a history of educational low achievement, > whether because of LD, language and cultural acquisition problems, or the > effects of poverty and racism. > > Is this part of building toward recommendations for a national research > agenda? We hope so. Please share your thoughts on the above. I would > truly welcome your input--it can be extremely valuable to bounce ideas off > colleagues who are equally committed to the issue and who can provide > different perspectives. As we struggle together with these concepts, > perhaps some direction will begin to emerge. > > > ********************************* > Mary Ann Corley, Ph.D. > Director, National Center for > Literacy and Social Justice > macorley1@earthlink.net > > >
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