2. Understanding the Reading Process

Summary

This script delves into the complexities of reading, contrasting the bottom-up phonological processing model with the interactive theory of reading. It critiques the overemphasis on sounding out words and highlights the importance of semantic, syntactic, and phonological cueing systems in efficient reading. The script also emphasizes the need for phonics instruction to be balanced with comprehension and meaning-making, questioning the effectiveness of research-based programs that may not enhance students' genuine reading abilities or love for literature.

Takeaways

• 😀 Reading involves more than just sounding out words; it's a complex process of creating meaning from text.
• 🧠 The brain uses a bottom-up theory of reading, which suggests that information flows from the page to the brain, involving phonological processing.
• 📚 The phonological processing model includes four sub-processes: perceiving words and letters, assigning sounds to letters, identifying words, and creating ideas.
• 🎯 Struggling readers often have deficits in sounding out words, and traditional instruction focuses on this area, but it may not lead to long-term improvement in reading comprehension.
• 🔍 Proficient readers rely on more than just the words and letters on the page; they use context and background knowledge to fill in the blanks and create meaning.
• ✂️ The simple view of reading, based on the phonological processing model, is limited and does not account for the full range of data about how readers create meaning.
• 🔄 The neurocognitive model of reading, based on the interactive theory, suggests that what's in the reader's head interacts with what's on the page to create meaning.
• 📈 The three cueing systems used during reading are semantic, syntactic, and phonological/graphophonetic, with semantics being the most efficient.
• 📝 Semantic cues help readers predict words based on context and meaning, while syntactic cues involve the grammatical structure of language.
• 🔠 Phonological/graphophonetic cues are the least efficient, focusing on individual letters and letter patterns, which is not as effective as focusing on ideas or meaning.
• 📚 Phonics instruction is important, but it should be balanced with other methods to ensure a comprehensive understanding of reading as a meaning-making endeavor.

Q & A

What is the bottom-up theory of reading?

The bottom-up theory of reading suggests that reading involves a sequential processing of information starting from the smallest units (letters and words) to larger units (sentences and ideas). It is based on the idea that proficient reading is about sounding out words on the page, which is known as the phonological processing model.

What are the four sub-processes involved in reading according to the phonological processing model?

The four sub-processes are: 1) Perceiving the words and letters on the page, 2) Putting sounds to all the letters in each word, 3) Putting the individual sounds together to identify words, and 4) Putting the words together to create ideas.

What is the issue with focusing solely on sounding out words for teaching reading?

Focusing solely on sounding out words may lead to marginal improvements in the short term, but it often results in little transfer of skills to authentic reading situations and no noticeable long-term improvement in students' ability to create meaning with print. It can also deprive children of the joy of reading and hinder the development of an implicit understanding of the sound and structure of written language.

What are diphthongs and trigraphs, and why are they important in English reading?

Diphthongs and trigraphs are complex letter combinations that represent a single sound or phoneme in English. They are important because they help to account for the discrepancy between the number of phonemes and the number of letters in the English alphabet, allowing for more efficient representation of sounds in written language.

How does the neurocognitive model of reading differ from the phonological processing model?

The neurocognitive model, based on the interactive theory of reading, emphasizes that reading is about creating meaning with print. It suggests that what's in the reader's head (knowledge, context, etc.) interacts with what's on the page to construct meaning, rather than just sounding out words.

What are the three cueing systems used by the brain during active reading according to the neurocognitive model?

The three cueing systems are semantic (using context and background knowledge), syntactic (using grammatical structure and sentence patterns), and phonological/graphophonetic (using letter sounds to predict words).

Why is the semantic cueing system considered the most efficient during reading?

The semantic cueing system is the most efficient because it requires less space in working memory and operates quickly by using context and background knowledge to recognize words and predict the next word in a sentence.

How does the syntactic cueing system assist in the reading process?

The syntactic cueing system uses the reader's knowledge of grammar, sentence structure, word order, tense, and plurality to recognize words and make sense of the text. It is the second most efficient queuing system.

What is the role of phonological/graphophonetic cueing system in reading?

The phonological/graphophonetic cueing system is the least efficient of the three as it focuses on individual letters and letter patterns to predict the next word. It requires more attention to detail and uses more of the limited capacity of working memory.

Why might a research-based reading program not necessarily lead to improved reading comprehension?

A research-based reading program might improve specific skills, such as sounding out words, but these improvements may not transfer to real-life reading situations or lead to better comprehension. It's important to consider whether the program enhances the student's ability to create meaning with print and whether it is more effective than engaging with meaningful texts and activities.

What is the importance of considering the impact of a reading program on a student's love for books?

The impact of a reading program on a student's love for books is crucial because a genuine interest in reading can lead to a lifelong habit of engaging with literature, which in turn can improve comprehension and vocabulary. Programs that focus solely on technical skills may neglect this aspect of reading.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Understanding Reading: Theoretical Perspectives

The first paragraph introduces the theoretical perspectives on reading, posing questions about the nature of reading, the brain's recognition of words, and the needs of struggling readers. It delves into the bottom-up theory of reading, specifically the phonological processing model, which suggests that proficient reading involves sounding out words automatically. The paragraph highlights the limitations of this model, including its focus on sounding out words in isolation and the lack of transfer of these skills to authentic reading situations. It concludes by questioning the effectiveness of this model in fostering a love for reading and developing an implicit understanding of written language.

05:02

🔍 Beyond Phonics: The Complexities of Reading

This paragraph explores the limitations of the phonological processing model and presents evidence that proficient readers rely on more than just the words and letters on the page. It discusses the role of the brain in filling in gaps to create meaning, the use of miscues by proficient readers, and the significant information flow from the cortex during reading. The paragraph also addresses the importance of phonics instruction and the need for a balanced approach, cautioning against the overemphasis on sounding out words and the potential for research-based programs to produce misleading results. It emphasizes the importance of considering the broader impact of reading instruction on meaning creation and comprehension.

10:02

🧠 The Neurocognitive Model: An Interactive Approach to Reading

The third paragraph introduces the neurocognitive model of reading, which is based on the interactive theory of reading. This model suggests that reading is not merely the act of sounding out words but is a process of creating meaning with print. It explains that the brain uses semantic, syntactic, and phonological cueing systems to recognize words efficiently. The paragraph provides examples of how these systems work in practice and argues that focusing on individual letters is less efficient than focusing on meaning. It also discusses the importance of schema and the minimal use of letter clues during active reading.

15:03

👀 The Efficiency of Reading: Cueing Systems in Action

This paragraph further elaborates on the three cueing systems used during reading, emphasizing their role in recognizing words and creating meaning. It demonstrates through examples and thought experiments how readers use semantic and syntactic cues more efficiently than phonological ones. The paragraph challenges the reader to consider how they process words in sentences and how the removal of vowels or consonants affects reading. It concludes by reinforcing the idea that reading is a holistic process that goes beyond the simple sounding out of words.

20:04

📖 The Importance of Vowels and Consonants in Reading

The final paragraph of the script focuses on the role of vowels and consonants in the reading process. It presents an experiment where the removal of vowels or consonants from a text affects the reader's ability to understand and流畅ly read the content. The paragraph concludes part two of the script by highlighting the significance of understanding the components of language in reading and the overall importance of vowels and consonants in conveying meaning.

Keywords

💡Reading

Reading is the process of decoding symbols to derive meaning from written text. In the video, reading is explored from various theoretical perspectives, emphasizing its complexity and the brain's role in recognizing words and creating meaning. The script discusses how proficient readers automatically sound out words, while struggling readers may need additional instruction to improve their word recognition skills.

💡Phonological Processing Model

The Phonological Processing Model is based on the bottom-up theory of reading and suggests that reading involves sounding out words on the page. This model is critiqued in the video for its limitations, particularly its focus on word-level processing rather than the broader context and meaning-making aspects of reading.

💡Bottom-Up Theory

The Bottom-Up Theory posits that reading is a process that starts with the recognition of individual letters and words, which then combine to form meaning. The script uses this theory to discuss the limitations of focusing solely on the phonological aspects of reading and the need to consider higher-level cognitive processes.

💡Struggling Readers

Struggling readers are individuals who have difficulty with word recognition and creating meaning from text. The video discusses the challenges faced by these readers and critiques the idea that increased phonics instruction alone can resolve their difficulties, suggesting a more holistic approach is needed.

💡Diphthongs and Trigraphs

Diphthongs and trigraphs are complex linguistic elements where two or three letters represent one sound. The script highlights their importance in English orthography and how they contribute to the complexity of the reading process, as they require readers to understand letter combinations beyond simple one-to-one correspondences.

💡Semantic Cueing System

The Semantic Cueing System refers to the use of context and background knowledge to recognize words and predict meaning during reading. The video explains that this system is the most efficient for reading comprehension, as it allows readers to make sense of text based on the overall meaning rather than individual word sounds.

💡Syntactic Cueing System

The Syntactic Cueing System involves using grammatical structure and sentence patterns to recognize words during reading. The script demonstrates that this system is crucial for understanding the flow of language and contributes to the efficiency of the reading process by providing clues about word order and grammatical roles.

💡Phonetic or Phonological Cueing System

The Phonetic or Phonological Cueing System is the least efficient of the three cueing systems discussed in the video. It focuses on individual letter sounds to predict words, which can be less effective due to its focus on smaller units of language rather than the broader context or meaning.

💡Interactive Theory of Reading

The Interactive Theory of Reading suggests that reading is an active process where the reader's existing knowledge interacts with the text to create meaning. The video supports this theory by arguing that reading is not just about sounding out words but involves higher-level cognitive processes that use semantic, syntactic, and phonological cues.

💡Schema

Schema refers to the organized knowledge structures in the brain that help interpret and make sense of new information. In the context of the video, schema is used to explain how readers use their existing knowledge to understand and predict the content of the text they are reading.

💡Miscue

A miscue is an error made by a reader that still results in a semantically or syntactically correct word. The script uses miscues to illustrate that proficient readers use more than just the text on the page to construct meaning, indicating the importance of higher-level language processing in reading.

Highlights

Reading involves the brain recognizing words and creating meaning through phonological processing.

The bottom-up theory of reading suggests that proficient reading is about sounding out words automatically and fluently.

Struggling readers are thought to have deficits in sounding out words, which can be addressed through phonics instruction.

Phonics instruction involves teaching letter-sound associations and is crucial for understanding the English language's phonemes.

Diphthongs, trigraphs, and other letter combinations are essential for understanding the complexities of English orthography.

Research-based reading programs should be evaluated based on their effectiveness in creating meaning with print, not just sounding out words.

The neurocognitive model of reading accounts for the interactive theory, emphasizing the creation of meaning with print.

During reading, the brain uses semantic, syntactic, and phonological cueing systems to recognize words efficiently.

Semantic cueing is the most efficient system, using context and background knowledge to predict word meanings.

Syntactic cueing involves the use of grammatical structure and sentence patterns to recognize words.

Phonological cueing, while the least efficient, uses letter sounds to predict words and is essential for early reading development.

The brain prioritizes the use of minimal letter clues and relies more on semantic and syntactic cues during active reading.

Vowels are less critical in word recognition compared to consonants, as demonstrated by the ability to read text with removed vowels.

The importance of vowels and consonants in reading is highlighted by the difficulty in reading sentences with all consonants removed.

Reading is not merely about sounding out words but is a complex process of creating meaning with print.

The interactive theory of reading highlights the importance of higher-level cognitive processes in letter and word recognition.

Exposure to a variety of words and concepts is crucial for developing an implicit understanding of written language structure.

The joy of reading and discussing good books should not be overlooked in the pursuit of technical reading skills.

Transcripts

all right let's look at part two

understanding reading to theoretical

perspectives questions to think about

what is reading

how does the brain

recognize words during reading

what do struggling readers need to

become better at recognizing words while

reading and why are diphthongs and

trigraphs so gosh darn very important

think about these questions

let's look at the bottom-up theory of

reading

the phonological processing model is

based on the bottom-up theory of reading

according to this theory reading is

merely

sounding out words on the page

this is called the simple view of

reading or the phonological processing

model

and a model

is a construct

that explains or demonstrates how

something works

theoretical models are based on theories

again according to this model

reading is sounding out words

i'm reading

here reading is thought to involve four

sub-processes

perceiving the words and letters on the

page

putting sounds to all the letters

in each word

putting the individual sounds together

to identify words

and putting the words together to create

ideas

this is all thought to happen in the

microseconds available to us as our eyes

pounce upon each individual words poof

magic

reading happens

this is thought to create a form of

speech in the head

with which the reader listens during

reading

according to the phonological processing

model reading is sounding out words

proficient readers are able to sound out

words automatically and fluently so the

speech in the head is uninterrupted

they just sit back

and listen

according to this model struggling

readers have sounding out words deficits

to move from struggling to proficient we

just need to apply a bit more sounding

out word instruction

or so it is thought

now according to the phonological

processing model during the active

reading information flows one way from

the page to the relay station in the

brain called the thalamus and up to the

top which is the cortex

hence the name bottom-up theory of

reading

as stated earlier struggling readers

according to this model have sounding

out word deficits

so

we give them a whole bunch of sounding

out word instruction

along with lots and lots of drill and

practice sounding out words in isolation

and on worksheets

and we think the problem is solved

the goal of sounding out word

instruction is to create good sound

routers

the thinking is that if students were

good sounder outers all their reading

problems would vanish

but this is not the case

what usually happens

is struggling readers may get marginally

better at sounding out isolated words in

the short term

but when this is the sole focus of

reading instruction there's little

transfer of these skills to authentic

reading situations

and in the long term there's no

noticeable improvement in students

ability to create meaning with print

during authentic reading situations

and in the meantime

children are deprived of the joy of

reading and talking about good books

they're exposed to fewer words and

concepts

and they fall behind in developing an

implicit understanding of the sound and

structure of written language

the phonological processing model of

reading does more to help us understand

the reading process than to understand

it

and this sounded out word model is

limited because it does not account for

a wide array of data including four

facts

number one

proficient readers look at only 60 of

the words on the page

of these fixated words

our eyes usually stop on only one or two

letters

and since we can perceive only those

things upon which our eyes fixate

it's clear that our brain fills in the

blanks to create meaning during the

reading process

this indicates that readers are using

much more than words and letters on the

page to create meaning

second proficient readers often insert

words that are semantically or

syntactically correct again this is

called a miscue

this points to the fact that information

besides what's on the page is being used

to construct meaning

meaning is retained that's semantically

correct

syntactically correct a noun for a noun

third more information is flowing down

from the cortex then up from the

thalamus

we take in data from our senses in this

case our eyes it goes to the relay

station the brain the thalamus from

there it's sent to various parts of the

cortex but brain imaging research shows

that during the act of reading

almost 10 times more information

is flowing from the cortex down than

from the thalamus up

this demonstrates that's what's in the

head

is being used along with text clues

to create meaning

and fourth

and finally

information from the cortext is used to

direct the eyes during the active

reading in other words higher level

cognitive processes

drive or mediate

lower level letter and word recognition

processes

now before we go on to other to the

other theoretical models a bit about

phonics instruction and research based

programs

i am not against phonics instruction i

don't want you to get that idea a matter

of fact i'm highly in favor of it

it's not the what of phonics instruction

that is at issue here

it's the how and the how much

of phonics instruction that we need to

consider

phonics instruction is teaching letter

sound associations

the reader sees a letter and is able to

associate it with a certain sound

a sound within a word is called a

phoneme

there are approximately 200 phonemes in

all human languages

there are 44 phonemes

in our english language

there are 26 letters in our alphabet

this means our alphabet is 18 letters

short

rather than invent 18 new letters

somebody decided that we should put

existing letters together

in exciting new combinations

brilliant so we have diphthongs and

murmur diphthongs and diagraphs

trigraphs the schwa sound our controlled

vowels vowel blends cvc patterns cvcv

patterns one letter making another say

its name and of course we have

exceptions

of course we have exceptions

now one important thing to mention about

the science of reading before i move on

whenever a particular program or method

makes a claim that it's research based

or when someone says that research

proves that something is effective you

must always ask

effective for who

for what purpose

under what circumstances how much and

for how long

just saying that something is research

based doesn't mean that it is

it doesn't mean the research was very

good

and it doesn't mean that a valid

question was asked and it doesn't mean

that the data were correctly collected

measured or interpreted

now some of these research-based reading

programs may indeed produce a blip and

low level sounding out word scores

but a blip in sounding out word scores

does not mean that a student is better

able to create meaning with print

these blips often do not transfer into

real life reading situations

what this blip usually means

is that you taught something

you measure that something you taught

and you found more of something after

you taught it

imagine that that's like saying i

sprinkled sand on the floor and

afterwards i found there was more sand

on the floor

but sand on the floor only means there's

sand on the floor the sand has nothing

to do with the dirty dishes in the sink

so three questions to always ask

as a result of this holy blip are

students better able to create meaning

with print

and that's what reading is it's a

meaning making endeavor

not a sounding out word endeavor

does the research based blip making

reading program improves students

ability to comprehend and make sense of

what they're reading

over time

is the blip making program more

effective than reading and talking about

good books or writing and sharing

stories

or learning skills in authentic contexts

and that's the question

any exposure to print is helpful

even blip making programs have some

impact

but the question always comes back to

this

is blip making more impactful than

meaning making that's the question and i

would say absolutely not

and third

do blips help children fall in love with

books

so let's take a look now at the

neurocognitive model of reading

this model accounts for the four

unaccounted for facts

this theoretical model of reading is

based on the interactive theory of

reading

according to the interactive theory of

reading reading is creating meaning with

print

during the act of reading what's in the

head

interacts

with what's on the page to create

meaning

hence the name interactive theory

and according to this model reading is

not sounding out words as i've said it's

creating meaning with print

again readers use what's in their head

to make sense of what's on the page

reading is creating meeting with print

as we are reading we use the knowledge

scored stored in our cortex to

constantly reach out and micro predict

the words in the sentences we're reading

this is called

recognizing words

these micro predictions enable our brain

to work more efficiently

our brain uses three cueing systems to

make these micro predictions to

recognize words during the active

reading

semantic syntactic and phonological or

grapho

phonological or graphophonetic

let's take a look at each of them

the semantic first the semantic cueing

system is the most efficient of the

three in terms of speed and space

required in working memory

semantics refers to meaning

as you read you use context and

background knowledge to recognize words

and figure out what the next word might

be and you're doing it right now as you

read the powerpoints and listen to my

voice this is the semantic cueing system

for example

in the sentence below

there are several possible words that

would make sense

a pail a lake the ocean water birds fly

in the sky fish swim in

most of us would know what that is

fish swimming what most of us would not

need the letters

fish swim in water the monkey ate a buff

yes banana

she blank

yes fell down the hill that is the

semantic cueing system

the semantic now the syntactic cueing

system has to do with grammatical

structure of our language the

grammatical structure

as your brain reads you also use your

knowledge of grammar and sentence

structure word order tense

to recognize words

this is the second most efficient

queuing system and i'll demonstrate this

in a bit

but syntax grammar word order sense

uh tense plurality

she blank down the hit we know that's a

verb

fish blank we know that's a verb

the blank something sad a now

the dog blank did something verb on the

carpet

most syntax is learned implicitly

and the phonetic or phonological cueing

system uses letter sounds to predict

what the next word might be

of the three queuing systems this one is

the least efficient

why

because it focuses on individual letters

and letter patterns instead of words and

ideas

working memory

has a very limited capacity

it can hold about seven bits of

information for about 15 seconds before

it begins to fade

it can hold a few letters

a few words

or a few ideas

and since ideas contain far more

information than individual letters it's

more efficient to focus on ideas or

meaning

than individual letters

proof of the three queueing systems

as you're reading

so

do you really do this as you're sounding

out words

st

stam oh yes it's damn

stem oh yes the word is stamp

stampy

word is stampy

oh stamped yes the word is stamp

stampede

do you really go through all of that in

the micro seconds available as you see

this word

in print in a sentence

we see instead the word holistically

within the context of the sentence the

buffalo started to stampede

now since most people associate

buffaloes and stampede buffaloes acts as

a primer most of us need to just lightly

dance upon the word stampede

notice how your eyes different and how

they travel the buffalo started to

stampede

we go back and forth we just lightly

jump on the word

why is that

semantics and syntax

still don't believe me

more proof

the following 110 words paragraph read

this as quickly as you can and i'll

pause and let you do this silently

all right very good

now i'm going to ask you to read the

same 110 words a second time

here they go

most people are going what what away

drove and car his in jumped could he

what what

these are the same

110

words

what was different

was your reading rate the same did you

go smoothly from word to word

the first passage makes sense

the second passage contains the exact

same words but they're presented

backwards

here you're deprived of both semantic

and syntactic clues

now if reading was simply sounding out

words and if the three cueing systems

was nonsense

your rate

accuracy and fluency and your eye

movement would have been the same with

both paragraphs but they were not

you most likely read this second

paragraph

word by word in a very choppy

stilted manner

much like

struggling readers who have been

subjected to too much phonics

instruction and who is trying to use

only letter clues and not semantic and

syntactic clues to create meaning with

print

three other things

during the active reading your brain

uses as few letter clues as possible to

recognize words

you use the file folders in your head

knowing as schema to make sense of

things what's in your head

second idea

[Laughter]

that would take too long

would use too much space in working

memory

we use minimal letter clues

and our eyes don't stop on every word

vowels are not very important now all

the vowels are removed for the from this

next passage except for the initial

vowels if it comes in the initial place

once upon a time there was most of us

can read that

how important are vowels

he turned back into a prince they left

happily ever after

vowels are not very important now can

anyone read the following sentence in

which all the consonants are removed and

i'm going to give you a hint it's about

a bear

in the woods

hmm

what about with all the vols removal

the big black bear rant yes yes so how

important are

bowels

all right this is the end of part two