Language and the Reading Puzzle

1. Language and the Reading Puzzle Virginia A. Mann Dept. Of Cognitive Sciences University of California, Irvine vmann@uci.edu brainconnection.com

2. What makes them err? in decoding in comprehension What can be done? Why are poor readers, poor readers?

3. ERRORS IN WRITING Reversals? Spelling errors? Missing words?

4. ERRORS IN READING: POOR DECODING: Recovering the spoken words that written words ‘stand for’ Basics: vocabulary phoneme awareness morpheme awareness A limit on fluency

5. Decoding Problems Poor readers Average readers Superior readers

6. ERRORS IN READING WORKING MEMORY Temporarily retaining an ordered series of words, syllables, etc. Basics:in both reading and listening a bottleneck on comprehension

7. Working Memory Errors Smith, Mann and Shankweiler 1986

8. Language and the Reading Puzzle Vocabulary & Early Language Vocabulary & Early Language Working memory

9. Vocabulary & Early Language Vocabulary & Early Language

10. Written Language Transcribes Spoken Language Readers start as speakers and hearers Reading suffers if spoken language is weak Weak language can have both genetic and environmental origins

11. Language, SES and Reading Cumulative Effects of Language Experience Effects of Low Language Development on Reading 45 Million Words High SES High Oral Language in Kindergarten 5.2 years difference 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Reading Age Level 26 Million Words Middle SES Estimated Cumulative Words (In Millions) Low Oral Language in Kindergarten 13 Million Words Low SES 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Chronological Age 12 24 36 48 Age of Child (In Months) • SOURCE: Loban (1967); Hirsch (1996) • SOURCE: Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experience of Young American Children by Betty Hart & Todd R. Risley. Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co. (1995)

12. An Environment of Poor Reading The Real OC: Santa Ana, CA Highest in: High school dropout Household Density Poverty Speakers of Spanish

13. Santa Ana children are below the norm – even in Spanish! Normal At risk

14. Consequences of low education: Less income:37 cents per dollar A shorter life:dying 9 years earlier 1% decrease in the dropout rate: 100,000 fewer crimes 400 fewer murders $1.4 million annual savings LA Times 1/29/06

15. What can be Done? Improve the schools? Work before school starts? help parents fulfill their role as their children’s first teachers Home-based Activities Building Language Acquisition

16. 2ways to optimize the home environment 1. Coach parents to Be more responsive, positive and engaged exercise children’s spoken language skills Use complex language Ask and listen 2. Coach parents to enrich the home literacy environment use dialogic reading

17. HABLA: ‘Speak!’ for School success A Spanish language program: two years of home visits (92 visits) Increases verbal interaction between parents and 2-4 yr old children Easily-learned, developmentally appropriate methods of play Books and toys that stay in the home (Levenstein et al, 2002)

18. HABLA as Cost Effective: 1 year of HABLA: $1500 1 year of preschool: $6000 An extra year of school: $6000 Each year of Special Education: $12,000 Cumulative loss of social capital: PRICELESS

19. An HABLA family

20. A Home Visit

21. Positive Gains in Early Language: Without HABLA Mann et al, 2007

22. Mathematics in Preschool: HABLA English Spanish

23. Letters in Preschool HABLA English Spanish

24. A high tech approach to both genetic and environmentally based problems: FastForWordproducts Neuroscience F.A.S.T. Power learning formula: Frequency & intensity, Adaptivity, Simultaneous development, Timely motivation Cognitive Science A scope and sequence of materials that build foundational cognitive and language skills progressively

25. Fast ForWord Reading • Builds vocabulary • builds connections between written and spoken words • Builds flexibility • Builds fluency through repeated reading A series of products that targets all levels of reading from decoding to comprehension

29. Phoneme Awareness:The First Key to the Alphabet

30. Why Phoneme Awareness Matters? Decoding Words Poor readers Average readers Superior readers

31. The Alphabetic code:Letters stand for phonemes But what are phonemes?

32. The units of language 1 sentence 6 words 7 syllables 15 phonemes …12-13 in the South… 20 letters “Are you here as a teacher?”

33. Letters represent phonemes but these are • abstract Mental Units • not SoundBites • To understand the ABC’s • Children must be aware of phonemes • Seeing how c-a-t spells ‘cat’ takes • a kind of mental surgery

34. Activities that Require Phoneme Awareness: Judgment: What has a different first sound? bag baby cat ball Manipulation: Say ‘brake’ without the first sound rake

35. The Antecedents of Phoneme Awareness? Production and Perception of Speech Exposure to literacy activities (verse and word play, the ABC’s, shared reading) Mann and Foy, 2001-2007

36. Activities that promote phomeme awareness Learning the ABC’s especially letter sounds Matching or Sorting words by phonemes Manipulating phonemes Blending

37. Phoneme Awareness Predicts Early Reading Success Highlyaware Avg. Least aware Phoneme awareness in October Reading Ability 6 months later Shah and Mann, 2000

38. A Cautionary Note Intervention and training must be: lengthy, explicit and intensive

39. HowFastForWord Reading Builds Phoneme Awareness: Some Examples

43. Morpheme Awareness:Second Key to the English Alphabet

44. Morphemes in all language: Vocabulary builders

45. Morphemes and English: 1) Spelling and Meaning to, too, or two? there, their or they’re? it’s or its?

46. From Peter Bryant’s “Rogue Apostrophe Gallery”

47. Morphemes and English:2) Suffixes and Decoding HEAL HEALTH SIGN SIGNIFY ELECTRIC ELECTRICITY

48. Morphemes aid comprehension yet complicate decoding REACT REDO REPLAY REPAY REACH REAL REIGN REALM

49. Measuring Morpheme Awareness The Cloze Task: She is very _______ active activate activation activize lorialize lorial lorify lorialism

50. Morphemes: Early Reading Ability Singson, Mahony & Mann, 2000