Re: CHAT: dyslexia

On Thu, 29 Mar 2001, Dan Sulani wrote:

> On 29 March Nik Taylor wrote:
>
> >Yoon Ha Lee wrote:
> >> *Somewhere* I read (and my friend did, too) that people actually read
> >> logographic systems like Chinese somewhat faster because the translation
> >> goes directly from shapes to word-in-head, rather than shapes to sounds
> >> to word-in-head.
> >
> >Interesting.  I could see that.  I know that confusions like
> >"there/their/they're" tend to slow me down, because I have to go back to
> >figure out which was intended.  So, that suggests that there's a
> >shape-to-word transition there, and I'd imagine it would be quicker with
> >logograms.
>
>     I seem to recall an article from a few years ago which described
> research in which subjects were scanned while reading English and
> either Chinese or Japanese (I don't remember which) and sure
> enough, different parts of the brain lit up depending upon which
> lang was read.
Funky.  :-p

>     But, from a clinical point of view, I'd be careful before generalizing
> results like these. People are taught to read using different methods,
> and even in the same classroom, different kids use different
> strategies to assimilate what they will be graded for. And once a person
> is "up to speed" and reads quickly, it isn't apparent what strategy
> (or mix of strategies) he/she is employing.
>     Thus, a reader of a language with a Latin-based orthography
> might just be using the same reading strategies
> as a reader of logographs, in which case there would be no difference
> between them, regardless of how the lang is written.
Okay.  I'll pass that on to my curious friend.

I wonder what reading strategy I use.  :-p  My sister and I were once
given a reading-speed test in middle school in which they gave you a
certain amount of time to read a passage; you had to stop when they
called time and answer questions on the passage (presumably if you didn't
finish the thing, you wouldn't be able to answer some of the questions).
I think you might also have had to note where you stopped.  We were both
amused because we could read the dratted passage twice in the allotted
time....

>     <Rant warning in effect:>
>
>     I know that English has been taught by
> a "global" method which essentially treats English words as though
> they were Chinese logographs. You would think that Hebrew, having a very
> phonemic orthography, wouldn't need this, but fashion is fashion! :-P
> I have had a few kids seriously screwed up trying to learn to read using the
> global method!
>     Recently, I had a case where the kid, who suffered from
> genuine language difficulties, was also a new immigrant and was being
> "taught" to read by regarding the shape of the whole word and
> connecting that shape to words from his vocabulary, which, of course,
> he didn't have! (sort of like learning Chinese
> logographs in Chinese without knowing how to speak the lang!)
That does sound screwy.  :-p  I've tried learning Turkish "reading
only"--semi-necessary because I don't have tapes or access to a native
speaker--and I find that I have to codge up *some* approximate
pronunciation (based on the pronunciation guide, which in the book I was
using unfortunately didn't include stress, tone, pitch, whatever) in
order to be able to deal with words at all.

>     Sorry for the rant, but I hate having to fix the results of stupidity on
> the part of the educational establishment!
I can't blame you.  :-(

YHL