WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.720 This is The Reading Instruction Show. I am your 00:00:03.720 --> 00:00:07.599 genial host, as always, kindly ol' Dr. Johnson. 00:00:08.480 --> 00:00:12.400 And this podcast is coming as an excerpt from 00:00:12.400 --> 00:00:15.099 my book, Understanding the Science of Reading, 00:00:15.400 --> 00:00:18.699 Focal and Context Matters. It will be published 00:00:18.699 --> 00:00:25.320 by Guilford sometime in 2025. Research to support 00:00:25.320 --> 00:00:31.780 the three cueing systems. In this chapter that 00:00:31.780 --> 00:00:37.359 I'm writing, I have included many more citations 00:00:37.359 --> 00:00:40.579 that are necessary, and that's because science 00:00:40.579 --> 00:00:45.500 of reading enthusiasts insist that there's no 00:00:45.500 --> 00:00:48.659 research to support the three cueing systems. 00:00:49.420 --> 00:00:53.579 However, as you see, if you read my chapter excerpt 00:00:53.579 --> 00:00:57.060 on LinkedIn or other places, or if you buy my 00:00:57.060 --> 00:01:02.259 book, I've got a plethora of reference citations 00:01:02.259 --> 00:01:07.099 to actual research in which they collected data 00:01:07.099 --> 00:01:10.439 and sent it to academic journals that were peer 00:01:10.439 --> 00:01:13.980 -reviewed, the whole thing. So let's take a look 00:01:13.980 --> 00:01:17.299 at this. First of all, a predicting machine. 00:01:18.459 --> 00:01:22.500 Our big human brains have evolved to become very 00:01:22.500 --> 00:01:26.959 efficient predicting machines. They're constantly 00:01:26.959 --> 00:01:30.840 accessing multiple data sources in order to give 00:01:30.840 --> 00:01:35.980 us a sense of what will happen next. Most of 00:01:35.980 --> 00:01:40.319 this is done at levels below our conscious awareness. 00:01:41.420 --> 00:01:44.900 For example, baseball players are able to run 00:01:44.900 --> 00:01:48.299 to just the right spot in the outfield to catch 00:01:48.299 --> 00:01:52.420 balls because they can predict where it's coming 00:01:52.420 --> 00:01:57.730 down. Their big human brains instantly process 00:01:57.730 --> 00:02:01.409 a variety of information related to the sound 00:02:01.409 --> 00:02:04.930 of the bat hitting the ball, as well as the height, 00:02:05.269 --> 00:02:11.030 the speed, and angle of trajectory. The same 00:02:11.030 --> 00:02:14.550 prediction process is used in language comprehension 00:02:14.550 --> 00:02:19.580 and reading. Here, our prediction machine uses 00:02:19.580 --> 00:02:23.599 semantic, syntactic, and phonological information 00:02:23.599 --> 00:02:28.159 to make micro -predictions about words and meaning 00:02:28.159 --> 00:02:33.020 during the process of reading. Very much like 00:02:33.020 --> 00:02:37.120 baseball players catching pop flies, this enables 00:02:37.120 --> 00:02:41.539 us to efficiently and effectively create meaning 00:02:41.539 --> 00:02:46.560 with the print before us. Let's look at lexical 00:02:46.560 --> 00:02:51.199 priming studies. Priming research examines how 00:02:51.199 --> 00:02:55.439 something that comes before impacts that which 00:02:55.439 --> 00:03:00.599 comes after. For example, it examines how what 00:03:00.599 --> 00:03:05.580 precedes a target word impacts, one, the speed 00:03:05.580 --> 00:03:10.080 and accuracy of word recognition, two, the movement 00:03:10.080 --> 00:03:15.240 of the eyes during reading, and three, the organization 00:03:15.240 --> 00:03:20.400 of things stored in the brain. Let's look first 00:03:20.400 --> 00:03:24.159 at semantics. To isolate the semantic element, 00:03:24.900 --> 00:03:27.919 subjects in priming studies are often asked to 00:03:27.919 --> 00:03:31.719 recognize words in sentences and other contexts. 00:03:32.020 --> 00:03:37.719 For example, the cat chased a blank mouse and 00:03:37.719 --> 00:03:42.919 the cat chased a blank round. In these studies, 00:03:43.240 --> 00:03:46.240 subjects were able to recognize target words 00:03:46.240 --> 00:03:51.659 faster and more accurately when they were preceded 00:03:51.659 --> 00:03:57.379 by related things. Clearly, readers in these 00:03:57.379 --> 00:04:01.840 studies use semantic information, or the semantic 00:04:01.840 --> 00:04:05.080 cueing system, along with letter information, 00:04:05.520 --> 00:04:09.439 phonetic cueing system, to recognize words and 00:04:09.439 --> 00:04:14.590 create meaning with Now here are some relevant 00:04:14.590 --> 00:04:18.910 findings related to semantic queuing. And there 00:04:18.910 --> 00:04:21.829 are four of them and these are all cited. One, 00:04:21.870 --> 00:04:24.709 semantic information enhances comprehension. 00:04:25.069 --> 00:04:28.490 Yes, there's research to support that. Two, semantic 00:04:28.490 --> 00:04:33.170 priming results in faster word recognition time 00:04:33.170 --> 00:04:38.410 and enhanced accuracy. Yes, then just using phonological 00:04:38.410 --> 00:04:42.350 information. Three, training with close to develop 00:04:42.350 --> 00:04:47.089 semantic queuing improves comprehension. And 00:04:47.089 --> 00:04:50.949 four, close skills learned apart from reading 00:04:50.949 --> 00:04:56.290 transfer to real reading situations. And a close 00:04:56.290 --> 00:05:00.870 for those who don't know it, C -L -O -Z -E, is 00:05:00.870 --> 00:05:05.269 a sentence in which there is a word missing and 00:05:05.269 --> 00:05:08.769 the reader must use the context clues to understand. 00:05:09.319 --> 00:05:12.939 it is a way to develop the semantic cueing system. 00:05:14.079 --> 00:05:17.300 Alright, let's look at syntax. Similar types 00:05:17.300 --> 00:05:20.079 of priming research studies have been conducted 00:05:20.079 --> 00:05:24.980 with sentences in which syntax was isolated as 00:05:24.980 --> 00:05:29.939 a cueing mechanism. Again, it's clear in these 00:05:29.939 --> 00:05:33.480 studies that readers were using syntactic information 00:05:33.480 --> 00:05:37.110 or the syntactic cueing system. along with letter 00:05:37.110 --> 00:05:41.089 information, phonetic cueing, to recognize words 00:05:41.089 --> 00:05:47.990 and create meaning. Here are five bits of relevant 00:05:47.990 --> 00:05:51.649 findings related to the syntactic cueing system. 00:05:52.329 --> 00:05:56.290 And again, if you see my page, you'll find a 00:05:56.290 --> 00:06:01.089 plethora of research studies cited. One, syntax 00:06:01.089 --> 00:06:05.500 contributes to reading comprehension. 2. Syntactic 00:06:05.500 --> 00:06:09.300 awareness is correlated with reading comprehension, 00:06:10.259 --> 00:06:13.120 comprehension monitoring, and reading achievement. 00:06:13.699 --> 00:06:19.100 3. Syntactic information contributes to enhanced 00:06:19.100 --> 00:06:24.259 word recognition. 4. Training students to develop 00:06:24.259 --> 00:06:29.199 syntax using sentence anagrams and sentence organization 00:06:29.199 --> 00:06:35.509 improves comprehension. And five, syntactic awareness 00:06:35.509 --> 00:06:40.850 facilitates reading comprehension. Let's look 00:06:40.850 --> 00:06:45.490 now at phonics. To isolate phonics as a variable, 00:06:46.110 --> 00:06:48.689 subjects are usually asked to recognize words 00:06:48.689 --> 00:06:54.149 or nonsense words in isolation. Here, syntax 00:06:54.149 --> 00:06:58.759 and semantics are eliminated as variables. But 00:06:58.759 --> 00:07:03.660 unlike syntax and semantics, you can't compare 00:07:03.660 --> 00:07:07.800 phonics to some other cueing system because all 00:07:07.800 --> 00:07:13.699 written words contain letters. And besides, we've 00:07:13.699 --> 00:07:17.579 always known that teaching children to use letter 00:07:17.579 --> 00:07:21.660 sounds to sound out words improves their ability 00:07:21.660 --> 00:07:24.959 to use letter sounds to sound out words. This 00:07:24.959 --> 00:07:29.720 has never been in question. The question has 00:07:29.720 --> 00:07:34.199 always been, is instruction that isolates a single 00:07:34.199 --> 00:07:37.860 queuing system more effective than instruction 00:07:37.860 --> 00:07:42.100 that includes all three? And the answer is, wait 00:07:42.100 --> 00:07:47.300 for it, no. While research has shown that phonics 00:07:47.300 --> 00:07:51.019 -based instruction can lead to increased scores 00:07:51.019 --> 00:07:56.319 on phonics -based measures, There's little transfer 00:07:56.319 --> 00:07:59.500 of these skills to authentic reading conditions. 00:08:00.879 --> 00:08:04.480 And there is little evidence to demonstrate that 00:08:04.480 --> 00:08:08.220 heavy phonics instruction has any long -term 00:08:08.220 --> 00:08:11.879 effect on students' ability to create meaning 00:08:11.879 --> 00:08:16.740 with print. Now, the National Reading Panel, 00:08:16.759 --> 00:08:20.339 which is cited quite often, they did quite a 00:08:20.339 --> 00:08:24.029 thorough study of this. And here are some of 00:08:24.029 --> 00:08:27.089 the relevant findings related to phonics from 00:08:27.089 --> 00:08:32.389 the National Reading Panel Report. One, the impact 00:08:32.389 --> 00:08:37.190 of phonics on comprehension is limited. Two, 00:08:37.830 --> 00:08:41.490 phonics instruction contributed only weekly, 00:08:42.110 --> 00:08:45.350 if at all, in helping poor readers apply these 00:08:45.350 --> 00:08:51.620 skills to actually reading text. 3. There were 00:08:51.620 --> 00:08:54.779 insufficient data to draw any conclusions about 00:08:54.779 --> 00:08:58.039 the effects of phonics instruction with normally 00:08:58.039 --> 00:09:04.279 developing readers above first grade. 4. Phonics 00:09:04.279 --> 00:09:08.820 instruction fails to exert a statistically significant 00:09:08.820 --> 00:09:13.440 impact on poor readers in second through sixth 00:09:13.440 --> 00:09:19.210 grade. Now, the National Reading Panel also identified 00:09:19.210 --> 00:09:24.669 six ways to teach phonics, and it found that 00:09:24.669 --> 00:09:29.590 each of these were equally effective. Synthetic 00:09:29.590 --> 00:09:32.309 phonics, that's putting letter sounds together. 00:09:32.870 --> 00:09:35.710 And our science of reading friends, that's the 00:09:35.710 --> 00:09:39.029 only kind of phonics that they want. Practice 00:09:39.029 --> 00:09:41.070 sounding out words and putting them together. 00:09:42.230 --> 00:09:45.309 Analytic phonics is analyzing words that are 00:09:45.309 --> 00:09:47.710 there. Find the sounds and what sounds do you 00:09:47.710 --> 00:09:50.750 hear in this word. Embedded phonics, phonics 00:09:50.750 --> 00:09:53.350 within the context of real reading and writing. 00:09:54.769 --> 00:09:59.450 Analogy phonics, or known as large unit phonics, 00:09:59.830 --> 00:10:02.429 teaching students to look at letter patterns 00:10:02.429 --> 00:10:06.850 and phonograms. Onset rhyme phonics, taking the 00:10:06.850 --> 00:10:09.470 beginning of a word and connecting it with the 00:10:09.470 --> 00:10:16.129 rhyme or phonogram, D plus AM equals DAM, and 00:10:16.129 --> 00:10:19.710 phonics through spelling. Okay, this has been 00:10:19.710 --> 00:10:22.889 the Reading Instruction Show. I hope you learned 00:10:22.889 --> 00:10:24.210 a little something today.