The Scientific Foundations for RocketReader
Dr. Simon Ronald
February 2005
Abstract 1 Introduction
1.1 The National Reading Panel A study of American 8th graders by the US Department of Education in 1998 found that 66% of students were unable to summarize what they read. Although they averaged over 21 hours a week watching television, the time This paper discusses the research basis for spent reading was less than 2 hours a week. In the RocketReader Computer Reading Profi- 1991, 40% of all households did not buy a single ciency software. It describes a foundation book. Such trends fuelled the US Congress in based on solid scientific principles and accepted 1997 to establish a National Reading Panel to methods of instruction. This paper demon- explore recommendations for effective instruc- strates how RocketReader instructional meth- tional techniques in reading. This panel com- ods tie in to the report of the National Read- prised 14 people, including leading scientists in ing Panel ‘Teaching Children to Read’ and its reading research, educators, teachers, and par- recommendations, in the areas of reading flu- ents. This panel distilled the results of 100,000 ency and comprehension. As a background, research studies carried out on reading since this paper discusses how people learn to read, 1966 into a comprehensive report. The NRP’s and the biomechanical and neural processes report is thought of as the most comprehen- of reading. Unique capabilities of Rocket- sive document on reading instruction to date. Reader are discussed and related to schol- We refer to these findings as well as the re- arly findings on reading instruction includ- search of other well-established experts in this ing high comprehension reading, breaking poor RocketReader whitepaper. reading habits, paced reading, graded read- ing, inspiration and imagination in reading, 1.2 The Difference Reading Makes and feedback of reading progress. This paper demonstrates that RocketReader is sufficiently Children who read well are building a bridge to grounded in proven and validated reading in- a successful future. Reading well often trans- structional methods, qualifying schools to re- lates to reading and learning more, and getting ceive funding for its purchase, under grants as- better grades in school, college and university. sociated with the US federal government Read- Children who enjoy reading are often more in- ing First initiative and ‘No Child Left Behind’ clined to read after hours and during the week- Act. end.
1 Children who read slowly and with difficulty we prepare a child for the future challenges of are trapped in another world; the world of the extensive online and electronic reading[10, 17]? ‘slow reader’. They find reading a tiring, diffi- This article will show how RocketReader cult and laborious task. As a result, they only techniques, which are based on a solid and con- read what is absolutely necessary at school and clusive scientific foundation, can address prob- are unlikely to read after hours[2]. In addition, lem reading habits and help develop high levels they often have low confidence when reading. of reading fluency and comprehension. Children who fall behind in their reading, fall further behind later on in life. A study by the National Institute of Child Health and Human 2 RocketReader the Company Development found the majority of children RocketReader was founded by AI researcher who had reading problems in the third grade Dr. Simon Ronald in 1996 and in that same continued to have problems in the ninth grade. year, RocketReader computer software was re- Children with reading problems often grow up leased. Since then, RocketReader has be- to become adults with reading difficulties[13]. come a widely used reading proficiency re- Children who read poorly are often assumed source around the world, popular with educa- to be lazy. As most teachers know, this is often tors, children, students and professionals alike. incorrect. A child who reads slowly and with There are over 22,000 search results for Rocket- difficulty is often expending around four times Reader on Google (Feb 2005). A search for more visual and mental effort to read the same the keyword ‘reading software’ on Google re- amount of information as a child who reads veals the RocketReader web site as the number well. When you put a lot of work into an activ- one ranked result (Feb 2005). RocketReader is ity and derive little, tiredness and frustration used in homes, and in schools, colleges and uni- sets in. These conditions make it very difficult versities in the USA, UK, Australia and many to persevere and improve. other countries. The success of RocketReader Children are under a lot of pressure. By the is underpinned by the following strengths: second and third grade, they are already ex- pected to read storybooks fluently and com- 1. a broad variety of reading proficiency ex- prehend what they read. If a child can see ercises, working in combination to address they are not as fluent as their peers, they can a range of reading obstacles quickly become demoralized. This compounds the problem and can perpetuate a never end- 2. great stories and articles, graded and com- ing cycle of low confidence in reading, and in prehension tested to appeal to a broad life. range of ages and interests Hence children often become segregated into two different worlds: the world of the slow 3. a focus on rapid reading with high com- reader; and the world of the fast, accurate prehension and high stamina reader[29]. How do we help 4. a focus on the elimination of bad read- our children develop good reading skills and ing habits, including vocalization and skip build reading confidence so they do not become back trapped in the world of the slow reader? How do we transform problem readers into fast and 5. developed for an international audience; accurate readers? How do we increase fluency with all texts available in the choice of and comprehension in slow readers? How do American English and British English and
2 pop ups and key dialog instructions avail- The user is then required to choose a les- able in English, French, German, Italian son plan, which are arranged by session lengths and Spanish. of 10, 20, 40 or 60 minutes. Once a lesson plan is selected, RocketReader will guide the 6. the user can use their own documents user through a series of exercises specially de- in the various training components, eg. signed to train the user within the available Word, PDF, text, HTML so as to enhance time. Training exercises are varied so a user interest and relevance. who always chooses a short lesson plan will be trained in a variety of different skills over time. Alternatively, the user can opt for a custom 3 The Instructional Scope of lesson, and create a self-directed session of ex- RocketReader ercises they would like to focus on. During the session, users can see the status At this early point it is important to de- of three key indicators in the top left hand cor- fine the scope of operation for the Rocket- ner of the main window: Reader reading software. RocketReader does not strive to cover all aspects of the com- 1. time — how many minutes the user has plex process of teaching a student to read. been training with RocketReader RocketReader does not teach alphabetic skills, 2. effort — how much effort the user has phonemic awareness skills and reading out expended during their RocketReader ses- aloud. RocketReader is a specialty reading sion; effort is a measure of total progress product that excels in silent independent read- and is analogous to ‘calories burned’ on a ing, high comprehension reading skills, and flu- computer exercise bicycle. ency techniques. In particular RocketReader helps break down the bad habits that have 3. level — RocketReader has two databases: been proven to hinder slower readers. Rocket- advanced and basic. The user commences Reader also focuses on memory development. at the basic level and when they have RocketReader does not train for skimming[11], demonstrated a sufficient level of skill1, scanning or other low comprehension reading RocketReader promotes the user automat- techniques. ically to the advanced mode2. Selecting basic or advanced mode affects the level of difficulty of phrases used in flash training, 4 An Overview of the Rocket- and the texts and comprehension tests Reader Instructional Tech- used in the skills testing modules.
niques RocketReader’s training exercises are pre- sented in a main skills window. In a predeter- Figure 1 details the instructional pathways mined lesson plan, this window will guide the available to the user in the RocketReader soft- ware. The user initially logs on with his or 1To be promoted the user must register a high com- prehension on a sufficiently difficult reading. her username and password. RocketReader en- 2 ables users to create their own account, where This automatic promotion occurs in the educa- tional version of RocketReader; the non-educational all their activities are saved. This allows them version of RocketReader allows the user to prescribe to track their progress. the basic or advanced levels at will.
3 user through different exercise components, on 5. Memory Training. The RocketReader the completion of each prescribed component. memory tests prepare the user for tests As explained above, the user can choose which or exams, and help them to learn facts exercise components to complete in a custom and figures. The user can choose any of lesson. Each exercise component is summa- the built-in memory tests: in the areas of rized briefly below. mathematics, science, SATs, or English; or in any of the hundreds of RocketReader 1. Flash Training. This RocketReader ex- practice readings. Advanced users and ercise involves flashing randomly selected teachers can create custom memory tests. words and phrases of a particular char- acter count very quickly on the screen. 6. Skills Test. The RocketReader skills The user must then type the flashed text. test measures progress on reading speed When they score a certain number of cor- and comprehension. HTML reports and rect answers, the level of difficulty in- graphs can be generated to detail the level creases. This exercise improves word de- of progress made. The texts used in the coding, fixation width, and helps mitigate speed tests are carefully selected to be the bad habits of eye skip back (regres- of uniform consistency, so the user re- sion) and eye overwork. ceives accurate and appropriate feedback on reading progress. 2. Grouping Training. The RocketReader grouping exercises use smart shadows that turn into words. This exercise develops 5 The Process of Reading the ability to read chunks of text, as op- posed to reading word-by-word. Before discussing the scientific support for RocketReader instructional methods, it is rel- 3. Speed Training. The RocketReader speed evant to evaluate the various theories on the training involves displaying a single phrase neural process of reading. Numerous models of of text at a time on the screen, with the reading exist in the scientific literature. These rate of display progressively increasing, include: training the user to read more quickly. The user can adjust the speed at which • Word shape[4]. The pattern of ascend- the words appear, to a more or less chal- ing and descending strokes forms a word lenging level. This exercise helps mitigate boundary. The word is identified by this eye skip back and eye overwork. outline and the context in which it ap- pears. While this model of reading is 4. Practice Readings. The RocketReader still popular with some typographers, it practice readings allow the user to choose is generally considered outdated by most from a broad selection of texts on a range researchers[15] of different topics such as science, sport, history and fiction. All practice readings • The serial letter recognition model[9]. A are followed by comprehension tests to en- model where words are read from left to sure reading is accompanied by high com- right, letter by letter in a serial fashion. prehension. Font size, colors, text width This was proposed as a simplified model of and text display speed are customizable to reading. The process is similar to a word user preferences. lookup in a dictionary; one locates the first
4 Figure 1: The RocketReader Instructional Process — Simplified Flow Chart
5 letter and then proceeds to successive let- From its inception in 1996, RocketReader ters until the word is located. This model was designed with this scientific under- of reading is considered primitive and out- standing of the parallel model of reading dated by most reading researchers. as its basis. The various exercises, includ- ing the flash, speed and group training ex- • The parallel letter recognition model[15]. ercises, train the user to increase text de- This is the most modern model of read- 3 coding efficiency freeing up more cognitive ing. This model works as follows . The resources for the reader to absorb mean- eyes gaze upon a chunk of text, and the ing4. RocketReader’s chief training goal is signals reach the brain. Features are then to develop reading speed, comprehension extracted from the lines and shapes. In- and stamina by training the user to read dividual letters are classified in a semi- more efficiently in chunks. First, by in- simultaneous fashion (in parallel). Then creasing the number of letters recognized the individual letters trigger different neu- in a single eye fixation (chunk), and sec- ral word classifiers — the word classifier ond by increasing the speed at which the that receives the strongest signal prevails information in a single eye fixation is pro- and the word is named. This model de- cessed. We discuss these in detail below. scribes the letters within the territory of one eye fixation being classified at the same time in parallel by the brain. The 6 Critical Reading Skills labeling of the words occurs as a dynamic process until the strength of the label is 6.1 Reading Fluency sufficiently high. For example, the word rats may be prematurely (and partially) Those learning to read often struggle on a labeled during the dynamic parallel letter word-to-word basis. Reading fluently means recognition phase as ‘ruts’, ‘rots’, ‘rate’, reading smoothly and expressively at speeds ‘bats’, and ‘rats’ until the neurons tele- approaching regular speech5. The report of graph that ‘rats’ has the highest signal. the National Reading Panel found that two in- structional approaches working in combination The parallel model of reading, which has were most effective in developing reading flu- the most scientific support by modern re- ency: searchers, suggests that we do not read left to right in a letter-by-letter serial fash- ion. Rather, we look at a chunk of text 1. Guided repeated oral reading — This in a single eye fixation, and each letter in technique is outside the scope of Rocket- that text is recognized in parallel at the Reader’s instructional design. It should same time until the word or words in the be noted that teacher or parent led, guided text are fully labeled by the brain. For the repeated oral reading should be conducted slower reader, this process of decoding the 4The importance of meshing word decoding skills words and then associating meaning takes with textual understanding and being able to combine considerable time and effort. This results both skills effortlessly is discussed in[26] in reduced speed and comprehension[22]. 5The speed of regular speech is around 180 words per minute for a regular speaker. The average read- 3There are many varieties of the parallel letter recog- ing speed is around 200 words per minute for an aver- nition model[15]; what follows is a simplified description age reader or 230 words per minute for a college-level of one example. reader.
6 in conjunction with the use of Rocket- Reader to optimize reading development.
2. Independent silent reading — Rocket- Reader excels in this instructional tech- nique. Students can choose readings from one of the many topics of interest and select a reading at an appropriate grade level. To facilitate this, all readings are presented in order of increasing difficulty for each category. There is a choice of over 500 graded readings. The wealth of graded reading material promotes ex- tensive reading on a wide variety of top- ics. Extensive reading practice is a crit- ical component of reading skills develop- ment, and has been proven to improve reading speed and comprehension[3]. To Figure 2: Histogram of the included readings demonstrate the breadth of the included in RocketReader according to RocketReader RocketReader Readings, the histograms reading grade level. The Y axis is the num- in Figures 2 and 3 show the number of ber of readings; the X axis is the RocketReader readings that correspond to the Rocket- grade level. Reader grade level6 and the Coleman-Liau grade levels respectively. It can be seen that RocketReader provides an excellent However, Shakespeare was exceptionally intel- diversity of readings through the spectrum ligent, well educated, and had a particular fas- of grade levels, in particular, grade levels cination with words. In contrast, the active three to ten. vocabulary of an average person is a humble 1,000 words. Most people can recognize around 5,000 words. 6.2 Vocabulary The importance of vocabulary is well known Vocabulary skills vary widely between peo- in the popular culture. Practical tips for im- ple. At the extreme end of capability, William proving vocabulary (Google search ‘improving Shakespeare penned 25,000 different words. vocabulary’) include:
6The RocketReader grade level is a comprehensive 1. Installing and using the Concise Oxford measure of reading difficulty based on number of words dictionary software on your computer. per sentence, number of syllables per word, the pres- ence of large words, the absence of very short words, 2. Looking up words conveniently on- the presence of common English words, the incidence line by using www.dictionary.com and of profanities, the number of sentence clauses, and the www.thesaurus.com use when writing use of numbers and symbols. This metric was formu- lated in 2004 by Dr. Ronald and can be applied to any documents. document using the RocketReader Gold software. The development of this metric is beyond the scope of this 3. Using the Microsoft Office thesaurus to paper. vary use of words when creating reports.
7 In fact, the notion that vocabulary improve- ment will aid reading skills actually has a sci- entific basis. We will now consider the scientific connection between vocabulary proficiency and reading ability. Studies by Rayner [23, 24] found less fre- quently appearing words require the eye to fix- ate on that word for a longer time during the reading process. Typically, less frequent words may take an extra 50 ms per word. Addition- ally, this delay can slow down the fixation time for the following word — so the interruption has a run-on effect. These studies measured word frequency by analyzing word counts in a corpus of thousands of books. Such word frequency measurements are thought to approximate typical word famil- iarity for the average reader. However, Gerns- Figure 3: Histogram of the included readings in bacher in [8], argues there are fundamental dif- RocketReader according to the Coleman-Liau ferences between an individual’s word familiar- reading grade level. The Y axis is the number ity and the frequency with which words appear of readings; the X axis is the Coleman-Liau in a corpus. This means that while a word fre- grade level. quency histogram derived from a set of texts may provide some indication of an average per- 4. Consulting the online encyclopedia at son’s vocabulary familiarity, it does not model en.wikipedia.org for unfamiliar phrases, the vast differences which occur in individual words and topics. vocabulary knowledge. Discrepancies in indi- vidual word knowledge point to a need for bet- 5. Having a pocket dictionary on hand at all ter knowledge and familiarity with words, es- times. pecially less common words. This will enable the reader to cast a wider net over the diverse 6. Having a dictionary reference on your set of words they are faced with everyday, lead- desk. ing to smaller fixation times and faster reading 7. Reading more challenging books with a speeds. richer vocabulary set. RocketReader can increase familiarity with less commonly occurring words to improve 8. Reading more often. reading skills. This is achieved through the Memory training module in RocketReader, 9. Taking advantage of computer-based vo- which relies on learning reinforcement to im- cabulary training. prove vocabulary. In addition, RocketReader’s wide range of readings incorporate a rich and Many adults have a strong sense their vo- diverse vocabulary set, providing indirect vo- cabulary can be improved and doing so would cabulary training. have a positive impact on their reading skills. There is ample research to support the link
8 between vocabulary skills and its benefit in displays a count of how many times a reading proficiency. As early as the 1940s and particular reading or quiz has been done. 1950s, a series of studies using factor analy- This allows teachers and students to mon- sis found that vocabulary size was the highest itor their learning, according to how many loading factor in reading comprehension abil- repetitions they have done. ity (Anderson and Peabody). In recent times, the National Reading panel analyzed 20,000 re- 3. Learning in rich contexts is valuable for search citations and found that vocabulary in- vocabulary learning. RocketReader pro- struction led to gains in reading comprehension vides a rich vocabulary set within its read- [20]7. In their comprehensive 2004 report on ings so users are continually exposed to, vocabulary instructional techniques, the Na- and learn new words, in context with tional Reading Panel made a number of key the story. Learning within rich contexts recommendations relating to vocabulary in- helps users to reinforce their understand- struction. We discuss how RocketReader per- ing of a word, as opposed to tediously forms against each recommendation. learning words in isolation. The new words learned while reading are further 1. Vocabulary should be taught both directly reinforced through comprehension testing. and indirectly. RocketReader comprises The carefully selected range of readings many graded readings, with each read- also introduce words in their natural con- ing accompanied by multiple choice ques- text, relating to user’s interests and expe- tions. The readings expose students indi- riences. For example, some readings are rectly to a broad vocabulary range, while geared toward boys aged eight to thirteen, the comprehension questions facilitate a with stories on topics such as skateboard- direct method to learning new words. For ing and dirt biking. Vocabulary procure- the older student, there are hundreds of ment is enhanced when learners can relate vocabulary words in the SAT module of new words to their own interests and ex- RocketReader. These specifically train in periences. a rich variety of vocabulary words and are accompanied by comprehensive vocab- 4. Vocabulary tasks should be restructured ulary quizzes in multiple choice format. when necessary. RocketReader has a flex- ible authoring facility that allows teachers 2. Repetition and multiple exposure to vo- to create readings with associated compre- cabulary items are important. Learning hension modules. The module is easy to reinforcement and repetition are empha- write using a simple mark up language. sized in the inherent design of Rocket- RocketReader software automatically and Reader’s exercises, which focus on high interactively delivers this module to the comprehension reading. Users are first ex- student, scores the result and provides posed to new vocabulary in the context- the appropriate student feedback. This rich format of readings. The user’s under- enables the teacher to design vocabulary standing of new vocabulary is then tested learning tasks and restructure them to in the accompanying comprehension tests. student needs. For example, some stu- In addition, RocketReader maintains and dents may need supplementary vocabu- 7It was noted that the instruction was most fruitful lary training in specific areas. The teacher when it matched the age and ability of the reader. can easily author these on an ad hoc basis
9 as required. An example of this follows, cous} in which a teacher has prepared a simple {profanity, alacrity, melancholy, vim} text file that contains the specification for The correct answer is ‘The irritable king a two-word vocabulary exercise: demanded that he avert his gaze then He was so thirsty that he quaffed his glass abased the general with a tirade of ignoble of water. Quaff means
10 ronment. RocketReader also harnesses 8. Dependence on a single vocabulary in- computer technology to provide instan- struction method will not result in optimal taneous, valuable feedback on student learning. RocketReader employs multi- progress, to teachers and students. Teach- ple methods for vocabulary improvement. ers can conveniently print class and in- Users develop their vocabulary indirectly dividual reports at a click of a button. by being exposed to a rich and varied Each student’s progress is saved under word set in RocketReader’s database of their own login name, so RocketReader readings. Vocabulary development is then can train and appraise student over the reinforced through the direct method of longer term. specific comprehension questions, to test their understanding of new words. 7. Vocabulary can be acquired through in- cidental learning. RocketReader provides hundreds of readings that expose readers 6.3 High Comprehension Reading to a vast variety of words, promoting in- The secret to reading well is the ability to com- cidental vocabulary learning. These read- prehend and extract the appropriate meaning ings are all graded using RocketReader’s and relevance of what is being read. Compre- grading metric to ensure the vocabulary hension depends on the complexity of the text, learned at each level is suitable to the and the sophistication of vocabulary. Some user’s skill level. For instance, the easiest texts, like Dr. Seuss’s ‘Cat in the Hat’ are very reading has a RocketReader grade level of simple to understand as they contain short 9 one and is called ‘When I Grow Up’ . The sentences, a small average number of letters most difficult reading in RocketReader is per word, a small average number of sylla- an excerpt from a 1908 article in the bles per word, include many common words, Times newspaper called ‘Sleeping Sickness and include reading clues such as pictures and 10 in Uganda’ and has a grade level of 13 . rhyme. Other texts, such as ‘The American Readings are available in a wide range Constitution’ are very difficult to comprehend of topics including mathematics, science, as they contain complex words and long sen- SATs, English, history, celebrities, sport tences. In the last twenty years, there has been and many more. The broad range of avail- a focus in the business world on simpler lan- able readings ensures users have many op- guage. Legal contracts have become easier to portunities to develop their vocabulary in read. Business letters are less elaborate and a wide variety of areas. more direct. Gone are the days where a sen- 9The first sentence of RocketReader’s easiest text tence contains hundreds of words and many is “When I Grow Up I’ll be a dancer...a writer...a compound clauses. These are the days of plain nurse...or a firefighter.” English. Despite this trend, we are faced with 10 The first sentence of RocketReader’s most difficult the onerous task of having to comprehend piles text is “We publish this morning an important com- of notes, books, emails, letters and reports munication from Mr Hesketh Bell, the Governor of Uganda, containing an account of the terrible ravages throughout our working lives. Although the of sleeping sickness in that territory, and an appeal to format may be simpler, the volume of informa- the people of this country for pecuniary assistance to- tion we have to digest in these modern times ward the alleviation of sufferings which are calculated is unprecedented. to excite the most lively compassion in the minds of all who are able to realize either their character or their Critical readers are aware that often the goal extent.” of a written text is to persuade the reader
11 to accept the author’s point of view on the (vol)(ume) (lic)(en)(cing) (in) (Jap)(an). subject. We should aim to effectively iden- This reading example describes 20 eye move- tify, reconstruct and evaluate the author’s ar- ments and 20 eye fixations i.e. 40 different eye guments. This gives us power of knowing that operations. This considerable eye work is one our own opinions are formed as a result of log- reason that slow readers get tired. Increased ical reasoning. With critical reading, we can ocular and mental workload often leads to poor see through manipulative and persuasive writ- comprehension. ing techniques. Many studies have shown that better read- Underpinning RocketReader is a focus on ers read the text in bigger chunks - this means high comprehension reading, which will lead fewer eye operations in order to read and un- to an enhanced ability to read critically. From derstand the same amount of text as compared RocketReader’s comprehension tests, readers with a slower reader. A fast reader may read quickly learn whether they are extracting the the sentence as shown below: right meaning from the readings. Rocket- (our biggest expansion) (opportunity will Reader meets the two criteria of comprehen- come) (from volume licensing) (in Japan) sion monitoring and question answering in the Reading this text takes a proficient reader recommended types of comprehension instruc- four eye movements, four eye fixations, and tion from the National Reading Panel[20]. eight eye operations. This is five times less work than a slow reader, requiring much less ef- fort, with better speed and higher comprehen- 7 Breaking Poor Reading sion resulting. Faster readers will often have Habits better comprehension because they can read more quickly and details of the sentence remain 7.1 The Overworked Eye fresh in their mind. However, slower readers may have forgotten the ideas in the first half Reading does not occur when the eyes are mov- of the sentence by the time they read the sec- ing. Vision transfer occurs when the eyes stop ond half. Hence the slower reader is likely to during the fixation phase. The fixation phase understand less of what they read. of the eye is approximately a quarter of a sec- RocketReader incorporates three exercises ond for natural reading[12]. that are designed to increase the amount of Eye overwork occurs when reading a sen- text the reader can absorb in a single eye fixa- tence requires excess eye movements and eye tion. These exercises are the flash, speed and fixations. The eyes perform considerable work grouping exercises. In addition, the practice for little information. readings also have customizable options to en- As an example, consider the following sen- able the reader to read sections of text with tence one eye movement. Each exercise component Our biggest expansion opportunity will come builds on the notion of learning to read bigger from volume licencing in Japan. chunk sizes, faster. We discuss each exercise A slow reader may move their eyes across component in detail: the following sentence as follows. Each fixation is represented symbolically by a left and right 1. flash exercises — the chunk sizes are set parenthesis pair. according to the measured comprehension (our) (big)(gest) (ex)(pan)(sion) of the user at that chunk size - the more (op)(port)(tunity) (will) (come) (from) accurately the user can read the text, the
12 more challenging (wider) the chunk sizes through a word-recognition process as de- become. scribed in Section 5. The second method is a vocal-assisted lookup where different parts 2. grouping exercises — the chunk sizes are of the word are sounded aloud or silently un- designated by the user, by sliding a slider til the meaning of the word is determined. It bar left or right on the interface - smaller has been shown that the average reader of- or larger chunks result. ten employs a combination of these two meth- ods when reading. Furthermore, it is thought 3. speed training exercises — the chunk size that both mechanisms race together to find the is selected by the user by resizing the win- meaning of the word[23]. dow. Vocalization is a widespread reading habit 4. practice readings — the user can control that has the effect of limiting reading speed the width of the window and the text will and comprehension. It occurs when we say the flow around to accommodate this user se- words we are reading out aloud or “under our lection. In this way the user can set a breath”. Verbal sounding of word parts is how narrow newspaper-like width of just two many learn to read in the first place, through or three words wide in which an entire line the application of phonemic awareness skills. A could be read in a single eye fixation. second common reading instructional method involves reading text aloud. This has been 7.2 Skip Back shown to be a successful method of reading instruction in conjunction with independent During normal reading, the eye moves for- silent reading[20]. Vocalization and reading ward a distance of eight letters during each text out loud may be useful in initially develop- eye movement. However, this forward move- ing basic reading skills, but can be significant ment only occurs nine out of ten times for habitual obstacles to reading faster. To attain the average reader. The other ten percent a superior reading speed, it is crucial to mas- of the time, the eyes skip back or regress to ter silent reading skills. The proof of this stems earlier words[12]. This typically occurs for from simple mechanics. The average speaking less familiar words or during sentence compo- speed is around 180 words per minute. Around nents that contain semantic ambiguity. Skip 72 muscles must move to produce speech11. back is a significant problem in slower readers. This is significantly slower than the average RocketReader Flash and Speed Training exer- reading speed of 230 words per minute, and cises are designed to help the reader overcome much slower than a proficient reader who reads this habit. These exercises are designed to en- accurately at a rapid 500 words per minute. sure that earlier read text is not visible to the The top speaking speed is around 300 words user. Since there is no material to feed the skip per minute, but few can maintain the con- back habit, i.e. nothing to skip back to, this centration and considerable effort required to reading problem is quickly unlearned. speak this quickly. It is clear that one can read faster when reading silently as compared 7.3 Vocalization to verbally. A transformation from a talking reader to a silent reader is pivotal in reading There are two different methods to read words. The first is a direct lookup method where 11In contrast, throwing a football only requires the the brain identifies the meaning of the words movement of around 30 muscles.
13 faster. Bad reading habits such as vocalization four minutes, then stop. Accurately count are common in both children and adults and the number of words you have read and they can be difficult to remove. Many adults, calculate a words-per-minute measure. In while being literate, have never migrated fully addition, try to get a feel for how well you to this next reading stage and often vocalize have read the material — if you can’t sum- without realizing it. marize six major points in the material A reader who vocalizes has to make a big then it is likely your comprehension was mechanical reading effort to extract a small reduced. amount of information. It is a situation of big effort for poor results. The slow pace of reading Like eye skip back (regression), vocalization and poor level of comprehension resulting can is an ingrained habit. Eliminating vocalization make reading a frustrating, fruitless exercise. requires hard work and dedication but the re- There are many suggested practical strate- ward is faster reading and improved compre- gies to eliminate vocalization12 including the hension. Many students can make a transi- following tips: tion to silent reading, especially with the help of quality teaching and instructional resources. • First of all, be aware of what your lips are RocketReader employs a number of methods doing when you read. If you are saying that are designed to assist with this transition the words, moving your lips or mumbling to fast and accurate silent reading. These in- through the text, you should make a con- clude: scious effort to stop. 1. flash training — this method flashes one or • Try and concentrate on concepts, ideas more words on the screen for a very short and key words as you are reading. duration of time, typically 50ms. The stu- dent must then correctly type what has • Force yourself to read faster — after a appeared on the screen. Further train- while the voice cannot keep up with your ing cycles are then presented, with the reading pace and vocalization will decline. number of words being flashed at one time increasing in step with the student’s • Practice these steps two to three times per recorded accuracy. The words displayed week for twenty to thirty minutes per ses- during flash training are randomly drawn sion. Do not attempt long sessions over an from a large database of 143,330 size- hour, as this is not conducive to optimal indexed words and phrases. This makes learning. it impossible for the student to rely on their memory to anticipate what will be • Measure your reading speed regularly to displayed next. This exercise teaches sight keep track of your progress. When test- reading as the student does not have time ing your reading speed, only read material to labor and vocalize through different you have not read before. This is because word components while reading. you will cover material you have previous read at a faster rate, concealing your true 2. Speed Training Exercises — uses the reading speed. Set your timer and read for Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP) method[16, 5, 28, 6, 27] of paced reading. 12To locate popular self-help references to vocaliza- tion one can search on Google for keywords eliminating The sentences in the reading are initially and vocalization. displayed at a comfortable reading speed,
14 then increased in speed during the exer- reading by three times especially con- cise. At some point the display rate of the sidering the material I read is college text exceeds the pace in which the words level. After the first month of use, can be vocalized. This process breaks re- one hour every day, my reading speed liance on vocalization, teaching the stu- went from 232 wpm to 480 wpm. I dent that comprehension is possible with- hope the result is not atypical; every- out the act of speaking the words. one should have the opportunity to enjoy reading more in less time. 8 Speed Reading I recently took up college classes again this fall, and the study time re- Speed reading is a contentious field abundant quired per class has dropped by al- with unrealistic claims and pseudoscience[30]. most half. The time I am saving is On the Internet some sites sell products that worth ten times the amount I paid for claim to teach accurate reading speeds of the program. I now have more time up to 25,000 words per minute[21]. The for clubs, volunteering, and the like.” MegaReading product developed by Howard (J Riendaeu, Madison WI USA) S. Berg featured, along with unfeasibly high reading speed claims, in many international More testimonials can be found at feature-length commercials. In 1998, Howard http://www.rocketreader.com/say/say.html. S. Berg was served with a consent order by We have shown that at its core, Rocket- the United States Federal Trade Commission Reader implements many of the recommenda- compelling him to refrain from claiming high- tions of the National Reading Panel on meth- comprehension reading speeds above 800 words ods to improve reading proficiency. Its vast per minute.[18] database of readings, innovative methods of RocketReader, since its inception in 1996, teaching reading proficiency and focus on high has always taken the view that an excellent comprehension and vocabulary development reading speed is in the range of 500 to 800 are based on established and conclusive re- words per minute and speeds above 800 words search on reading. per minute quickly degenerate into low com- prehension reading or skimming. This view is supported by research into reading speeds. 9 Inspiration and Imagination RocketReader advocates (but does not guar- RocketReader provides hundreds of carefully antee or make definite claim) that many peo- graded readings from basic reading level to ple who train sufficiently with RocketReader, adult level proficiency. The readings are de- can increase their reading speed from an aver- signed to cater for the interests and aspirations age speed of 230 words per minute up to 500 of various groups, including boys13 and girls14. words per minute, with good reading accuracy and comprehension. This is supported anec- 13Boys’ readings are packed with action: dirt biking, dotally by testimonial reports from Rocket- extreme sports, snowboarding, NASCAR, rap, monster Reader users, for example trucks, heavy metal, pro surfing, game fishing, radio controlled cars, dungeons and dragons, baseball cards, “I am still surprised at the quick Lego design, football sensation David Beckham, and Tony Hawke landing the 900. results. Two months just does not 14Girls’ readings include stories about superstars and seem a long enough to speed up my heroes such as Lisa Simpson, Shakira, Beyonce, Johnny
15 RocketReader stories are all comprehension baggy shorts and an oversized Or- tested to check reading progress and under- ange Country Choppers T-shirt. He standing. These are all carefully designed with was also really into motorcycles. a target audience in mind, to connect with the I went up the ramp and did a kick- user’s interests. The following excerpt from a turn. reading about skateboarding in RocketReader “That’s not new,” Mark said, illustrates the careful selection and monitoring seeming disappointed. which underpins the design and authoring of “I haven’t practiced any new each story. Firstly, the target audience for this moves lately. What do you have?” story titled ‘Johnny and the Boys’ Extreme I challenged. Skateboarding Adventure’ is boys aged from Mark was up for the challenge. He eight years of age. It has an ARI rating of 3.0, got in a natural stance and started and a Wheeler Smith rating of 3.6. It has a off up the ramp. He turned and rode RocketReader grade level of 4.8. What is dis- backward in a fakie and then turned tinctive about this story is that it makes use of again. When he got to the top of the jargon which is easily recognizable and widely ramp, he jumped, and his skateboard used by this target audience, such as ‘wiped balanced on the edge. He then rode out’, ‘dude’, ‘kickturn’, and ‘fakie’. It taps into the edge and jumped the nine feet the common interests of the target audience, down. He didn’t have a really smooth with subjects which include choppers, motor- landing, but he picked himself up. cycles, skateboards, competition and tricks. “What did you think?” he asked. Learning is enhanced when it is situated in “That looks hard. I don’t know if a context which a person can relate to. It is I want to jump down all that way,” I this philosophy which drives the design of read- replied. ings and comprehension tests in RocketReader. “Dude, it’s only nine feet. It’s RocketReader aims to make reading fun, en- nothing,” he baited me. joyable and relevant to a user’s experience, so Unable to resist the challenge, they are motivated and inspired to learn and I tried to repeat what he’d done. read. The excerpt follows: I couldn’t maintain my balance, though, and slipped off before I had a Being a kid from San Francisco, chance to skate off the ledge. I heard I learned to skateboard when I was laughter behind me. four years old. Most of my friends “Dude, you totally wiped out,” are the same way. Every afternoon said my friend Mike. Apparently, the after school, we go down to the Em- whole gang was there to witness my barcadero, the hot skate spot in the fall. city. “Well, you try it then. It’s not as “Johnny, you got any new easy as it looks,” I challenged Mike. moves?” The question came from my The other guys egged him on, and best friend, Mark. Mark was wearing before long, we were all taking turns wiping out on the ledge. Surprisingly, Depp and Usher. New multi-part adventure stories are included about school girls who set out together on var- no one had to go to the hospital! ious trips to the Big Apple, a boat cruise and other exciting adventures. Another example of reading is ‘The Vacation
16 House’ which is aimed at girls for ages eight on mixing a sauce for the lobster and plus. The story describes a group of school peeling potatoes. girls that go to work at a bed and breakfast “We’re going to add the potatoes during their school vacation. Following is an in a minute,” Granny said. excerpt. After some frantic boiling, Granny pulled the lobsters out of the “I’m kinda scared,” Amanda said. pot and set them into a larger pan. “I’ve never cooked before either, Then we added the sauce Amanda but Granny said we need to know how and I had mixed. Nell fished out the to do everything in case we ever need potatoes and set them around the to do it,” I answered. lobsters. “It’s not that bad. She shows you “Oh, the bread. Let’s get that in how to do everything step by step,” the oven. Can one of you pre-heat the Nell encouraged us. oven please?” Granny asked. “What if we mess up dinner?” “How do I do that?” I asked. Amanda asked. Granny laughed and walked to the “Granny’s going to help us. She stove. “Just turn this button. When isn’t going to turn us loose,” Nell the timer goes off, put the bread in.” laughed. We found the butter sauce and Just then Granny flounced in like garlic. “This is going to go on the a twenty-year-old. bread with this brush,” Granny ex- “Okay, girls, did everyone wash plained. their hands?” Granny asked, cheer- When we got done, the meal was ful as ever. beautiful. It looked fit for a king. “Yes,” we all replied. “Where did you learn how to do this?” Amanda asked. “We’re going to make lobster a la Martin. That’s my own recipe,” “Oh, here and there,” Granny an- Granny said with a laugh. swered elusively and carried the lob- ster platter into the dining room. I was shocked to learn that the lobsters were live! I didn’t know that we’d have to put them in the boiling 10 Reading Disorders water. “Otherwise they let out a poi- son,” Granny explained. Research has consistently shown that peo- We got the water boiling and then ple with reading disorders such as dyslexia, Granny said, “Okay, grab a lobster.” Meares-lrlen Syndrome and visual impairment “We have to put them in?” I can benefit from specifically designed reading asked, horrified. tuition, guided reading and lesson plans. “How else are they going to get Reading disorders, such as Dyslexia and in?” Granny smiled. Meares-lrlen (Scotopic Sensitivity) Syndrome, Hesitantly, we all grabbed a lob- affect a significant number of people. Dyslexia ster and tossed it into the huge pot is the most common cause of reading diffi- of boiling water. This was the hard- culty; it is estimated that one in 10 children est part. Then Granny set us to work is dyslexic.
17 Being affected by a reading disorder can be a 10.0.1 Choice of special preset exercise daunting and frustrating experience for a child templates. and, if not properly addressed, might lead to low self-esteem and underachievement in adult The user can control the appearance of the life. At the same time, children with dyslexia RocketReader exercise windows by picking are often characterized by above average in- from a selection of visual templates that au- telligence, and can excel if given proper at- tomatically set the font colors, type face and tention and assistance. History is full of ex- spacing. The templates have been especially amples of many noteworthy people who have designed for users with various reading difficul- overcome dyslexia to achieve enormous success ties, such as dyslexia, ADD/ADHD, and visu- — George Washington and Albert Einstein be- ally impaired readers (as per the English Royal ing probably the most famous. Those with National Institute for the Blind’s recommenda- reading disorders may suffer from low reading tions). stamina and slow reading speeds. In one study of dyslexic undergraduates it was found that 10.0.2 Custom colored texts and back- more than half could only sustain reading for grounds. five minutes or less before becoming too tired to continue[1]. In addition to choosing from a variety of tem- Research has consistently shown that peo- plates, RocketReader allows the user to pick ple with reading disorders can benefit from from a palette of contrasting colors, or even specifically designed reading tuition and im- set custom colors. It is now a well known prove their reading skills and ability to pro- — and researched — fact that people with cess information at any age. For example, the reading difficulties often find using colored eye- study by Klassen in [14] showed that dyslexic glasses and tinted contact lenses assists their students who received special reading support reading. (Meares, O. 1980, Irlen, H. 1983, made up 6 months per year in additional read- Wilkins AJ, 1993). The use of colored overlays ing progress with 13% of the students with — sheets of translucent or transparent colored reading disorders catching up to their peers. plastic placed over a page — has also proven However, the earlier the problem is diagnosed beneficial[25]. and addressed, the better the chances of suc- cessfully overcoming it. According to the In- 10.0.3 Wide selection of fonts. ternational Dyslexia Association, 74% of the children who are poor readers in third grade, The user can change fonts in all RocketReader remain poor readers in the ninth grade. This exercises, and in the popup dialogs. The user means they never make the transition to pro- can also select the line spacing e.g. 1.5 spacing ficient readers in adulthood. or double line spacing. Fortunately, more and more research is be- Individuals with poor reading speed and ing conducted into the field, and some proven reading difficulties, often have problems with methods of instruction and techniques that are the letter recognition process; specifically, the effective in overcoming reading disorders have ability to detect the vertical strokes or edges emerged. RocketReader software uses the fol- that make up the characters. According to lowing special features and techniques to make Irons, P. (2003), text size should be at least reading instruction easier for dyslexics and oth- 12 point and preferably with increased charac- ers affected by reading difficulties: ter spacing, as these additional elements have
18 been shown to reduce some of the visual dis- 10.0.8 Structured Exercises. turbances which occur. RocketReader’s structured, sequenced, repeti- tive exercising environment is consistent with 10.0.4 Displaying a limited number of the Orton-Gillingham approach. Other ben- words at a time. efits include a rich selection of practice read- ings targeted at various age groups (age six to The RocketReader flash, grouping and speed professional level), lesson statistics for teachers training exercises all use the principle of dis- and parents, customizable look and feel, and playing a limited number of words (starting many more features to address reading disor- at the most basic level with one word) at a ders. time. In combination with the ability to con- trol speeds, the user is given total control over the pace of the exercises. This enables users to 11 Conclusion and Future Re- exercise ‘as fast as they can but as slow as they need to’, which is consistent with the principles search of the Orton-Gillingham approach[19]. This paper has established the importance of reading skills and its lifelong impact on confi- 10.0.5 Training to better detect word dence and success in education and the work- boundaries. place. It introduced the history of Rocket- Reader and explained the scientific model Some recent research by Florer and Hunter- of reading on which RocketReader is mainly Khan [7] suggests that changes in reading rate based; namely, the parallel model of letter that result from letter spacing are attributable recognition. It also examined the key areas of to the detection of word boundaries, and not reading instruction which RocketReader excels the visibility of letters. RocketReader flash and in, and how critical reading skills can be gained grouping exercises train the reader’s eye to bet- and poor reading habits eliminated. In addi- ter distinguish word boundaries, thus improv- tion, the article shows how RocketReader can ing the fluency of reading. help improve the reading skills of those with reading disorders. 10.0.6 Readability analysis In sum, this paper demonstrates how RocketReader instructional techniques are RocketReader allows the reader to determine grounded in solid and conclusive research on the grade level of the texts read, thus ensuring reading which spans many decades. Much of that practice is performed on texts of adequate RocketReader’s scientific foundation is based complexity. on the recommendations of the National Read- ing Panel on methods to improve reading pro- 10.0.7 Comprehension testing. ficiency. This paper also details other research on which RocketReader’s principles rely upon. Poor comprehension is a known problem asso- It is clear becoming a better reader is a ciated with reading disorders. RocketReader’s two pronged process, contingent on solid in- dedicated comprehension tests are designed to structional techniques, and considerable train- ensure that an increase in reading speed is ac- ing and practice. RocketReader has solid in- companied by excellent comprehension rates. structional techniques based on proven tech-
19 niques and solid research. It also facilitates ABC’s ‘The Inventors’ program. extensive reading practice, having been formu- lated to be suitable for both home use and References use in educational settings. RocketReader can help transform reading into an enjoyable and [1] R. L. Allington. If they don’t read much productive task, opening the way to significant how are they ever gonna get good? Jour- improvements in educational outcomes, career nal of Reading, 21:57–61, 1977. prospects and participation in life. [2] Timothy Bell. Extensive reading: Speed and comprehension. The Reading Matrix, 12 About the Author 1(1), 2001.
Simon Ronald, CEO, is the Chief Architect of [3] J Cattel. The time taken up by cerebral RocketReader. operations. Mind, 11:277–282, 524–538, Dr Ronald has a PhD in Computer Science 1886. (Artificial Intelligence) from the University of [4] Oscar de Bruijn and R. Spence. Rapid South Australia and a Bachelor of Engineering serial visual presentation: A space-time in Digital Systems and Computer Engineering trade-off in information presentation. In from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Tech- AVI ’00: Proceedings of the working nology (evolutionary and genetic algorithms) conference on Advanced visual interfaces, and is co-author of two patents. pages 189–192. ACM Press, 2000. Dr. Ronald is an advocate of reading profi- ciency because of his own personal experiences [5] E.M. Fine and E. Peli. Benefits of rapid in education and the workplace. Dr Ronald serial visual presentation (RSVP) over has analyzed many reading and speed read- scrolled text vary with letter size. Optom ing programs, books, CDs and tutorials. He Vis Sci., 75(3):191–6, 1998. understands the problems which hold people back from becoming skilled readers, having [6] F. L. Florer and J. M. Hunter-Khan. The discussed these problems with many Rocket- changes in reading rate that result from Reader users. letter spacing are attributable to the de- Combining his expertise in A.I. and interest tection of word boundaries, and not the in reading improvement, Dr Ronald designed visibility of letters. In 23rd European Con- RocketReader computer software in 1996. He ference on Visual Perception Groningen, also developed the RocketReader speed read- Liberal Arts, McGhee Division, New York ing seminars which have been well received by University, 50 West 4th Street, New York, corporate audiences internationally, in coun- NY 10003, USA. tries such as the USA, Kuwait and Australia. [7] M.A. Gernsbacher. Resolving 20 years of He has been recognized for his vision for in- inconsistent interactions between lexical novation. In 2003 he was awarded the presti- familiarity and orthography, concreteness, gious SA Pearcey Award for ‘Innovation and and polysemy. Journal of Experimental pioneering achievements and contribution to Psychology: General., 113:256–280, 1984. research and development in Information Tech- nology.’ In 1981 he received an Australian [8] P.B.. Gough. Language by ear and by eye. Young Inventor Award and appeared on the MIT Press., Cambridge, MA, 1972.
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[10] Grayum H.S. An Analytical Description [18] J. L. Orton. The Orton-Gillingham ap- of Skimming: Its Purposes and Place as proach. The Disabled Reader Education an Ability in Reading. PhD thesis, Bloom- of the Dyslexic Child, 1966. ington, Indiana: School of Education, 1953. [19] The National Reading Panel. Teaching children to read: An evidence-based as- [11] Rayner K. and Jr. Clifton C. Handbook of sessment of the scientific research litera- Experimental Psychology, Third Edition: ture on reading and its implications for Vocume 2, Memory and Cognitive Pro- reading instruction. 1999. cesses. John Wiley and Sons, New York, 2002. [20] C. Payne. Learn how to ‘photoread’ at 25,000 words a minute, slashing hours off [12] I. S. Kirsch, A. Jungeblut, L. Jenkins, your reading time and tripling your com- and Kolstad A. Executive summary from prehension. 2005. adult literacy in America: A first look at the results of the National Adult Literacy [21] G. S. Pinnel, J. J. Pikulski, K. K. Wixson, Survey. U.S. Department of Education, J. R. Campbell, P. B. Gough, and A. S. Washington, DC., 1993. Beatty. Listening to children read. U.S. Department of Education, National Cen- [13] R. Klassen. ‘After the statement’: Read- ter for Education Statistics., Washington, ing progress made by secondary students D.C., 1995. with specifics literacy difficulty provi- sion. Educational Psychology in Practice., [22] K. Rayner. Eye movements in read- 17:121–133, 2001. ing and information processing: 20 [14] K. Larson. The science of word years of research. Psychological Bulletin, recognition or how I learned to 124(3):372–422, 1998. stop worrying and love the bouma. [23] Binder K.S. Rayner K., Pollatsek A. http://www.microsoft.com/typography/ Phonological codes and eye movements in ctfonts/WordRecognition.aspx [Last reading. Journal of Experimental Psycol- accessed 14/01/05], 2004. ogy: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, [15] E. Matin. US patent. sequential rapid 24:476–497, 1998. communication visual displays. United States patent 4845645, July 4, 1989. [24] G. L. Robinson. The use of Irlen coloured filters and reading achievement. A long- [16] P. Mullan. Applying speed reading tech- term placebo controlled and masked study niques to improve competence and con- of reading rate, accuracy and comprehen- fidence in on-screen computer reading. sion. In International Conference on Lit- Master’s thesis, 1997. eracy, Penang.
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[26] K. Sicheritz. Applying the rapid se- rial visual presentation technique to small screens. Master’s thesis, 2000.
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[29] TintaVision. Reading stamina and Read- ing Speed. TintaVision, 2001.
[30] Wikipedia. Speed reading. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed reading [Last accessed 12/01/05], 2004.
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