Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Volume 17 Issue 2 January 1977 Article 16

1-1977

Reading Horizons vol. 17, no. 2

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HORIZONS

VOLUME 17 NUMBER 2

EDITOR: Kenneth VanderMeulen

ASSOCIATE EDITOR: William L. Holladay

READING HORIZONS has been pub­ EDITORIAL BOARD: lished quarterly since 1960 by the Reading Center and Clinic of Western Michigan Martha Fuce University and the Homer L. J. Carter Plainwell High School Reading Council, Michigan's oldest es­ Lorraine Beitler tablished IRA council. As a journal de­ New York City Community College voted to reading at all levels of educa­ Joe R. Chapel tional endeavor, HORIZONS provides Western Michigan University teachers, educators, and other interested professionals with the ideas, movements, C. Hap Gilliland and important changes in the ever increas­ Eastern Montana College ing horizons of reading. Lawrence Hafner Florida State University

FEATURE WRITERS: Ernie Adams Eleanor Buelke R. Baird Shuman Kenneth VanderMeulen READING HORIZONS A professional journal of the Reading Center and Clinic of Western Michigan University and the Homer L. J. Carter Reading Coun­ cil. HORIZONS is published quarterly by the Western Michigan University Press. Copyright 1976, 2nd class postage rate paid at Kalamazoo, MI. SUBSCRIPTIONS Subscriptions are available to all persons AND interested in reading at $4.00 per year. Ad­ CHANGE OF ADDRESS dress all correspondence and change of ad­ dress to READING HORIZONS, Reading Center and Clinic, Western Michigan Uni­ versity, Kalamazoo, MI 49008. MANUSCRIPTS Manuscripts, books, and any other materials for possible publication or review can be sent to Kenneth VanderMeulen, Editor, READ­ ING HORIZONS, Western Michigan Uni­ versity, Kalamazoo, MI 49008. Author's guides and publication policies are available on demand. MICROFILM Microfilm copies are available from Univer­ sity Microfilms, 300 Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48106. Back issues, while available, can be purchased from READING HORIZONS, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI49008. ADVERTISING Advertising rates, policy, and information can be obtained from the Advertising Man­ ager, READING HORIZONS, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI 49008. EDITORIAL POLICY THE CONTENTS AND POINTS OF VIEW EXPRESSED IN THIS JOURNAL ARE STRICTLY THOSE OF THE AU­ THORS AND DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT THE OPINION OF THE EDITORIAL BOARD OF READING HORIZONS.

Copyright 1976 by Reading Center and Clinic TABLETABLE OFOF CONTENTSCONTENTS

KENNETI-IKENNETH VANDERMEULENVANDERMEULEN 9393 Reading Readingand and NewNew IdeasIdeas

PATRICIAPATRICIA THOMASTHOMAS ANDAND 95 95 Let's Let's Leave Leave No No StoneStone UnturnedUnturned LEELEE MOUNTAINMOUNTAIN

ANDREWD.ANDREW D. WOLVINWOLVIN 101101 TheThe ListeningListening Journal:Journal: AnAn In­ In structionalstructional StrategyStrategy forfor a a ListeningListening AwarenessAwareness ProgramProgram

SOLOMONSOLOMON OGBODUMOGBODUM UNOHUNOH 110110 OnOn TeachingTeaching ReadingReading andand WritingWriting forfor FunctionalFunctional LiteracyLiteracy

JERRYJERRY AXELROD 118 The Relationship Between Reading and Thinking: One Teacher's Viewpoint

MARKE.MARK E. THOMPSON 122 Remediation for the Poor College Reader: Probabilities of Success

GERALDGERALDW.W. THOMPSONTI-IOMPSON AND 132 The Use of Concept Formation Study RAYMOND F. MORGAN Guides for Social Studies Reading Materials

MARIEMARIE].J. ARNOLD AND 137 Using ECRI Techniques toto Im-Im­ MURRYMURRY].J. INGRAHAMINGRAHAM prove Reading Skills inin Social Studies

CATHERINECATI-IERINE MORSINK 141141 Skill-ReferencedSkill-Referenced InstructionInstruction forfor DisDis­ ableda bled Readers:Readers: GuidelinesGuidelines andand CautionsCautions

KENNETHKENNETI-I VANDERMEULENVANDERMEULEN 149149 ReadingReading inin thethe SecondarySecondary School:School: HowHow toto AddAdd WordsWords toto YourYour VocabuVocabu­ lary—Partlary - Part IIII

ELEANORELEANOR BUELKEBUELKE 154154 WeWeSuggest Suggest

R.R. BAIRDSHUMANBAIRD SHUMAN 157157 ProfessionalProfessional ConcernsConcerns

160160 Ten-SecondTen -SecondReviews Reviews

164164 NewNewMaterials Materials J&L EDITORS-AT-LARGEEDITORS-A T-LARGE

STERLSTERL ARTLEYARTLEY ProfessorProfessor ofof EducationEducation CurriculumCurriculum andand InstructionInstruction UniversityofUniversity of Missouri-ColumbiaMissouri-Columbia

EMMETTA.EMMETT A. BETTSBETTS ResearchResearch ProfessorProfessor UniversityUniversity ofof MiamiMiami

LEONARDLEONARD BRAAMBRAAM AssociateAssociate ProfessorProfessor ofof EducationEducation ReadingReading andand LanguageLanguage ArtsArts CenterCenter SyracuseSyracuse UniversityUniversity

BEN BUTTERWORTH Headmaster Higham-on-the-HillHigham -on -the-Hill C. E. Primary School Nuneaton, Warwickshire England

JEANNE CHALL Professor of Education Director, Reading Laboratory Harvard University

WILLIAM DURR Professor of Education Department of Elementary and Special EducatiOlEducatioi Michigan State University

ROBERTROBERT KARLINKARLIN ProfessorProfessor ofof EducationEducation CoordinatorCoordinator GraduateGraduate ProgramsPrograms inin ReadingReading QueensQueens CollegeCollege

RUTHRUTH PENTYPENTY ConsultingConsulting PsychologistPsychologist BattleBattle Creek,Creek, MichiganMichigan

NILANILA B.B. SMITHSMITH ProfessorProfessor ofof EducationEducation LosLos Angeles, Angeles, CaliforniaCalifornia EDITORIALEDITORIAL COMMENTCOMMENT ^£_

READINGREADING ANDAND NEWNEW IDEASIDEAS

WhyWhy isis itit thatthat whenwhen someonesomeone comescomes alongalong withwith aa newnew ideaidea inin readingreading thatthat itit seemsseems toto enjoyenjoy suchsuch suddensudden popularitypopularity andand widespreadwidespread utilizationutilization forfor aa while?while? WhatWhat eventuatedeventuated fromfrom thethe ideaidea isis notnot ofof particularparticular concernconcern herehere -—butbut whywhy diddid the the idea idea seem seem to to have havealmost almost immediate immediate success?success? AA closeclose looklook atat thethe mercurialmercurial careerscareers ofofa a numbernumber ofof newnew approaches,approaches, methods,methods, andand strategiesstrategies inin the the teachingteaching ofof reading,reading, promptsprompts aa fewfew observations.observations. InIn the the firstfirst place,place, wewe needneedto to givegive properproper creditcredit to to the the innovatorinnovator forfor the the energyenergy andand originaloriginal impetusimpetus hehe gave thethe idea.idea. WhetherWhether an approach isis thethe resultresult of studiesstudies and statisticalstatistical computation or isis simplysimply wrung out of ex­ex perience, thethe person who presents itit toto thethe public always adds thethe strength and forceforce of convincing personality. Second, a new method apparently has the aura of magic associated with it. The mere fact that it is new is often a major selling point with many teachers. Charles Dickens, characterizing the American personality during a brief visit to our nation in the last century, noted our impatience with existing things and our constant search for novelty. Our pressing need in this decade is to examine.examine this urge to try something different, and to reflect on what it may mean to us as professional teachers. We might stop to think about whatReadingwhat Reading Instruction in AmericaA merica by Nila Banton Smith and Teaching to Read,Read) HistoricallyHzstorically Considered by Diack, are tryingtrying toto impressimpress on our minds —that-that therethere are reallyreally no brand-new methods and approaches inin thisthis field.field. What works forfor one group of studentsstudents inin aa given period of time in a certain place isis not the answeranswer forfor eacheach classroomclassroom inin allall areas.areas. WeWe areare makingmaking aa mistakemistake inin judgment,judgment, therefore,therefore, whenwhen wewe attendattend conventionsconventions andand conferencesconferences withwith thethe singlemindedsingleminded goalgoal ofof findingfinding outout whatwhat isis newnew inin thethe field-itfield-it veryvery wellwell mightmight notnot bebe forfor usus atat allall-whether-whether it'sit's newnew oror notnot reallyreally doesn'tdoesn't mattermatter ififit's it's notnot rightright forfor us.us. Thus,Thus, ifif wewe wishwish toto improveimprove uponupon thethe worldworld ofofreading reading forfor ourourstudents, students, wewe wouldwould dodo bestbest byby examiningexamining ourour ownown fitnessfitness toto differentdifferent concepts—Weconcepts - We mustmust realizerealize thatthat we,we, individually,individually, areare thethenew new itemsitems inin thethe fieldfield ofof readingreading eacheach year;year; byby lookinglooking forfor whatwhat worksworks inin givengiven circumstances,circumstances, andand byby atat­ temptingtempting toto useuse thosethose partspartsof of variousvarious ideasideas inin ourour ownown classroomsclassrooms thatthat workwork forfor us,us, wewe cancan havehave aa newnew andandsuccessful successful teachingteachingexperience experienceevery everyyear. year.

KennethKennethVanderMeulen VanderMeulen EditorEditor

LET'SLET'S LEAVELEAVE NONO STONESTONE UNTURNEDUNTURNED

PatricioPatricia ThomasThomas LAMARLAMAR COUNTYCOUNTY INDEPENDENTINDEPENDENT SCHOOLSCHOOL DISTRICTDISTRICT Dr.Dr. LeeLee MountainMountain UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTONHOUSTON

What does a good remedialremedial readingreadingteacherdo? teacher do? Everything thethe teacher teacher of a regular classroom does, only more inin depth. Consider, for example, all thatthat happens during a three-stepthree-step lessonlesson for a remedial reading group of nine-year olds. The lesson is sixty minutes long. The first step is word attack skills, including phonics, sight-word practice, structural analysis, and the use of context clues. The second step is reading, both silent and oral, with discussion. The teacher models for the students, and each student reads silently along with the teacher and then orally to the class. This is also a time for discussion of each section that is isread. read. The third step stepis is evaluation. There is a page of questions for the student to answer. This is the time for the student and teacher teacherto to discover if learning learninghas has taken place placeand and a time to learn howtohow to "put things down on paper." ForaboutFor about twoortwo or three weeks beforethebefore the three-step lessons are begun, the students go through a preparation period. The teacher and students discuss what a sentence is and what a paragraph is. The students practice (1)(l) how to find a certain word, phrase, or sentence; (2) how to find the beginning of the sentence that contains the specific word or phrase; (3) how to answer questions that tell who, what, when, where, how; and (4) how to answer different types of questions such as fill in the blank, true or false and multiple choice. The teacher reads a selection and writes a question on the board. All students work together at this time, reading in unison after the teacher, findingfinding thethe sentencesentence thatthat has thethe answer, giving thethe answer inin a word or phrase, stating the answerinanswer in a complete sentence, thenthen writing thethe answer on theirth~:r papers. In this way the procedures and skills needed for the three-three­ stepstep lessonlesson areare modeled andand practiced before the students are asked to do theirtheir work independently.independently. Any misunderstandings are correctedcorrected at thisthis time.time. ThisThis provesproves toto bebe anan excellentexcellent diagnosticdiagnostic procedureprocedure also,also, asas thethe weaknessesweaknesses ofof eacheach studentstudent oftenoften becomebecome apparent.apparent. TheThe teacherteacher notnot onlyonly seessees whowho missesmisses whatwhat kindkind ofof question,question, butbut why.why. PerhapsPerhaps thethe studentstudent can'tcan't formform hishis lettersletters correctly,correctly, can'tcan't followfollow directions,directions, can'tcan't locatelocate thethe answers.answers. MuchMuch remediationremediation isis basedbased onon whatwhat thethe teacherlearnsduringteacher learns during thisperiodofthis period of preparation.preparation. PeriodicallyPeriodically thesethese proceduresprocedures areare reviewedreviewed asas remedialremedial readingreading studentsstudents needneed toto reviewreview frequently.frequently. NowNow let'slet's considerconsider whatwhat happenshappens duringeachstepofaduring each step of a typicaltypical three-stepthree-step lesson.lesson. 9696-rh-rh

StepStep 1:1: WordWord attackattack skillsskills FromaFrom a readingreading selectionselection thethe teacherteacher chooseschooses wordswords thatthat areare newnew toto thethe student,student, areare difficult,difficult, oror needneed toto bebe defined.defined. ToTo thatthat listlist areare addedadded wordswords thatthat willwill illustrateillustrate specificspecific soundssounds thatthat areare beingbeing studied.stuoieo. SingleSingle lettersletters andand letterletter combinationscomhinations areare soundedsounoed andand wordswords "put"put together,"togct her," nevernf'ver leavingleaving elementselements ofof aa wordword standingstanding alone.alone. ReferenceReference isis mademade toto keykey wordswords forfor helphelp inin soundingsounding words.words. BothBoth anan analyticanalytic andand synsyn­ theticthetic approachapproach areare used.used. AsAs syllabicationsyllabication rulesrules areare studiedstudied (but(but notnot memorized),memorized), theyarethey are incorporatedincorporated intointo thethe lessonlesson atat thispoint.this point. EachwordEach word isis thenthen readread inin unisonunison twotwo oror threethree times;times; occasionallyoccasionally oneone oror moremore studentsstudents will read selected wordswords fromfrom thethe list.list. WordWord meaningmeaning isis discussed.discussed. TheThe teacherteacher models forfor thethe students,students, givinggiving synonyms,synonyms, antonyms,antonyms, usingwordsinusing words in sentencessentences and lettingstudentstellofletting students tell of their experiences relatingtorelating to thethe word. Step 2: Reading InIn thisthis stepstep thethe teacherteacher readsreads aloud a sentence,sentence, a paragraph or a selection short enough forfor a particular student toto handle. While reading, emphasis isis put on stress, pitch, phrasing, pronunciation, accents, expression. Each student has an opportunity to read aloud. The names and meanings of punctuation marks are discussed. The teacher points out how the student should read them when he encounters them (stop, lower voice, pause, with expression). Questions are asked which are designed to improve the ability to recall details, locate the answer, make inferences, draw conclusions, decide main idea, predict outcomes and relate the storytostory to one'sownone's own experience, as well as to think creatively. Step 3: Evaluation A page of questions is given to each student. All of the students receive the same page. Questions are marked with symbols ( * II A 0 ) to designate (to the teacher) easy, average and difficult. The student answers only those questions with his symbol. In this way the questioning is individualized without each student's knowing which group he is in. Where applicable the student must answer the question in a complete sentence. Penmanship, spelling (which involves phonic prin­ prin ciples), answering in a complete sentence, and punctuation are all checked when the student brings his paper to be approved. If he has made some errors, his answers are not just marked as incorrect; instead, the "why" is explained and the student is shown how to correct correcthiserrors.At his errors. At this thistimeof time of answering the questions on paper and seeking help from the teacher, each student gets individual attention with the concepts he has not learned.learned. Consideration isis made of the the stage stage of development of each student, how much he can handle at one time and how much thethe teacherteacher expects of him. For instance, some students are doing well to answer the question correctly andand cannotcannot yet do so in a complete sentence. Some get the answer, write it inin a a complete complete sentence sentence but forget forget their their punctuation. Also, inin correcting correcting an an answer,answer, the the studentstudent againagain receives receives practicepractice inin how how to to locate locate an an answer answer andand howhow to to phrase phrase his his answer answer so so thatthat itit makes makes sense, sense, so so that that it it answersanswers thethe question.question. WhenWhen seekingseeking help help from from the the teacherteacher onon how how to to spell spell a a word, word, the the studentstudent mustmust show show evidence evidence of of having having at at least least attemptedattempted itit on on his his own. own. This This is is one one wayway to to build build independenceindependence inin students students who who do do not not feel feel adequateadequate enoughenough to to workwork on on theirtheir own.own. Many Many times times they they know know butbut areare not not sure sure of of themselves. themselves. By By rh-97rh-97 tryingtrying first,first, theythey beginbegin toto shouldershoulder somesome ofof the the responsibilityresponsibility forfor their their own own work.work. ThereThereisgreat is great interestinterest atat presentpresent nationwidenationwide onon students'students' inabilityinability totoget get thingsthings downdown onon paper, paper, to to writewrite aa decentdecent sentence,sentence, toto fillfill outout questionnaires,questionnaires, etc.etc. ThisThis evaluationevaluation portionportion ofofthe the lessonlesson forcesforces thethe student studenttodo to do thesethese veryvery activities.activities. HereHere isis anan actualactual lesson.lesson.

AA Present Present forfor GeorgeGeorge 1 l GeorgeGeorge is is six six years years old old today. today. His His mothermother and and father father are are givinggiving GeorgeGeorge aa birthdaybirthday present.present. "You"You maymay havehave oneone of of thesethese littlelittle white dogs," said Father. "Pick"Pick thethe one you like the best.best." " George looked at the three dogs. He decided to take the white dog that had the black blackspot. spot. He liked likedthat that dog best. The three paragraphs are studied one at a time. At the end of the story the third step, Evaluation, is done. This slow-motion approach is recom­recom mended for each paragraph. Step 1: Word Attack (Words are written on the board one at a time, sometimes letter by letter.letter.) ) Write George

George Why did I capitalize that? Yes, it is a name. You say it. George.

giving We have thethe word give. (Writegive(Write give on thethe board.) IfIf II want toto add INGING toto a word thatthat ends in£,in E, II taketake off the£the E and add ING.ING. The new word isis giving.giving. You saysay it.it. Giving. They arearegiving giving George aa present. Present presentpresent AA presentpresent isis somethingsomething aa personperson givestogives to someonesomeone else.else. WhatWhat isis aa present?present? WhenWhen couldcould youyou getget aa present?present? Birthday?Birthday? Christmas?Christmas? MakesMakes youyou feelfeel allall goodgood andand warmwarm inside,inside, doesn'tdoesn't it?it? WhyWhy dodo peoplepeople givegive youyou aa present?present? Yes,Yes, theythey lovelove you.you. Let'sLet's allall saysay thethe wordswords together.together. Let'sLet's saysay themthem again.again. Good.Good. StepStep 2:2: ReadingReading ListenListen whilewhile II read.read. (Read(Read thethe firstfirst paragraph.)paragraph.)John, John, youyou readread forfor us.us. RememberRemember toto stopstop atat thethe periods,periods, andand rememberremember thatthat youryour

11 Gates,Gates, ArthurArthur I.I. andand CelesteCeleste C.C. Peardon,Peardon, ReadingReadingExercises, Exercises, IntroductoryIntroductory LevelLevelA, A, TeachersTeachersCollege College Press,Press, ColumbiaColumbiaUniversity, University, 1963,1963, StoryStoryNo. No, 1.1. 9898-rh-rh

voicevoice goesgoes downdown whenwhen youyou stop.stop. LikeLike this:this: "George"George ...... today."today." (Helpthe(Help the studentstudent withwith wordswords wherewhere needed,needed, sometimessometimes tellingtelling himhim thethe wordword andand otherother timestimes helpinghelping himhim toto pronouncepronounce thethe word.word. OtherOther studentsstudents maymay telltell himhim thethe wordword ifif theywaitthey wait toto givegive thethe studentstudf'nt aa chancechance beforetheytellbefore they tell him.)him,) Discussion:Dis(ussion: How old is George? Who arearC' givinghimgiving him a present?prf'Sf'nt? Why are theythey giving him a present? Find the sentencesentence thatthat tellstells when George's birthbirth­ day is.

Paragraph 2: (The sameproceduresame procedure isusedis used asforas for Paragraph 1.)

Words Concepts may soundsoundofAYof AY littlelittle divide littlelittle littlelit-tie best sound of each letter,letter, blend sounds intointo whole word.

Reading: Discuss quotation marks. Questions: What may George have? Describe the dog. What is George supposed to do? Paragraph 3

Words Concepts looked meaning of£D.of ED. three sound of THR and.EE,andEE, blend into whole word decided Meaning of work, meaning of ED. Student uses word in sentence,sentence. .white, white Sound of digraph WH, sound of vowel /,I, rule of vowel, consonant, final E. Reading: Review howtohow to tell a paragraph and demonstrateondemonstrate on board. Ask how many paragraphs in story. Discuss meaning of apostrophe in George's dog.

Discussion: How many dogs did George look at? Describe the dog that he chose. What do you suppose George did after he got his nice present? Have you ever received a nice present like that? How did you feel? What did you do? Tell how the story ends. Step 3: Evaluation Students answer these questions, have their papers checked, correct the errors. Each student knows his symbol, and these can change as he progresses. *• 1. How old isis George today?today? *• 2. How many dogs did George have to choose from? o0 3. Copy the sentence that tells who was giving George the present. o0 4. Describe thethe dog thatthat George chose. IIA 5. Why did George choose thethe dog thatthat he did? *• 6. What day isis this? this? o0 7. Who isis talkingtalking inin paragraph two?two? IIA 8.8. Find thethe word thatthat means "made"made up his mind." rh-99rh-99

IlA 9. How many spotsspots did the the dog have? * Il A 0 T FlO. F 10. George chose a black dog with a white spot. IlA 11. What would be another good name for this story? By thethe time time this this lessonlesson isis completed every student has 1) read silently and orally, 2) answered questions orallyorallyand and graphically, 3) had a chance to reciterecite (which(which remedialremedial readersreaders seldom have inin other classes) and 4) prac­ prac ticed:ticed: phonics using punctuation rules syllabication thinking meaning of endings listening howhowto to add ING to E Eword word recalling facts wordwordmeanings meanings reading with expression howhowto to locate an answer spelling penmanship making answers fit the question writingwritingin in complete completesentence sentence writing writinga a neat paper The student has been an active participant throughout the lesson with very little chance for his mind to wander or for him to sit and stare out of the window. He has been a part of the group but has received individual instruction as well. He has been given success because there was a model which he copied immediately, and he was made to do his hisworkcorrectly. work correctly. He had often found his own errors and learned that as all errors must be corrected, it is better to try to do the best possible work and do it correctly the first time. Many of the remedial students do not care how their papers look. In these lessons they are encouraged to erase well, to be neat, to remember that their teachers feel good inside when they see a nice paper, and "isn't it fun to make your teachers feel good inside?" If the teacher feels a student has been reminded sufficiently, a messy paper is returned with the comment that it will not be accepted the wayitway it is. SooftenSo often not enough isexpectedis expected of the remedial student. If shown how to correct his work and given time, he can do much better than many people realize. He should not be allowed to get by with messy work. He begins to know the feeling of what it is like to do a job well, even though it takes a long time, and of being praised for his efforts and accomplishments. In summary, then, the lessonlesson includes as many facets of reading as can be squeezed in; help is given at every step; the work is sequenced and structured; certain demands and expectations are made of the students and theythey know what thesethese are. Immediate feedback,feedback, modeling, how toto do what isis expected of them are all important aspects of the lesson.lesson. Progress and improvementimprovement are visible toto thethe studentsstudents and much mention of thisthis isis made toto thethe entire class. Also, notes are sentbacktosent back to the classroom teachersteachers tellingtelling of this progress. Remedial readingreading studentsstudents have their own needs, and teaching them callscalls forfor specialspecial approaches. The key words connected with thesethese apap­ proaches are easyeasy toto rememberremember asas theythey allall begin with thethe letterletter S. The followingfollowing listlist isnotis not complete;complete; perhapsperhaps youyou cancan addadd more.more. loo-rh\oo-rh

Structure: Give concise, well-organized directions. Goals and procedures must be evident to the student. He must know what he is to do, what he is not to do, and how he is to do it. Simplicity:Simpho'ty' Strip away all superfluous materials; keep the work on the most basic,basic. most necessary concepts. Slow: Do not move faster than the student can ingest (take in) or digest (process). Sample: Model for the student; show him what you want him to do, what the paper should look like, etc. Sameness: Do things the same way. This helps the student to be able to concentrate on the materials and on new ideas becausebeeause the procedures are the same. Or use the same materials if you are trying to teach new procedures. The remedial student is not so lost if he has some "sameness" to hold on to. Start: Remedial students do not always have self-starters, so they need help to begin their work. Stay: Stay with a concept until the student has mastered it. Repeat, recyle,reeyle, practice. In other words: overteach. Speak: Get the student to express the concept in his own words, then it will be his own. Smile: Keep your cool; keep your sense of humor; treat the student kindly; let him know you like him; build good rapport. These students are often a bundle of emotions to begin with and can use a good friend. Strengthen: Give the student opportunities to practice his new skill and knowledge in various mediums and to apply them often. Support: Encourage, praise, appreciate, help him over the rough spots, work with him. Give recognition when he succeeds; ask how he did it. Specific: Leave no doubt in the student's mind what it is you are speaking of. Specific terms are preferred over general terms.

Think of the S list as you plan your work with the remedial student, and you can be sure you're leaving no stone unturned in your efforts to help him learn to read. THETHE LISTENINGLISTENING JOURNAL:JOURNAL: ANAN INSTRUCTIONALINSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGYSTRATEGY FORFOR AA LISTENINGLISTENING AWARENESSAWARENESS PROGRAMPROGRAM

AndrewAndrew D.D. WolvinWolvin UNIVERSITYUNIVERSITY OFOF MARYLANDMARYLAND TheThe needneed forfor training training in in listeninglistening isis a a problemproblem whichwhich hashas baffled baffled educatorseducators forfor years. years. Studies Studies demonstratedemonstrate thethe tremendoustremendous amountamount ofof time time thatthat we we spend spend in in listening listening within within our our communication communication time. time. Paul Paul T. T. Rankin'sRankin's classicclassic studystudy gavegave usus somesome workingworking percentages,percentages, percentagespercentages whichwhich havehave heldheld upupin in other,other, moremore recent,recent, researchresearch projects.projects. ThroughThrough hishis analysis,analysis, Rankin discovered that we spend 75% of our time in oral communication.communication. OfOfthat that time,time, approximately 45% isis spentspent inin listeninglistening and 30% ofofour our time inin speaking. speaking.1l Despite thethe evidence that we do so much listening, our educational system has not kept pace with training effective listeners. A study of the language arts curriculum of almost any school system would reveal a decided emphasis on training in writing and reading, the least used communication skills. If a student is fortunate, he will be required or encouraged to take a semester of speech training in senior high school. But the course undoubtedly will emphasize speaker skills. Much of our speech curriculum, it seems, assumes a transfer into listening skills. A person trained in speech organization, for example, is expected to recognize structural elements in messages to which he is listening. Listening training, as a result, isfrequentlyis frequently bypassed. The problem isis not restricted to the sphere of elementary and secondary education. Communication programs inin higher educationoffereducation offer littleinlittle in thethe way of listeninglistening trainingtraining as well. Some material may be includedincluded inin thethe basic speechspeech course, and thethe Reading and Study Skills Center frequentlyfrequently offers tipstips on note-taking. A fewfew progressiveprogressive departments maymay eveneven offeroffer aa fullfull coursecourse inin listening,listening, especiallyespecially popularforpopular for futurefuture teachersteachers andand trainerstrainers inin variousvarious communicationcommunication fields.fields. Meanwhile,Meanwhile, thethe needneed forfor listeninglistening trainingtraining continues.continues. AA recentrecent ConCon­ ferenceference onon CareerCareer Education,Education, forfor example,example, offeredoffered somesome eloquenteloquent pleaspleas fromfrom representativesrepresentatives ofof businessbusiness andand industryindustry careerscareers forfor SpeechSpeech ComCom­ municationmunication programsprograms toto buildbuild inin listeninglistening competencies.competencies. GiveGive usus aa personperson whowho cancan listen,listen, theythey asserted,asserted, andand we'llwe'll traintrain himhim forfor thethe specificspecific jobjob skills.2skills.2

1I PaulPaul T.T. Rankin,Rankin, "Measurement"Measurement ofof thethe AbilityAbility toto UnderstandUnderstand SpokenSpoken Language,"Language," (unpublished(unpublished Ph.D.Ph.D. dissertation,dissertation, UniversityUniversityof of Michigan,Michigan, 1926),1926), pp.pp. 77-96.77-96. OtherOtherstudies studies whichwhich supportsupport thisthis positionposition includeinclude DonaldDonald Bird,Bird, "Are"Are YouYou Listening?"Listening?" OFFICEOFFICE EXECUTIVEEXECUTIVE (April,(April, 1955),1955), pp.pp. 18-19,18-19, andand LilaLila Breiter,Breiter, "Research"Researchin in ListeningListeningand and ItsIts ImportanceImportanceto toLiterature," Literature,"unpublished unpublishedM.A. M.A. thesis,thesis, (Brooklyn(BrooklynCollege, College, 1957).1957).

22 SeeSee CAREERCAREER COMMUNICATION:COMMUNICATION: DIRECTIONSDIRECTIONS FORFOR THETHE SEVENTIESSEVENTIES (Speech(SpeechCommunication CommunicationAssociation, Association, 1972).1972). \02-rhI02-rh

OnOn thethe whole,whole, however,however, despitedespite thethe strongstrong needneed forfor trainingtraining listeners,listeners, wewe areare notnot respondingresponding tootoo readilyreadily toto curriculumcurriculum developmentdevelopment inin thethe area.area. ThisThis neglectneglect ofof listeninglistening trainingtraining maymay notnot bebe justjust anan oversight.oversight. WeWe reallyreally havehave notnot reachedreached aa levellevel ofof maturitymaturity oror sophisticationsophistication inin listeninglistening pedagogy.pedagogy. OneOm' ofof thetht' problemsprohlf'ms inin listeninglistf'ning trainingtraining isthatis that wewe havenothave not developeddeveloped aa veryvery definitivedefinitive operationaloperational conceptconcept ofof thethe listeninglistening process.process. WeWe cancan guessguess thatthat listeninglistening goesgoes beyondbeyond hearinghearing intointo stagesstages ofof meaningmeaning assignment,assignment, evaluation,evaluation, retention,retention, andand response.3response.3 ButBut wehavenotwe have not developeddeveloped teststests whichwhich cancan isolateisolate thethe processprocess fromfrom thethe manymany variablesvariables which,which, ofof necessity,necessity, comecome intointo play.play. BackBack inin 1948,1948, NicholsNichols identifiedidentified somesome ofof thosethose variablesvariables inin thethe process which influenceinfluence listening.listening. His researchresearch pointed toto suchsuch factorsfactors as age,age, sex,sex, intelligence,intelligence, readingreading comprehension, background, educational influences,influences, etc., as operating on thethe listenerlistener during thethe listeninglistening process.4process.· Since Nichols' monumental research,research, we have come to regardregard thethe influencesinfluences of selective perception and attention as very integralintegral toto thethe listeninglistening process.5process. 5 The process of listening, then, involvesinvolves a wide range of factors which have not been isolated.isolated. These factors, of course, greatly hamper our ability to test listening abilities. When an individual's performance on a listening test is inextricably bound up with his vocabulary level, etc., it is difficult to place much relianceonreliance on the test data.6data.6 Unfortunately, weseemtowe seem to be at an impasse on test development. Since the variables are so overover­ whelming, potential researchers getg~t discouraged and abandon efforts to build more reliable listening tests. This abandonment seems to be a phenomenon of the early 1960's. Not much test research has been unun­ dertaken since Lundsteen's efforts in 1963.1963.77 The lack of reliable testing has scared off potential listening pedagogues. We voice the need for listening training, but we avoid curriculum development because listening, as a communication skill, isisso so difffcultdifficult to pin down. Such a position, however, will never get us anywhere! Where we con-

3 See, for example, Larry L. Barker, LISTENING BEHAVIOR (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1971), chapter 2.

4 Ralph G. Nichols, "Factors Accounting forfor Differences inin Comprehension of Materials Presented Orally in the Classroom," (unpublished(unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, IowaIowa State University, 1948), pp. 89-93.

5 See, forfor example,example, Carl H. Weaver, HUMAN LISTENING (Indianapolis:(Indianapolis: Bobbs­Bobbs- MerrillMerrillCo., Co., 1972),1972), chapterchapter 2.2.

66 See,See, forfor example, example, E. E. F. F. Lindquist, Lindquist, "Listening"Listening Comprehension,"Comprehension," andand Irving Irving Lorge,Lorge, "Listening•Listening Comprehension,"Comprehension," THETHE FIFTHFIFTH MENTALMENTAL MEASUREMENTSMEASUREMENTS YEARBOOK,YEARBOOK, ed.ed. Oscar Oscar K. K. Buros Buros (N.J.: (N.J.: GryphonGryphon Press,Press, 1959),1959), pp.pp. 650-655;650-655; andand Harold Harold M. M. Anderson Anderson andand Robert Robert J. J. Baldauf. Baldauf, "A "A StudyStudy ofof a a MeasureMeasure ofof Listening,"Listening," JOURNALJOURNAL OFOF EDUCATIONALEDUCATIONAL RESEARCHRESEARCH (December,(December, 1963),1963), pp. pp. 197-200. 197-200.

77 SaraSara W. W. Lundsteen, Lundsteen, "Teaching"Teaching AbilityAbility in in Critical Critical Listening Listening in in the the Fifth Fifth and and Sixth Sixth Grades,"Grades," (unpublished(unpublished Ph.D.Ph.D. dissertation,dissertation, UniversityUniversity ofof California,California, 1963).1963). rh-103rh~ 103 tinuetinue to to work work on on testing testing designs designs and and procedures, procedures, it it makes makes sense sense to to continuecontinue withwith some some efforts efforts at at instructional instructional strategies.strategies. AtAt this this point, point, the the most most viable viable objectiveobjective ofof current current listeninglistening trainingtraining isis the the developmentdevelopment ofof listeninglistening awareness.awareness. IfIf a a student student can can understand understand something something about about listening listeningbehavior behavior and,and, then, then, something something about about his his own own responsesresponses withinwithin thatthat construct,construct, he he can can buildbuild towardtoward greatergreater effectivenesseffectiveness as as a a listener.listener. Essentially,Essentially, wewe can can teach teach students students aboutabout listeninglistening behavior behavior in in an an effort effort toto heighten their their awareness awarenessof of the the listening listening process. process. One strategy for heightening listening awareness is for each student to develop a listeninglistening journal.journal. The listeninglistening journaljournal can can be a a log logof of listeninglistening experiences of various levels.levels. Students are asked toto record thethe experience, identifyingidentifying itit by type,type, and to analyze theirtheir behaviors as listenerslisteners duringduringthe the experience. ItIt is effective toto stress a variety of listeninglistening experiences, giving the students exposure to disciplined listening in appreciative, discriminative, comprehensive, critical, and therapeutic levels. It is important, however, to emphasize the need needfor for concentrating on an analysis of the listening response rather than on a description of the situation. A description, of course, would provide the student only with a diary, a log, rather than a meaningful journal which constitutes a real learning experience. Some excerpts from journals completed by some of my adult listening students can illustrate the kinds of recorded analyses students can make in their own listening awareness program. The first journal entryoughtentry ought to be the personal goals or objectives which a student sets out for himself as the basis for his awareness program. OnestudentOne student developed these objectives for her personal listening improvement: 1. To fully analyze my listening disabilities. 2. To develop the abilitytoability to habitually assumeaassume a listeningattitude.listening attitude. 3. To develop the ability to set goals and improve skills in different listeninglistening situations. 4. To develop the ability to organize what is being said (main ideas, importantimportant details, and sequences), in order toto facilitate thethe recall of thethe message. 5. To develop thethe abilitytoability to keep an openmindopen mind (even(even thoughthough II dislike thethe speaker, and disagreewithhisdisagree with his philosophies or his position). 6. To develop the ability to stop what I am doing and give my full atat­ tentiontention toto othersothers whentheywhen they areare speakingtospeaking to me, particularlyparticularly myfamily.my family. 7. To develop thethe ability toto concentrate fullyfully on what others are saying,saying, withoutwithout lettingletting mymy mindmind wander.wander. 8.8. ToTo developdevelop thethe abilityability toto reservereserve judgmentjudgment ofof aa speakerspeaker andand hishis messageuntilmessage until II havehave listenedlistened toto whatwhat hehe hashas toto say.say. 9.9. ToTo developdevelop thethe responsibilityresponsibility ofof providingproviding appropriateappropriate feedbackfeedback toto thethe speaker,speaker, sothatso that hehe willwill knowknow ifif andand howhishow his messagemessage isbeingis being received.received. 10.10. ToTo developdevelop thethe abilitytoability to listenlisten toto aa speakerevenspeaker even thoughthough hishis deliverydelivery isis poor.poor. 11.11. ToTo developdevelop thethe abilityability toto listenlisten toto materialmaterial thatthat isis dulldull andand uninunin­ terestingteresting toto me.me. \04-rhl04-rh

12.12. ToTo developdevelop thethe abilityability toto makemake inferencesinferences andand drawdraw conclusions.conclusions. 13.13. ToTo gaingain somesome understandingunderstanding ofof thethe listeninglistening process.process. TheseThese kindskinds ofof objectives,objectives, then,then, provideprovide thethe basisbasis forfor structuringstructuring thethe kindskinds ofof listeninglistening experiences.experiences. OneOnf' typetypf' ofof listeninglistf'ning experiencef'xpf'rlf'nce whichwhich studentsstudents cancan analyzeanalyze isis apap­ preciativepreciative listening,listening, listeninglistening whichwhich emphasizesemphasizes enjoymentenjoyment oror sensorysensory impressions.impressions. InIn thisthis levellevel ofof listening,listening, onecanone can listenlisten forsuchfor such elementselements astheas the beautybeauty oror impactimpact ofof aa speaker'sspeaker's style,style, thethe impressionsimpressions fromfrom music,music, oror imagesimages fromfrom literatureliterature presentedpresented orally.orally. OneOne studentstudent describeddescribed anan appreciativeappreciative listeninglistening experienceexperience assheas she listenedtolistened to "soundsaround"sounds around us:"us:"

"Living"Living closeclose toto thethe park, my husband andand II decideddecided toto taketake aa walk through it. It was aa beautiful autumn morning and,and, without reallyreally thinkingthinking about listening,listening, II became aware of all thethe sounds around us. As we walked, we could hear a conglomeration of sounds. It reminded me of hundreds of birds flying over us. Dorothy Wordsworth in her journals would write of all the thingsshethings she would see and hear as she walked with her brother throughthrough miles of woods and countryside. I wanted to take in everything I could so that later I, too, could remember that beautiful autumn day. I listened to the leaves and could almost hear the forsythia whispering to the trees. Perhaps it was the influenceofinfluence of an eighteenth century poetry course on Blake and Wordsworth which kept reminding me of a comcom­ munion with nature and man. Whatever, the day was filled with sights and sounds that I can remember and feelnow.feel now. Specifically, as we walked, I can remember the sounds of our footsteps as if we were intruding on this lovely setting. It was as if we dared to speak, the mood would be lost-nature lost —nature couldn't be heard. Strangely, as more people entered the park, man seemed to become dominant over nature and the sounds changed. Children, dogs, and cars changed the entire experience into a beautiful Sunday afternoon in the park. The change wasn't annoying, but the difference differencebetweenthe between the sounds of nature and thethe sounds of civilization were evident. I left the park feeling that I could listen appreciatively."

Another student described a listeninglistening experience at a Readers Theatre production. The production was basedbasedon on some old radio scripts, and it was staged as if the readers were werein in a studio studio—completewith - complete with sound effects!

"This"This production was very enjoyable and really activated the audience'saudience's listeninglistening ability.ability. The stagestage was was divided in in half with one one sideside having having a a radio radio listener listener andand thethe other other side side having having the the radio radio broadcasters.broadcasters. TheThe lightinglighting emphasizedemphasized thethe broadcastersbroadcasters moremore thanthan thethe radioradio listener.listener. I I think think this this took took away away from from the the listening listening ex­ ex perienceperience because because of of the the visual visual contact. contact.

"Their"Their methodsmethods forfor soundsound effectseffects were were very very interestinginteresting andand addedadded toto thethe rh-I05rh-iob realism.realism. ByBy watchingwatching thethe ubjectsobjects usedused forfor different different sounds,sounds, thethe visualvisual contactcontact againagain tooktook awayaway fromfrom thethe listeninglistening experience,experience, however.however.

"It"It waswas interestinginteresting toto speculatespeculate onon howhow dependentdependent peoplepeople werewere onon listeninglistening forfor theirtheir entertainmententertainment inin the the past.past. Today,Today, withwith moremore televisiontelevision thanthan radioradio emphasisemphasis inin thethe home,home, wewe don'tdon't havehave thethe appreciativeappreciative listeninglistening fitnessfitness requiredrequired of of people people in in the the 1930's1930's andand 1940's." 1940's."

ListeningListening forfor discriminationdiscrimination getsgets intointo thethe wholewhole areaarea ofof auditoryauditory discrimination,discrimination, aa veryvery importantimportant firstfirst stepstep inin earlyearly childhoodchildhood education.education. ItIt isis interesting interesting to to become become aware, aware, however,however, ofof how how much much discriminative discriminative listeninglistening we we do do as as adults. adults. One One mother mother described described her her need need to to listen listen with with discrimination:discrimination:

"I"I diddid aa greatgreat dealdeal ofof discriminativediscriminative listeninglistening today.today. MyMy daughterdaughter isis sick,sick, and II findfind myself listeninglistening intentlyintently forfor her while screeningscreening out other unimportant sounds. I I hadn't realizedrealized how much discriminative listening I do as a mother."

Comprehensive listening~listeninglistening-listening for understanding~probablyunderstanding—probably is the most "teachable," because we can get at some measures through testing programs. Consequently, many listening programs, especially those prepared for the commercial market, are designed solely for comprehensive listening. Such factors as listening for main ideas, following directions, and sequencing are part of effective comprehensive listening. Typically, we emphasize public communication situations when dealing with comcom­ prehensive listening (how to take notes, etc.). One student discussed someofsome of the problems in comprehensive listening inain a lecture setting:

"This"This eveningevening inin my Marketing class,class, II did not thinkthink II couldcould learnlearn anything.anything. II had stayedstayed awakeawake forfor thirty-fourthirty-four hourshours andand thoughtthought II wouldwould fallfall asleepasleep inin class.class. II decideddecided that,that, inin orderorder toto gaingain anythinganything fromfrom thethe class,class, II wouldwould havehave toto focusfocus mymy attentionattention comcom­ pletelypletely onon thethe lecturelecture andand notnot letlet mymy mindmind wander.wander. II concentratedconcentrated onon mainmain ideasideas only.only. PriorPrior toto this,this, II hadhad takentaken notesnotes onon keykey phrasesphrases andand ideas.ideas. II foundfound thatthat mymy attentionattention spanspan waswas greatergreater becausebecause II waswas actuallyactually listeninglistening toto whatwhat thethe professorprofessor waswas saying.saying. II wasn'twasn't writingwriting asas muchmuch asas usual,usual, butbut II seemedseemed toto bebe understandingunderstanding more.more. UsuallyUsually (and(and unfortunately)unfortunately) thethe notesnotes thatthat II taketake inin classclass dependdepend uponupon thethe typetype ofofexam exam tobeto begiven givenat at theendofthethe end of thesemester. semester. InInthis this particularparticular class,class, examsexams areare veryvery generalgeneral essays.essays. ItIt seemsseems asas thoughthough comcom­ prehensiveprehensive listeninglistening isis wellwell suitedsuited toto thesethese kindskinds ofof tests.tests. AndAnd mymy understandingunderstandingofthe of thesubject subjectis is heightened."heightened."

ComprehensiveComprehensive listeninglistening isis justjust asas difficultdifficult inin anan interpersonalinterpersonal comcom­ municationmunicationsituation, situation, asasthis thisjournal journalentry entryillustrates: illustrates: 106l06-rhrh

"I"I wentwent toto speakspeak toto thethe BudgetBudget OfficeOffice chiefchief todaytoday aboutabout presentingpresenting aa basicbasic coursecourse onon thethe budgetbudget processprocess inin thethe agency.agency. II waswas dealingdealing withwith aa subjectsubject aboutabout whichwhich II knewknew veryvery little,little, andIand I probaolyprobaoly don'tdon't carecare toto knowknow veryvcr)' much.much. II foundfound thethe listeningsituationlistf'ning situation toto bebe aa difficultdifficult <>nclilli' TT kepikt'pt (atchiugt ;tlthillg myselfmyself wanderingwandering fromfrom thethe concon versation.versation. SeveralSeveral timestimes II hadhad toto gogo backback andand makemake suresure II hadhad caughtcaught thethe gistgist ofof whatwhat waswas beingbeing said.said. II havehave aa long-runninglong-running battlebattle toto listenlisten toto anythinganything thatthat involvesinvolves figuresfigures becausebecause II findfind thethe subjectsubject mattermatter difficultdifficult toto dealdeal with.with. ThisThis onlyonly furtherfurther addedadded toto mymy difficultiesdifficulties inin listeninglistening accurately.accurately. II guessguess II wasn'twasn't tootoo successfulsuccessful inin listening,listening, sincesince II hadhad toto gogo backback inin andand askask manymany ofof thethe questionsquestions II shouldshould havehave askedasked thethe firstfirst time."time." Critical listeninglistening skills,skills, of course, apply toto interpersonalinterpersonal communication situationssituations asas well asas toto mass media. One recentrecent studentstudent foundfound househouse­ hunting to be a real testoftest of critical listening capabilities:

"We had the day offfromoff from work, sowewentso we went house-hunting. I was an extremely critical listener. I know Barker says you shouldn't only listen for facts, but that was all I wanted to hear in this situation. My estimationofestimation of the credibility of house salesmen isnotis not very high, and I tend to question everything that they say. I was so busy thinking of all the questions that I wanted to ask, that I failed to listen very carefully to what the man's answers were.

"An additional problem arose when I reacted to an emotionally laden word. The salesman called me "the little woman of the house." I became so wrapped up in his use of that term to apply applyto to me-ame —a six foot tall woman who didn't even own a house-thathouse —that I completely stopped listening for a few minutes.

"Even after I had cooled off a little,little, I found itit difficult toto listenlisten toto thethe man objectively. Near the end of the conversation, I began to loselose interestinterest in in the the whole thing,thing, especially after he quoted a price of $60,000. IfIf I I had kept a a more open mind, I I might have picked up somesome informationinformation thatthat would have been useful in lookinglooking atat other homes."homes."

ItIt is is obvious obvious thatthat therethere is is tremendoustremendous valuevalue in in an an awareness awareness programprogram inin criticalcritical listening,listening, particularlyparticularly asas wewe areare bombardedbombarded withwith persuasivepersuasive stimulistimuli everyevery day.day. UnderstandingUnderstanding thethe nature nature of of the the strategystrategy cancan aid aid the the listenerlistener inin hishis decision decision aboutabout thethe persuasive persuasive message. message. AnotherAnother veryvery realreal socialsocial needneed is isfor for awarenessawareness inin what what might might be be termed termed "therapeutic""therapeutic" listening-listeninglistening-listening toto provideprovide thethe speakerspeaker withwith aa "sounding"sounding board"board" for for his his problems.problems. RatherRather than than practicepractice amateuramateur psychology,psychology, aa good good therapeutictherapeutic listenerlistener operatesoperates toto provideprovide thethe kindskinds ofof responsesresponses thatthat en­ en couragecourage the the speaker speaker to to continue.continue. Ideally,Ideally, talkingtalking through through a a problem problem can can enableenable the the speaker speaker to to solvesolve itit himself. himself. rh-107rh 107

TheThe needneed forfor awarenessawareness inin therapeutictherapeutic listeninglistening isis pervasive.pervasive. AA recentrecent SanSan FranciscoFrancisco organizationorganization hashas beenbeen establishedestablished toto provideprovide listenerslisteners forfor peoplepeople whowho havehave nono oneone whowho willwill listenlisten toto them.them. TheThe popularitypopularity ofof tele­tele phonephone "Hotlines""Hotlines" isis furtherfurther evidenceevidence ofof this this need.need. TheThe need need waswas demonstrateddemonstrated by by one one teacher teacher who who describeddescribed howhow much much sheshe isis calledcalled uponupon toto functionfunction asas aa therapeutictherapeutic listenerlistener duringduring herher dailydaily routines:routines:

"I"I findfind thatthat oneone ofof mymy strongstrong pointspoints isis thatthat ofof beingbeing aa goodgood soundingsounding boardboard forfor others.others. AA dayday doesn'tdoesn't gogo byby thatthat someonesomeone hasn'thasn't comecome toto me me to to talk talk aboutabout somethingsomething thatthat is is preyingpreying onon hishis mindmindor or aboutabout aa problem.problem. It'sIt's not not necessarilynecessarily thatthat they'v~they've comecome totome me soso thatthat II might might help help them, them, butbut thatthat II will will listen. listen.

"Each"Each and and every every day day of of the the week,week, II will will have have children children eithereither inin mymy classclass thisthis yearyear oror inin classesclasses fromfrom yearsyears beforebefore whowho willwill comecome upup toto 'talk.''talk.' TheirTheir 'talk''talk' rangesranges fromfrom everythingeverything fromfrom familyfamily toto friendsfriends toto boy or girl friendsfriends toto questions and concerns about sex.sex. Many would gladly give up theirtheir recessrecess timetime ifif theythey could come up and talktalk toto me. For this reason, I set up a 'conference'conference time' with each child during the week. During that time, we may not be disturbed by anyone, except in an emergency.

"In conference time, the children may tell me anything they wish. If they have a particular 'gripe,' this istheis the time to talkaboutit.talk about it. Some are hesitant at first and must first build up a trust. Once this trust is established, they are very open and the 'conference'conference time' is up before we know it. This isis an excellent time to get toto know children's reactionsreactions and feelingsfeelings about things.things. It has helped my class toto be a very unified group and has prevented many problems thatthat couldcould havehave comecome upintheup in the coursecourse oftheof the year.year.

"Children"Children respondrespond veryvery favorablyfavorably whenwhen theythey findfind thatthat theirtheir ideasideas havehave beenbeen received.received. ThereThere isis anan innerinner pridepride thatthat nono oneone cancan taketake fromfrom them.them. ItIt isis surprisingsurprisinghow how goodgood manymany children'schildren's ideasideas are,are, ififwe we wouldwould justjust taketake thethe timetime toto listen.listen.

"Because"Because mymy principalprincipal andand II areare friends,friends, itit isis notnot uncommonforuncommon for himhim toto callcall meupme up toto hishis officeoffice beforebeforeor or afterafterschool school toto discussdiscusssome some schoolschool matter.matter. AsAs ititusually usuallyturns turns out,out, II listenlisten totowhat what hehe hashas totosay, say, andand hehe figuresfigures outouta a solutionsolutionwhile whilehe heis is talkingtalkingto tome. me. I'veI'veeven evenbeen been knownknown toto gogo inin andand comecome outout againagainwithout withoutsaying sayinga a word,word, andandyet yet hehesaid saidthat that he heenjoyed enjoyedhaving havinga a littlelittletalk talkwith withme. me.

"Parents"Parents comecome inin toto discussdiscuss theirtheir childrenchildren andand toto telltell meme somethingsomethingthat that maymay helpmehelp me totoknow knowtheir their child child aa littlebetter.little better. ItIt is is notnotuncommon uncommonfor forme meto to hearhearmore moreinformation informationthan thanthey theyintended intended 108lOB-rhrh toto say,say, muchmuch ofofwhich which doesdoes notnot evenevenpertainto pertain to theirtheirchild. child. ManyManyare are hungryhungry forfor someonesomeone toto listenlisten toto them.them.

"I"I havehave severalseveral closeclose friendsfriends inin whomwhom I1confide confid(' andand who,who, inin turn,turn, confideconfide inill me.lilt', Sometimes,SOIllt't iIllt's, oneone ofof themthem willwill callcall toto telltell memt' ofof anan especiallyespecially goodgood timetime hehe hadhad doingdoing something;something; otherother times,times, oneone ofof themthem maymay callcall toto talktalk outaout a problem;problem; otherother times,times, itit isis justjust toto telltell ofof thethe day'sday's events.events.

"I"I havehave foundfound thatthat II shouldshould bebe expectedexpected toto acceptaccept thethe responrespon­ sibilitysibility ofof listeninglistening withwith anan openopen mindmind andofand of givinggiving positivepositive feedfeed­ backback andand reinforcementreinforcement toto thethe personperson whowho isis talkingtalking onlyonly whenwhen II deem itit isis necessary. ItIt isis surprisingsurprising toto me how manyofthemany of the people II listenlisten toto solvesolve theirtheir ownown problemsproblems justjust byby talkingtalking themthem out toto aa soundingsounding board."

Recording listening experiences such as these provides an excellent basis for a complete self-improvement program through enhanced self-self­ awareness. The success of the project, however, depends upontheupon the student's determination of honest, thorough objectives for himself at the outset. Obviously, self-motivation must be built into the project. It is important, also, to establish the program for many levels of listening, to broaden the individual student's listening experiences. Otherwise, the student may well focus justjuston on comprehensive listening in the classroom setting. After the student has recorded these kinds of experiences for the semester, it is isa a useful concluding projectprojectto to have havehimwritea him write a self-analysis of his listening behavior, identifying his strengths and weaknesses for his own future reference. Since he has set out his objectives initially, these objectives can serve as the basic criteria for the self-evaluation. Students testify to the value of this type of self-awareness listening program. It gives them an excellent opportunity to understand their own listeninglistening responsesresponses and to apply theirtheir understanding toto their theiractual actual listeninglistening situations. InIn concluding concludinghis his journal, journal, one student identifiedidentified thesethese benefits inin his his self-analysis:self-analysis:

"Recording"Recording listening listening experiencesexperiences hashas been been a a great great help help to to me. me. I I findfind nownow thatthat whenwhen faced faced with with a a difficultdifficult listeninglistening task,task, ratherrather thanthan turningturning away,away, II willwill trytry and and apply apply a a listeninglistening techniquetechnique appropriateappropriate toto that that experience. experience. I I believebelieve listeninglisteningcan can be be taught, taught, for for it it has has taught taught me,me, but but more more significant, significant, perhaps, perhaps, is is that that once once listening listening hashas beenbeen taught,taught, the the frustration frustration which which followsfollows isis the the realization realization that that very very fewfew peoplepeople do do listen. listen. It It willwill take,take, I'm I'm sure, sure, a a lifetime lifetime to to perfect perfect my my listeninglistening skills,skills, butbut each each day day I I become become more more aware, aware, as as I I listen, listen, that that thethe majority majority of of people people in in everydayeveryday socialsocial situations situations aren't aren't really really listeninglistening at at all all and and probably probably don't don't engage engage in in other other more more diversediverse andand difficultdifficult listeninglistening situations.situations. rh-109r/i-io9

"As"As the the source source in in a a listening listening situation, situation, I I have have realized realized the the im­ im portanceportanceofsendingdirect, of sending direct, conciseconcise messagesmessages toto make make comprehensioncomprehension easier.easier. I I am, am, in in short, short, more more polite polite and and considerate considerate toward toward the the receiverreceiver becausebecause itit is is oftenoften II whowho amam in in hishis situation.situation. ForFor example,example, whenwhen givinggiving directionsdirections toto an an employee,employee, II speakspeak slowlyslowly andand simply,simply, alwaysalways lookinglooking forfor signalssignals ofof understanding.understanding. II havehave foundfound thisthis veryvery successful.successful.

"I"I feelfeel that,that, though though I I havehave aa veryvery longlong wayway toto go go beforebefore II becomebecome aa goodgood listener,listener, II am amat at leastleast awareaware ofofthe the fundamentalfundamental processesprocesses andand willwill practicepractice whatwhat II knowknow andand try tryto to makemake asas manymany othersothers asas possiblepossible awareaware of of the the importance importance of of listening." listening." ONON TEACHINGTEACHING READINGREADING ANDAND WRITINGWRITING FOR FUNCTIONAL LITERACY*

SolomonSolomon OgbodumOgbodum UnohUnoh UNIVERSITYUNIVERSITY OFOF IBADAN,IBADAN, NIGERIA

IntroductoryIntroductory Remarks:Remarks: The teaching of reading and writing can be approached from various angles,angles, and with varying degrees of emphasis. Teaching reading and writing to primary school children is not the same as teachingreadingteaching reading and writing to illiterate adults, minimallyliterateminimally literate adults, secondary and college students, and university students. True, certain fundamental principles have to be observed in all these teaching-learningteaching-learning situations but therethere are basic differences in aims, in ability to learn and so forth, which have to be taken into account. In this article, the teaching of reading and writing will be discussed with particular reference to the achievement of functional literacy. William Gray has correctlystatedcorrectly stated that "a person is functionally literate whenhewhen he has acquired the knowledge and skills in reading and writing which enable him to engage effectively in all those activities in which literacy is normally assumed in his culture or group" (The Teaching of Reading and Writing, Unesco 1969 p. 24). One might be tempted to ask what those activities are. In my view, these are well summed up by Eve MalmquistinMalmquist in the following statement: If we want to conquer poverty, hunger, and disease in the world, we have to conquer illiteracy first. Illiteracy is the most serious handicap for economic, political, social and individual development that we know. In fact, illiteracy is becoming more generally recognized as the most irreconcilable hindrance to development and progress everywhere in the world and furthermore, as a grave block to international understanding and cooperation. (E. Malmquist: Reading: A Human HumanRight Right and A Human Problem IRAIRA 1968 p. 3) InIn brief, a functionally functionally literate literate person is is a person who does not merely know how to readread and write, but isis able to to use this this knowledge effectively in in understanding or coping copingwith with the basic issuesissues (economic,(economic, political, social,social, personal and others) thatthat crop crop up in in the the society.society. The teachingteaching of readingreading and writing is iscertainly certainly a necessary, thoughthough by byno no means a a sufficient,sufficient, tasktaskin in thethe developmentdevelopment ofof functionalfunctional literacyliteracy. .

* ThisThis is is a a slightly slightly revised revised version versionof of a a paper paper presented presented in in April April 1976. 1976, at at the the "Functional "Functional LiteracyLiteracy Workshop" Workshop" for for Adult Adult Education Education Supervisors. Supervisors, under under the the auspices auspices of of Dept. Dept. of of AdultAdult Education.Education, UniversityUniversity ofof Ibadan.Ibadan. rh-lllrh in

StagesStages inin Teaching TeachingReadingFor Reading For FunctionalFunctional Literacy:Literacy: TheThe task task of of teaching teaching reading reading for for functional functional literacy literacy is is no no lessless challengingchallengingthan than that that of of teaching teaching children children to to read. read. ExperienceExperience andand research research evidenceevidence suggestsuggest thatthat the the tasktask cancanbe be accomplishedaccomplished inin fourfour sequentialsequential stagesstages (vide(vide WilliamWilliam Gray,Gray, 1969). 1969). StageStage one one is is the the preparatorypreparatory stagestage when when the the educator/teachereducator/teacher triestries to to ascertainascertain thethe readingreading readinessreadiness ofof the the adults,adults, helpshelps toto removeremove handicapshandicaps inin learninglearning to to read, read, and and uses various strategiesstrategies toto promote increasedincreased readinessreadiness toto learnlearn toto read,read, on the part of the adults. Adults who enroll inin literacyliteracy programmes tend to differ widely inin their their rate rate of progress. Factors thatthat account for such variations include:include: innateinnate ability abilityto to learn, learn, background of experience, command of language,language, and the functioning of their senses (particularly visual and auditory senses). These and related factors need to be investigated by means of tests, interviews and/and/or or informal question-and­question-and- answer sessions, and necessary remedial measures should, where possible be applied to ensure increased reading or learning readiness. This is par­ par ticularly necessary in second language situations where the problems of learninglearningto to read in an unfamiliar language, or in a language in which one hashasa a minimal working knowledge, can be quite enormous. As Gray (1969) rightly points out, most young people and adults who enter literacy classes are usually much more moremature mature mentally than children, because of their greater chronological age and their wider experience. The programme of instruction at this first stage should be designed to achieve the following objectives, among others:

1. A compelling interest in learningtolearning to read. This can be achieved through friendly and purposeful discussion of the possible values of reading in various situations. 2. A clear recognition of the fact that printed or written words represent meanings. The discussion referred to earliershouldearlier should also be designed to create in them an awareness of the interdependence of the spoken and thethe printed or written word. 3. A fairlyfairly wide rangerange of information,information, and familiarityfamiliarity withthewith the thingsandthings and activities thatthat will be referredreferred toto inin earlyreadingearly reading lessons.lessons. The point here isis toto encourage group and individualindividual discussions toto thethe point of familiarizingfamiliarizing themthem with new ideas,ideas, concepts, issues,issues, and activitiesactivities-which.which• may later feature in their reading exercises.exercises. 4.4. AA widewide speakingspeaking vocabularyvocabulary andand thethe abilityability toto speakspeak withwith sufficientsufficient accuracyaccuracy andand clarity.clarity. LearningLearning toto readread isis knownknown toto bebe aa muchmuch lessless difficultdifficult tasktask ifif itit isis carriedcarried outout inin aa languagelanguage thatthat oneone cancan speakspeak andand understandunderstand withwith aa reasonabledegreereasonable degree ofof accuracy.accuracy. 5.5. AbilityAbility toto thinkthink clearlyclearly andand toto makemake useuse ofof whatwhat thethe readerreader knowsknows inin graspinggrasping meanings,meanings, seeingseeing relationships,relationships, makingmaking choiceschoices andand solvingsolving simplesimple problems.problems. ThisThis abilityability isis alsoalso enhancedenhanced byby oraloral languagelanguage activityactivity (videCarroll(vide Carroll 1970.1970. pp.pp. 31-32).31-32). 6.6. AbilityAbility toto discriminatediscriminate betweenbetween differentdifferent soundssounds andand forms,forms, wellwell enoughenough toto bebe ableable toto distinguishdistinguish oneone wordword fromfrom another.another. 112—rA112-rh 7.7. AbilityAbility toto interpretinterpret picturespictures wellwell enoughenough toto useuse thosethose thatthat appearappear inin assignedassigned readingreading materialsmaterials asas aidsaids inin understandingunderstanding whatwhat isis read,read, andinand in recognizingrecognizing differentdifferent words.words. 8.R. AbilityAbility toto workwork withwith others,othf'rs, toto followfollow directions,directions, andand toto adjustadjust oneselfoneself readilyrradily toto variousvarious learninglearning situations.situations. TheThe secondsecond stagestage involvesinvolves thethe developmentdevelopment ofof basicbasic readingreading comcom­ prehensionprehension skillsskills andand greatergreater interestsinterests inin readingreading fairlyfairly easyeasy materials.materials. TheThe mainmain goalgoal shouldbeshould be abilityability toto readread appropriateappropriate materialsmaterials withwith relativerelative ease,ease, andand toto focusfocus attentionattention onon meaningfulmeaningful information,,includinginformation"including notices,notices, signs,signs, briefbrief newsnews items,items, andand simplesimple directions.directions. The specificspecific aimsaims of the teacherteacher at this stagestage shouldshould includeinclude thethe following:following: 1. Deepening interest in learning to read. 2. Promoting increasedincreased readinessreadiness forfor reading.reading. 3. Developing a thoughtfulthoughtful readingreading attitude, with appropriate emphasis on the comprehension of meaning. 4. Development of a sight vocabulary of carefully selected words which meet the simplest reading needs of adults. 5. Development of word recognition skills. 6. Stimulation of interest in reading for pleasure and information. These aims imply that the teacher should build on or consolidate what was achieved in stage one, employ other motivational devices (including persuasion, praise, encouragement) to ensure more devotion to and concon­ tinued interest in the reading tasks, and introduceappropriateintroduce appropriate instructional materials which will aid the achievement of these aims. The third stage should be devoted to further deepening of reading interests and developing reading efficiency. To that end, attention should be focused on the achievement of a number of specific aims, such as: l.1. Extending the sight vocabulary in reading to include most words commonly used in personal correspondences, news items, notices and simple bulletins, and books writtenwrittenfor for popular use. According to Gray (1969, p. 170) the size ofthe essential sight vocabulary varies from 1,500 to 2,500 for different languages. The teacher must try to remedy ob­ ob vious deficiencies in this regard by consciously helping them to increase theirtheir stock of new ones. 2. Provision of the training needed for effective development of word­word- attack skills, which will enable thethe adults toto recognize recognize independentlyindependently any word in their oral vocabulary. InIn this this connection connection it it would be necessary forfor the the classclass toto be taught taught the the origin of certain certain words, the the identificationidentification of the root, the stem, the prefix, the suffix andand suchsuch aspectsaspects of of words. words. 3.3. DevelopmentDevelopment ofof increased increased understanding understanding of of what what is is read, read, including including abilityability to to recognizerecognize literal,literal, related related and and implied implied meanings meanings to to re-act re-act thoughtfullythoughtfully or or appropriatelyappropriately toto the the ideas ideas acquiredacquired throughthrough reading, reading, andand to to recognize recognize their their value value in in solving solvingpersonal personal and and group group problems. problems. 4.4. PromotionPromotion ofof skill skill in in readingreading variousvarious kinds kinds of of materialsmaterials andand in in readingreading forfor various various purposes. purposes. This This will will necessarilynecessarily involveinvolveprolonged prolonged exposure exposure to to rh-113r/i-ii3 appropriateappropriate readingreading materials materials under under proper proper guidance guidance by by the the teacher. teacher. 5.5. DevelopmentDevelopment ofof speed speed of of reading reading comprehension.comprehension. AsAs better better reading reading habitshabits are are formed formed and and reading reading comprehensioncomprehension skillsskills areare developed,developed, speedspeed of of reading reading can can be be improved.improved. However,However, thethe use useof of appropriate appropriate drill drill booksbookscan can facilitatefacilitate thethe whole whole process. process. TheThe fourth fourth and and finalfinal stagestageshouldbe should be devoteddevoted toto the the task taskof of helping helpingthe the adultsadults to to acquire acquire more more mature mature reading reading habits. habits. It It is is essentiallyessentially thethe stage stage when the literate adults are encouraged encouragedto to achieve a high levellevel of functional literacy,literacy, sosothat that they theycan can feelfeel trulytruly literate literateand and not just just minimally literate.literate. The specificspecific aimsaims of the trainingtraining programme during this final stage shouldshould be: 1. Completion of the training needed to ensure accuracy and in­ in dependence in recognizing newnewand and unfamiliar words which are likely to be met in the course of reading, including training in the use of dic­ dic tionariestionaries and other reference materials related toto thethe interestsinterests and needs of members of the class. 2. Encouragement of growth in ability to understand printed materials relating to things and ideas outside the range of familiar experience; these include: new ways of doing things; descriptions of people and activities in other lands; new practices, procedures and standards, concepts and ideals in one's own country as well as in other countries. 3. Development of increased capacity to react thoughtfully to what is read, to recognize its values and limitations, and to make use of new ideas in solving personal or group problems, and in modifying one's ideas and behaviour if and when desirable. 4. Extension of reading interest, and acquaintance with variouskindsvarious kinds and sources of reading materials —including~ including materials relating to current events, bulletins focusing on practical problems of daily living, magazines, articles, and books of different kinds. 5. Development of curiosity about books, and a tendency to effectively use books and other written or printed materials for self-education, for the enjoyment of leisure, for guidanceinguidance in solving certain problems, and for acquiringacqwnng vicarious experiences. MethodsMetlwds of TeachingReadingtoATeaching Reading to Adults:dults: Current methods of teaching reading (to both children and adults) can be conveniently divided intointo threethree main categories: analytic, syntheticsynthetic and analytic-synthetic. The syntheticsynthetic method is based on thethe assumption thatthat thethe teachingofteaching of readingreading shouldbeginwithshould begin with thethe masterymastery ofof thethe basicelementsbasic elements ofof wordswords (letters(letters oror syllablessyllables andand theirtheir sounds).sounds). WhenWhen thesethese areare masteredmastered theythey areare thenthen combinedcombined intointo largerlarger unitsunits (words,(words, phrases,phrases, sentencessentences andand stories).stories). ThisThis assumptionassumption hashas givengiven riserise toto anan initialinitial emphasisemphasis onon thethe teachingteaching ofof thethe lettersletters ofof thethe alphabetalphabet (i.e.(i.e. thethe- alphabeticalphabetic method),method), followedfollowed byby aa combinationcombination ofof lettersletters intointo syllabicsyllabic units1,lnits (i.e.(i.e. thethe syllabicsyllabic method)method) andand aa focusingfocusing ofof attentionattention onon thethe soundssounds ofof thethe lettersletters andand thethe syllablessyllables (i.e.(i.e. thethe phonicphonic method).method). TheThe analyticanalytic methodmethod (also(also calledcalled thethe globalglobal method)method) isis basedbased onon thethe assumptionassumption thatthat thethe teachingteaching ofof readingreading shouldshould beginbegin withwith thethe largerlarger andand ii4-r/i114-rh more meaningful units (viz. story, sentences, phrase and word) which could thenthen be analyzed intointo smaller and lessless meaningful units (syllables, lettersletters and phonemes). There isis no unanimity on thethe question of whether a story, a sentence,Sf'ntf'n('c, a phrasephrasf' or a word should behf' the starting point in the analytic method. However,Howcver, the basichasic assumption is that thethc teachingtcachingofrcadingmayof reading may start with the so-called "story method" by focusing attention on interesting stories followed by analysis of the story into various sentences (the sentence method), then into constituent phrases (the phrase method) followed by the last of the meaning-bearing units or the word (i.e. the "word method"). The analytic-synthetic method, which is ecclectic in nature, entails the selection of carefully graded words, sentences and simple passages for analysis, comparison and synthesis, almost simultaneously, right from the beginning. It is an attempt to make use of the methods which emphasize elements (alphabetic, phonic, syllabic)andsyllabic) and those that emphasize meaning from the beginning (word, phrase, sentence and story). For reasons of space we will not enter into a detailed discussion of the merits and demerits of these methods. It will suffice to point out that the analytic or global method is in keeping with the Gestalt principle that learning should "proceed from whole to parts." The methods discussed here (synthetic, analytic and analytic-synthetic) can be effective for both children and adults. The so-called alphabetic, syllabic, phonic, word, sentence and story methods are better regarded as steps, stages or apap­ proaches within these methodsthanmethods than asmethodsinas methods in themselves, sincenonesince none of them constitutes a complete method of teaching reading. Adult educators, or teachers in adult literacy classes, should be aware of the variety of apap­ proaches to the training of reading, and should feel free to experiment with one method or the other, until desired results are achieved. As a general rule, whether the method is analytic, synthetic or analytic-analytic­ synthetic, it should accord with the specific aims of instruction at the various stages outlined earlier. Instruction should be based on appropriate instructional materials, which may be devised by the teacher to reflect the interests of participants in the literacy class. As far as possible, instruction should be so highly individualized as to make allowance for differences in rate of learning. As the ultimate goal of reading is comprehension or communication of facts, information or ideas conveyed--byconveyedrby larger units of expression (sentences, paragraphs, longer selections and books) the teaching of reading should not be limited to decoding letters, syllables, sounds and words. On Teachz"ngTeaching Wrz"tz"ngWritingFor For Functz"onal Functional Lz"teracy:- Literacy:— The teaching of writing is, in my view, a less controversial topic than the teaching of reading. At least, there is far less debate on how to teach writing than there is on how to teach reading. Because of this fact and the reason of space, I propose to deal with it very briefly. Moreover, the skill of writing is so dependent on that of reading that some of what has already been said about the teaching of reading is relevant to this discussion of the teaching of writing. As in the case of teaching reading, four sequential stages can be rh-115rh 115

identifiedidentified for for instructional instructional purposes. purposes. The four four stages, stages, which roughly roughly correspondcorrespond to to the the four four stages stages discussed discussed in in connection connection with the the teaching teaching of reading,reading, are:are: 1. The preparatory stage;stage; 2. The stage when the basic skills skillsof of writing are mastered; 3. The stage when writing is used in meeting practical needs; and 4. The stage of acquiring more mature writing skills and habits. During stage I, the main aims of the teacher should be to get well­well- acquainted with the basic needs, problems or characteristics of members of his class, and to provide the preliminary experiences which will not only provide the motivation but also give givethem them the attitudinal, mental, physical and emotional readiness toto learnlearn toto write. The teacherteacher should also find out what the adults would like to write at the initial stages. Very often they would want to write their own names, the names of friends, relatives and so forth. As a starting point, such names should be written out for them to copy or trace, while the teacher provides personal supervision and en­ en cQuragement.couragement. Several hours of instruction and practice should be devoted to such preparatory work, and to the teaching of handwriting without forcing them to write "cursive" or "joint script." Emphasis should be on legibility and accuracy. In this, as in other learning situations, nothing succeeds like success, so it is necessary to praise and encourage them for any writing "feats" they may accomplish at this stage as in other stages. During the second stage, the writing activities should focus on larger units of expression, such as, phrases and short sentences or statements. The teacher should write the phrases and simple sentences, such as, "good books" and "Bola reads good books"; and the classshouldclass should be encouraged to copy these legibly. Better still, phrases and short sentences encountered in the reading classes may be used for such exercises. Practice should be continued until the adults are able to copy whatever is written, and to write down whatever isdictated,is dictated, withawith a reasonable degree ofspeedof speed and accuracy. The third stageofstage of instruction in writingmaywriting may be devotedtodevoted to usingwritingusing writing to meet practical or personal needs. Attention should be focused on writing out larger units (longer sentences, connected paragraphs and short stories), which may be read or listenedtolistened to in class. These should preferablybepreferably be based on topics of general interest to the literacy class. Individual desires to be creative, or to use language creatively, should be encouraged. Errors of grammar and syntax should be noted, and tactfully corrected, but they should not be unduly emphasized or penalized, as this could be councoun­ terproductive.terproductive. Emphasis should rather be on getting the class toto participate actively inin thethe excitingly new experience of expressing inin writing thethe numerous ideas, experiences, thoughts and activities that they had listened to,to, discussed verballyorverbally or felt like discussing verballyinverbally in many situations. InIn allall probability,probability, adultsadults will atat thisthis stagestage be most anxiousanxious toto useuse theirtheir newly acquiredacquired writing skillskill inin meeting theirtheir personalneeds.personal needs. They may wish toto write brief personal letterstoletters to friendsfriends and relatives;relatives; toto applyforapply for advertised posts, or to write short petitions about some acts of injustice. Practice exercisesexercises shouldshould bebe basedbased onon suchsuch feltfelt needs.needs. InIn short,short, thethe adultadult traineestrainees 116-rh116—r/i should be encouraged toto write about thethe thingsthings theythey feel like like writing about. They should also be encouraged toto use the the vocabularies, expressions and ideasideas they they have gained from theirtheir reading practice inin writing about theirtheir personal neeos,needs, practical prohlemsproblems anoand other issuesissues of interestinterest toto them.them. The fOllrthfourth ;moand fin;:)1 final stagr stage in thr the trachingteaching of writing shouloshould h(' be o('voteo devoted to teaching them to write more creatively, accurately and extensively. While it would still be necessary to encourage them to write about the things and events that interest them, they should be exposed to different fonnsforms of composition writing (descriptive, expository, imaginative, etc.) The teacher should suggest a variety of topics for practice in writing. Even though writing for functional literacy should nonnallynormally have been achieved during the third stage, this final stage is needed for consolidation, for the development of more mature writing skills, and for learning to use the skill of writing in earning a living, and in meeting more complex demands in society, such as those mentioned by Malmquist (1968, p. 3). Concluding Remarks: To conclude: It has been suggested in this article that the teaching of reading and writing to adults is a difficult but not an impossible task. It has also been suggested that a high degree of functional literacy in reading and writing can be achieved if the training programme is carefully planned and faithfully executed. Four sequential stages, with clearly defined objectives for each stage, and possible methods of approach, have also been suggested. Ideally the teaching of reading and writing should go on concurrently along the lines suggested. The adult learner should be encouraged to write down whatever he has successfully learned to read, particularly at the early stages. In this way the skills acquired during the lessonsonlessons on reading will be used in developing and re-inforcing the skills acquired during the lessons on writing and vice versa. Furthermore,Furthennore, instructional materials should be learner-centered and should, as far as possible, reflect the various ococ­ cupational, social and other interests of members of the literacy class. This makes the choice of appropriate instructional materials a crucial factor in successful instruction at the various stages indicated. In the final analysis, success in the difficult but exciting task of helping adults to achieve a high degree of functional literacy will depend, not on a rigid adherence to the guidelines and suggestions derived from this and similar articles, but on the teacher's resourcefulness, his flexibility in using methods and materials available to him, his willingnessandwillingness and ability to tackle the peculiar learning difficulties that the adults might have; and his ability to arouse and sustain the interest of the class at various stages in the course. Even if some teachers forget or disagree with the details of what has been said here, they must not forget this important statement about the proper roles and functions of teachers in functional literacy courses.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Carroll, J. B. "The Nature of the Reading Process" DorisGundersonDoris Gunderson (Ed.) Language and Reading. Center For Applied Linguistics 1970, pp. 27- 36. rh-117rh 117

Gray E. The Teaching of Reading and Writing UNESCO) UNESCO, 1969. Malmquist, Eve. Reading: A Human Right and A Human Problem. IRA, Newark, Delaware 1968. Staudacher, C. Creative Writing in the Classroom) Classroom, Pearson Publishers, 1968. Strickland, R. The Language Arts in the Elementary ElementarySchool, School) Boston, D. C. Heath & Co. (Chaps. 11 & 12) 1951. THETHE RELATIONSHIPRELATIONSHIP BETWEENBETWEEN READINGREADING ANDAND THINKING:THINKING: ONEONE TEACHER'STEACHER'S VIEWPOINTVIEWPOINT

JerryJerry Axe/rodAxelrod PHILADELPHIA,PHILADELPHIA. PA.

What is the relationship between reading & thinking? Are they inin­ terdependentterdependent with or independentindependent of eacheach other or isis oneone aa functionfunction ofof thethe other? To explain thisthis relationship,relationship, consider Diagram One. This diagram offers that reading is one function of thinking. Reading is wholly within the realm of thinking. If a personisperson is reading, he isthinking;is thinking; if he is not thinking he cannot be reading. AsWellmanAs Wellman (1974) states, Reading " ..... issequentiallyis sequentially and developmentally dependent on the fundamental foundation of logical thoughtthought process."process. " Focusing now on only the relationship between reading and thinking, consider the illustration in Diagram Two. In this diagram, reading consists of the areas of decoding and comcom­ prehension. (Others may add that reading includes other skills like vocabulary, study skills, critical thinking, etc. However, this teacher contends these areas to be functions of comprehension. Nevertheless, to disagree with this viewpoint will havenoeffectorhave no effect or bearingonorbearing on or relevance to the theme of this paper.) To be able to decode without comprehending (i.e. to verbalize) is not reading. It means pronouncing written words and sentences correctly but meaninglessly. On the other hand, to be able to comprehend without decoding is impossible. Decoding is the obligatory first step in learning to read and the necessary foundation of comprehension. To decode decodeisto is to think insofar as sounding out written words. Thus, one cannot decode without thinking. Additionally, to comprehend is also to think. In fact, the terms are synonymous. Moreover, decoding and comprehension = reading = thinkingthinking (verbally). A pupil can respondrespond toto a reading reading exercise inin a number of ways. Those ways will be examined with ferenceference toto the the second diagram and to the followingfollowing example:example: Every drink is . Select one: wet, warm, window. Although therethere are are three three pnssiblepossible answers toto this this ftll-in, fill-in, there there are are actually actually four four responses,responses, oneoneof of them them beingbeing thethe pupil's pupil's givinggiving nono responseresponse atat all. all. In In lookinglooking atat pupil pupil number number one one mentionedmentioned inin the the diagram, diagram, the the pupil pupilisnot is not respondingresponding toto the the reading reading exercise exercise question question because because he he is isnot not thinking thinking about about it. it. In In fact, fact, hehe is is not not attendingattending to,to, concentrating concentrating on on or or even evenlookirg lookirg at at the the exercise.exercise. TheThe exerciseexercise maymay be be physicallyphysically inin front front of of him, him, but but is is not not mentally. mentally. Thus, Thus, the the pupilpupil is isnot not decoding decodingthe the reading reading exerciseexercise andand is,is, ofof course,course, notnot reading.reading. TheThe numbernumber twotwo child child is, is, on on thethe otherother hand,hand, thinkingthinking aboutabout thethe readingreading rh-119rh- 119 Diagram One

Not ThinkingTh inking Thinking T h i nkl i n g Associative I, Directed

I r;0 (Controlled/ControlledJo Problem-\ fetc.j~ Not Solving * ^~~~~*^ Not ThinkingThinki ng 8: Thinking

etc. r=-:'\ tl~~ ©8 CE):®~I

Not Thinking

Diagram Two s~~*\ Not Thinking |~------~------, Pupil A IXJ~ Thinking

Pupil Not \ ^ Not n 1 /(decodingdecoding compre-^Vcompre- Thinking Thinking hension X 2 PUPI GrJI#5

/ G[PupilPupi I #3J#:V~ \J4Jli.!J \

Not Thinking 120-r/i120-rh exercise but is also not decoding. The reason he isnotis not decoding is simple: he does not know how. He is diligently concentrating on his work but he just cannot crack the code. On the reading exercise he may write no answers or guessg-twss wildly.wilrlly_ ThrThe numbernllmhrr threethrrr childrhilrl maym;-ty likelylikrly writewritr on nn his paper,p;-tprr; "All drinksrlrinks ;-trrare windows." His answer is not only wrong, it is illogical in spite of the fact that he is concentrating on the exercise and successfully decoding it. He is thinking insofar as he is decoding but not beyond that. His problem, unlike pupil two, is not with reading necessarily. His problem is with thinking logically. And logic is the heart of thinking. If a person cannot use logic he is not thinking. As Moffett (1968, p. 16) states, "If a reader can translate print into speech ... and still fails to grasp the idea or relate facts or infer or draw conclusions, then he has no reading problem, he has a thinking problem, traceable to many possible sources, none of them concerning printed words." Moreover (p. 501), "." ...... the growth of logic .... inin­ fluences the growth of language.language ....." " Thus, the number three child is not thinking insofar as he is applying insufficient logic to the meaning of the passage. The number four student may feel, "Every drink is warm." He is decoding successfully and, unlike the number three pupil, is thinking logically. However, his thinking is incomplete. He is not "thinking things through" in realizing, for example, that some drinks are cold. Or else he may just be careless and write down the first seemingly-correct answer he comes to. In any event he has no incorrectible thinking problem. It might be added parenthetically that pupils must be made to realize that a logical answer is not always a correct one although correct answers are always logical. Thus, pupil number four is comprehending and is thus reading/orreadingfor the mostpart.most part. He is just not comprehending completely. The number five pupil is really "together." He knows all drinks are wet. He is decoding sufficiently and understanding what he is decoding. He is using logic and thinking things through. One tree does not a forest make. Similarly, one logical answer does not a thinker make. That is, a teacher cannot judge the reading or the thinking ability of a pupil from just one sample of either his reading or thinking. The teacher is in a position to draw worthy conclusions about a pupil's reading, only by detecting a pattern of his reading behaviors. In other words, in a fill-in reading-thinking exercise of which "Every drink is wet" is an example, the teacher can make no accurate assessment of the child's cognitive or linguistic abilities by looking only at one sample of the child's responses. The teacher must look at as many samples as possible. If the pupil gets at least 75% of reading exercise questions correct consistently,consistently) one can safely say the child is reading; less than 75% consistently and the child is not. In the latter case, it is necessary for the teacher to detect patterns of errors. Are most of the wrong answers wrong logically (Every drink is warm.) or illogically (Everydrink(Every drink is window.)? Is there a problem in word analysis or in comprehension? Is there a reading problem or a thinking problem? Finding patterns of errors, where they exist, gives the answers to these important questions. rh-121rh-121 ConsiderConsider thethe fivefive hypotheticalhypothetical studentsstudents again,again, butbut nownow assignedassigned toto do do a a readingreading exerciseexercise onon whichwhich therethere areare 2525 itemsitems likelike "Up"Up isis toto downdown justjust asas easteast isis tot° .." " Add Add to to this this exercise exercise thatthat thethe answer answer to to this this andand thethe otherother 2424 analogiesanalogies areare printedprinted onon the the bottombottom ofof the the page.page. TheThe pupilpupil isis directeddirected toto locatelocate thethe correctcorrect wordswords andand writewrite themthem inin thethe appropriateappropriate missingmissing spaces.spaces. PupilPupil numbernumber oneone isis notnot doingdoing thethe exerciseexercise andand maymay bebe daydreaming,daydreaming, walkingwalking aroundaroundthe the room,room, etc.etc. PupilPupil numbernumber twotwo isis tryingtrying totodo do the the exerciseexercise andand isis eithereither notnot writingwriting inin anyany answersanswers (out(out ofof embarrassmentembarrassment overover puttingputting inin foolishfoolish answers)answers) oror puttingputting inin randomlyrandomly aa fewfew correctcorrect butbut mostlymostly incorrectincorrect answers.answers. PupilPupil number number three three isis doingdoing the the same same thing thing as as number number twotwo eveneven thoughthough thethe formerformer cancan decode.decode. NumberNumber three'sthree's problemproblem isis thatthat he he is is not not thinkingthinking logicallylogically thoughthough hehe isis tryingtrying to.to. PupilPupil numbernumber fourfour isis gettinggetting manymany ofof hishis answersanswers correctcorrect butbut isis havinghaving difficultydifficulty (inexplicable(inexplicable toto himself)himself) withwith problemsproblems likelike this: this: Warm isis to to hot just just as as good is is to to ______(Maney,(Maney, 1965)1965) Whereas thethe correct answer isis "wonderful," thethe pupil may believe itit "bad," a logicallogical wrong answer. The pupil isis using logic (" 'good'goodw Z5 the opposite of 'bad''bad' and 'warm''warm' isis notnotthe the same as 'hot,'hot,' ' isn't it?" thethepupil pupil may ask.) but he is not thinking the problem through. If he were, he would realize that "good" and "wonderful" are not antonymous but are variants of the same concept. (The same explanation goes for "warm" and "hot.") Nevertheless, pupil number four may be getting up to 75%75 % of his answers correct because of his limited use of logic and compounded, maybe, with a knowledge oftheof the process of elimination. Pupil number five is doing better than 75% and is exhibiting nopatternno pattern of errors.

REFERENCES

Hilgard, Ernest, et. al IntroductionIntroduction to Psychology. New York: Harcourt & Jovanovich,Jovanovich, 1971.1971. Maney, Ethel. Reading-ThinkingReading-Thinking SkillsSkz'lls 3'.3'. Elizabethtown,Elizabethtown, Penna.Penna. ConCon­ tinentaltinental Press,Press, 1965,1965, pp.pp. 11 &12.& 12. Moffett,Moffett, James.James. AA Student-CenteredStudent-Centered LanguageLanguage ArtsArts Curriculum,Curriculum) GradesGrades K-K- 13:13: AA HandbookHandbook ForFor Teachers,Teachers) Boston:Boston: HoughtonHoughton Mifflin,Mifflin, 1968.1968. Wellman,Wellman, Ruth.Ruth. "Thinking:"Thinking: AA DimensionDimension ofof thethe LanguageLanguage Arts.Arts."" ElementaryElementary EnglishEnglz5h (April,(April, 1974),1974),512.512. REMEDIATIONREMEDIATION FORFOR THETHE POORPOOR COLLEGECOLLEGE READER:READER: PROBABILITIESPROBABILITIES OFOF SUCCESSSUCCESS

MarkMark E.E. ThompsonThompson UNIVERSITYUNIVERSITY OFOF KENTUCKYKENTUCKY

INTRODUCTIONINTRODUCTION

Reading isis a most complexcomplex formfonn of behavior, yet itit isis basic toto allall academicacademic tasks.tasks. One must be ableable toto successfullysuccessfully interpretinterpret thethe meaning of words to functionfunction inin thethe academic environment. Unfortunately, therethere are thousandsthousands of freshmenfreshmen annually enteringourentering our institutionsinstitutions ofhigherlearningof higher learning without the reading skills needed to complete college levellevel work. This problem isis most acute in two-year colleges with a student population that isis relatively disadvantaged compared to students in four-year colleges. Two-Two­ year colleges have more high-risk students in terms of their chances to complete degree aspirations than do four-year colleges and universities. Research conductedwithconducted with high-risk college students to develop reading skills has been successful. High-risk students can overcome educational handicaps with the help of professional remedial specialists. This article will discuss some of the unique problems within higher education that are present as a result ofofan an open door policy for students. The open door policy has resulted in more high-risk students in higher education, particularly the two-year colleges. The specific development includes a discussion of the entering college population, research on remediation programs, strategies for helping the student and a brief summary.

Who Gets IntoInto College And Why?

Higher Education ininthe the United States attempts toto provide opportunities forfor the the masses rather rather than than for for a a closed closedelite elite group. Cross's (1968)(1968) notion of accessaccess and and accommodationaccommodation illustratesillustrates in in a a general general way way the the majormajor philosophiesphilosophies ofof higherhigher educationeducation inin regardregard tototheir their clients.clients. AAccess ccess representsrepresents thethe institution'sinstitution's willingnesswillingness toto acceptaccept thethe student, student, but but the the student student must must confonnconform oror adjust adjust to to the the institution.institution. AccommodationAccommodation representsrepresents anan attempt attempt onon the the part part of of the the institutioninstitution toto adjustadjust toto the the student.student. TheThe rapid rapid develop­develop mentment of of two-yeartwo-year institutionsinstitutions ofof higher higher learning learning within within the the past past 15 15 yearsyears representsrepresents anan efforteffort toto accommodateaccommodate allall typestypes ofof students.students. ResearchResearch withwith academicacademic indicatorsindicators suggestssuggests thatthat studentsstudents enteringentering four­four- yearyear collegescolleges tendtend to to clustercluster inin the the top topthird third whereaswhereas noncollegenoncollege youthyouth scorescore inin the the lowestlowest third.third. The The junior junior collegecollege groupgroup has has substantial substantialnumbersat numbers at all all threethree levelslevels (Cross,(Cross, 1968).1968). ThorntonThornton (1966)(1966) saidsaid the the averageaverage academicacademic abilityability ofof two-yeartwo-year collegecollege studentsstudents isis lowerlower thanthan that that of of four-yearfour-year collegecollege rh-123rh 123

students.students. Most Most two-yeartwo-year collegescolleges welcomewelcome studentsstudents who who represent represent various various levelslevels ofof tested tested academic academic aptitudeaptitude andand all all segments segments of of the the socio-economic socio-economic lifelife ofof theirtheir communities.communities. GenerallyGenerally two-year two-year students students are are likelylikely toto come come from from families families with with lower lower educationaleducational attainment attainment and and income income resourcesresources thanthan universityuniversity oror four-year four-year collegecollege students.students. Two-yearTwo-year studentsstudents dodo not not considerconsider themselvesthemselves as as well well preparedprepared for for college college as as do do students students in in four-year four-year collegescolleges andand universities;universities; moreover, theythey have have lessless confidence in,in, and and are are frequently frequently critical critical of, of, their their high school courses and teachers (Cohen, 1971). Measures of intellectualintellectual orientation clearly differentiate among high schoolschool graduates who whoenroll enroll in two-yeartwo-year colleges and those who attend four year colleges. Students at­ at tendingtending two-yeartwo-year institutionsinstitutions are lower on measures of intellectualintellectual orien­orien tationtation when whencompared compared to students attending four-year four-yearinstitutions(Trend institutions (Trend & Medsker, 1968). On measures of autonomy and non-authoritarianism, variables frequently associated with intellectual disposition, several in­in vestigators have found lower scores for two-year students and less flexibility in thinking than in four-year college and university populations (Warren, 1966). The open door policy attempts not to discriminate on the basis of academic factors as well as non-academic factors (age, sex, race, ethnic background, socio-economic factors). If one accepts Burton R. Clarke's (1972) thesis that college effects occur primarily not at the level of attitude and values but in the allocation of statuses and roles, then it becomes necessary to open the door to all. Meyer (1972) expands on this point by stating it makes no difference whether a college graduate has learned anything. The fact is a graduate'sjobgraduate's job prospects, income potential, access to political and civil service positions, marital prospects, and other opop­ portunities are greatly altered. Yet, by opening the doors to all, regardless of ability, problems are created. The primary problem is accepting responsibility for the welfare of the high-risk student. Who are the high-risk students that enter our institutions of higher learning? Most likelylikely they come from culturally disadvantaged backgrounds, meaning low in the socio-economic status of society. Charles H. Anderson (1971)(1971) saidculturaltraitsofthesaid cultural traits of the poorreappeartimeandpoor reappear time and again throughoutthroughout thethe literatureliterature on poverty: social isolation,isolation, lowlow self-image, limitedlimited aspirations,aspirations, inabilityinability toto communicate,communicate, implusiveness,implusiveness, existence-existence­ oriented rather than improvement-oriented, fear, resignation, fatalism and inabilityinability toto understand bureaucratic behavior. The inability to comcom­ municatemunicate isis definitelydefinitely aa handicapinhandicap in thethe academicacademic world.world. MalcolmMalcolm DouglassDouglass (1967)(1967) saidsaid thosethose whosewhose speakingspeaking andand listeninglistening capacitiescapacities areare poorlypoorly developeddeveloped willwill bebe hamperedhampered inin readingreading printprint andand writing.writing. HavighurstHavighurst (1970)(1970) saidsaid aboutabout halfhalf thethe disadvantageddisadvantaged childrenchildren inin thisthis countrycountry oror fiffIf­ teenteen percentpercent ofof thethe totaltotal childchild populationpopulation areare severelyseverely retardedretarded inin educationaleducational achievement.achievement. AA poorpoor readerreader inin collegecollege moremore thanthan likelylikely willwill bringbring withwith himhim oror herher traitstraits thatthat compoundcompound thethe readingreading problem.problem. Spache'sSpache's (1964)(1964) researchresearch inin­ dicatesdicates poorpoor readersreaders havehave lowlow scoresscores onon attitudesattitudes towardtoward schoolschool andand maybemay be \24~rh124-rh emotionallyemotionally disturbeddisturbed regardingregarding theirtheir readingreading abilities.abilities. BannatyneBannatyne (1971)(1971) notesnotes aa strongstrong associationassociation betweenbetween poorpoor readingreading attainmentattainment andand antisocialantisocial disorderdisorder butbut littlelittle associationassociation betweenbetween readingreading attainmentattainment andand neurosis.neurosis. FeldmanFf'lom