The acquisition of reading
Date
1975
Authors
Forester, Anne D.
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Abstract
This study was undertaken to: (1) examine what it is a child does when he learns to read; (2) analyse the observed behavior to gain an insight into the thought and learning processes of the learner, and (3) attempt to see the process of learning to read from the point of view of the learner. It was based on the extension of parallels between oral language acquisition and learning to read which some reading research has stressed in recent years.
Seven assumptions served as the framework for analysis of the data. Assumptions 1 to 5 provide details of the thought processes which characterize oral language learning and postulate that parallels of these processes are likely to exist in reading acquisition. Assumptions 6 and 7 point to the differences between the thought and language of the child compared to that of adults and the need to analyze the child's behavior from his point of view.
The study was modelled after research on the acquisition of oral language which has yielded insights into the learning processes children use when learning to speak. In keeping with its linguistic focus and Piagetian research into the thought processes of the child, this study employed the method of intensive observation of a limited number of subjects. It was undertaken in a first-grade classroom in Victoria during the first six months of school. Four children - two boys and two girls - were .observed closely and, as time permitted, notations were also made on the reading behavior of other children (22 in all) in the classroom.
Classroom activities were recorded with the aid of video-tape, audio-tape and shorthand notes and two visits per week of one-and-a-half hours and one hour respectively provided the raw data for analysis. All recorded behavior was considered but particular stress was placed on differences between the children's oral responses and the written text or the teacher's expectations.
Analysis of the observational data confirms that children learning to read use thought processes and learning strategies similar to those used by infants learning to speak. They restructure the learning material to fit their level of linguistic and cognitive development and induce their own rules to deal with the language-learning tasks of the classroom. Children use meaning and the structure of language to guide their reading despite the fact that the instructional focus on sounds and words.