Reading and writing

Book ReviewBy Group 2

INTRODUCTION The acts of reading and writing are integral to

literacy, In this chapter, we will therefore first construct an overall understanding of literacy by contemplating the current views on the concept. Then look at reading and writing separately. With regard to each, the act per se will first be analysed to identify the points of challenge facing the learner; this will be followed by discussion on the development of proficiency. In conclusion, we will consider some difficulties and problems which could arise

LITERACY - The concept Understanding that literacy concerns all facets of

communicative competence requires us to recognize that literacy practices might differ from the context of one family, community and system to another. This in turn reflects onto each of us individually. What are your communicative strengths? How did you come by these - what role did your environment play in the process? In which types and styles of literacy do you think that you still need to grow? How do these needs also reflect your environment? Your understanding of emergent literacy will help you to answer such questions.

Emergent literacy Emergent literacy is key to the new

conception of literacy. The term describes the child's developing awareness of the inter-relatedness of oral and written language.

The principle of emergent literacy is based on the assumption that literacy as a communicative competence also develops gradually from within the child in accordance with these same abilities.

Elements of Emergent LiteracyThree essential elements of emergent literacy are : Something to get it started Something to sustain it Something to focus it

Literacy education - 01The following statements about literacy education which have been adapted and extended from Sampson et al. (1995) : The single most influential factor that

contributes to the emergence of literacy is the level of language that the child brings to the activities and experiences involved.

Literacy must truly permeate an environment for that environment to fully support the emergent literacy of its children.

Learning situations must be designed so that each learner will be challenged to acquire the skills and knowledge necessary for performing literately

Literacy education - 02 The development of reading and writing

proficiency is not 'an assembly-line process'. Direct instruction in 'how to read and write‘ only, is of limited value.

Understanding text does not necessarily result from knowing how to read words. The process requires the interaction of personal meanings and knowledge with those inherent in the text.

Similarly, producing coherent text depends more on the interaction of personal intent, knowledge and thinking than on knowing how to spell and write specific words.

READING - Circumscription Burns, Roe and Ross (1992) call reading a

life-skill, and have identified nine aspects of the reading process which combine to produce the reading product: sensory, perceptual, sequential, experiential, thinking, learning, associational, affective and constructive aspects.

In processing running text, readers use three sources of information, namely semantic, syntactic and graphophonic information (Pike et al.,1997; Sampson et al., 1995)

Decoding and word recognition Decoding is a complex process, entailing various

memory, attention and perceptual skills, both visual and auditory (Marsh & Hallet, 1999; Vacca et al, 2000;Everatt, 2002; Hatcher & Snowling, 2002; McEwan, 2002; Robertson & Bakker, 2002; Singleton, 2002)

Shanker and Eckwall (1998) point out that learning to decode, according to research findings, is more highly related to phonological awareness than to other well-known measures such as alphabet knowledge, intelligence and reading readiness

READING - Orthography The decoding operation is strongly

influenced by the degree of regular sound-symbol relationship in the orthography of the language of the text.

Orthographic differences between languages complicate the task of decoding for learners who have learned to read in their mother tongue and are then required to read in an additional language (Birch, 2002).

READING - Comprehension Communication by means of printed text

depends on comprehension. Indeed, comprehension is so integral to reading that Pike et al. (1997) believe reading and comprehension to be synonymous.

Manzo and Manzo (1995) regard the act of silently reading and comprehending a single page of print as one of the most highly integrated functions that we as humans perform.

Transformational comprehensionTransformational comprehension has the following attributes: It is dispositional It is mediational It is metacognitive and strategic It implies effective memory, and the

acquisition and application of a rich fund of information.

It articulates with the related language arts (Manzo & Manzo, 1995).

Development of reading maturity Manzo and Manzo (1995) provide this

thought provoking idea: promoting learners' progress toward reading maturity rather than merely toward reading competence.

Phases of development involved in achieving reading maturity as emergent literacy, learning to read, and achieving independent reading proficiency with regard to texts at various levels of complexity.

Reading difficulties An inadequate base/process of exposure to

environmental An inadequate culture of literacy and/or learning in

the home Emotional factors Life experiences that are limited or different from

those of the classmates Sensory factors Perceptual difficulties Limited cognitive potential. Language factors Education factors

WRITING - Circumscription There are two chief components involved

in writing, meaningful communication (composition), and encoding (transcription)

Composition concerns more than writing; it is primarily about thinking and represents the essence of the writer's communicative powers of construction and tone

Transcription is the process of converting what is being composed onto the page

Writing as expression and composition Browne (1999: 93) describes the

composition of text as “the intention to mean‘”, and recommends that children should experience a wide range of audiences in order to learn how to write in different ways and suit their writing to the situation and the reader

Writing in a language other than the mother tongue surely impacts on the learner's expression of ideas in many ways

Spelling Spelling is generally perceived to be more

difficult to master than decoding and word recognition in reading, since it requires the production of an exact sequence of letters, appears to contain limited linguistic clues and calls for constant phoneme-to-grapheme decisions

Differences between the orthographies of the mother tongue and an additional language of learning complicate the task significantly

Development of written compositionFive stages in the writing process that could usefully constitute a 'master plan' for teaching writing : Prewriting Drafting Revising Editing Publishing

Development of spellingFive stages are distinguished in development of spelling (Manzo & Manzo, 1995; Bean & Bouffler, 1997; Browne, 1999): scribbling drawing non-phonetic lettering phonetic (often invented) spelling conventional (standard) spelling.

Writing and spelling difficultiesFactors generally related to difficulties in writing are : An inadequate base/process of exposure to

environmental print during the period of emergent literacy that affects learners' experience of the communicative and constructive nature of print.

An inadequate culture of literacy and/or learning in the home

Emotional factors Life experiences Sensory factors. Visual-motor and perceptual difficulties Limited cognitive potential Language factors Education factors

Thank YouGroup 21. Zainar. M. Salam2. Fauziyah Amin3. Herawati Abuhaer4. Fatimah Rezkyana5. Sumarlin