I discovered a rather interesting new book on sale the other day: "The
Reading Bug" by Paul Jennings (Penguin Books: Aust $24-95). The author, who
is also the author of some 30 books, mostly children's storybooks, has
written the current book for parents, whence the full title of "The Reading
Bug...and how you can help your child to catch it."
The book aims to assist hard-pressed teachers by engaging parents in the
learning-to-read process; which is remarkably similar to Rudolf Flesch's aim
in his classic work "Why Johnny Can't Read and what you can do about it."
But while Flesch espouses the phonics method, Jennings is a "whole
language" exponent; which he does in an entertaining manner, ably
accompanied by his cartoonist, Andrew Weldon - though sometimes their paths
seem to diverge. Or have I missed the point? Is the book written in an
ironic style, a la Dean Swift; but no, the author seems quite genuine.
However, even as a pro-phonics advocate I recommend the book as good
reading. I say this, even though phonics is somewhat denigrated - as merely
one option in teaching reading, to be used judiciously.
What shocked me most was - "I will admit that in the days when I knew no
better I taught my first daughter, Tracey, to read using phonically
controlled books. She started school aged five with a reading age of eight
years. She is now a fantastic reader and works as an editor." All I can
say is, lucky Tracey! However, it is not phonics which gets the credit, but
other factors, and we mustn't go by anecdotal evidence.
I approve of this book because any exponent of the whole language method
cannot help but reveal its weaknesses merely by expounding it - the
repetition and guessing involved, the search for textual "clues" re an
unknown word's meaning, the necessity of remedial teaching, the inability to
decode a word by analysis, etc.
Jennings writes that a risk-taker who composes "The magnifesent dinasaw
croucht on its loffty perch" is making more progress than the fearful writer
who comes up with "The cat sat on the mat." I would contend that this is
not the case; the Traditional (phonic)Tortoise may plod slowly along, but
will eventually outstrip the Holistic Hare. Phonic Primers may be mundane,
but I remember the wonderment and confidence I felt when I first saw "The
cat sat on the mat." in print, and knew what it meant.
"In Shakespeare's time spelling was optional"; and Flesch agrees with
this, even quoting historic text at some length. What changed things was
the advent of printing and dictionaries. In both cases, a "fixed" spelling
is desirable. Flesch admits that learning to spell English is difficult,
there being only 26 symbols to cope with 44 sounds, but a systematic
approach makes it relatively simple.
Where Jennings and Flesch differ markedly, however, is that Jennings says
"Reading and spelling are separate and different skills", whereas Flesch
states "Reading and spelling are two sides of the same thing."
As both books are addressed to parents, and purport to be do-it-yourself
manuals, it might be useful to have a comparative test - choose, say, a
dozen random homes, and give six Jenning's book, and six Flesch's, and see
which infants emerge as good readers after a predetermined length of time.
Paul Jennings says "Maybe my next book will be about spelling." I look
forward to this prospect, and will purchase a copy. It might be a learning
experience for us all.
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