Policy Press
8 Literacy and numeracy development
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Abstract
While the learning of language might be a natural process, reading is a highly unnatural activity; in fact, according to David Wren it is one of the most unnatural things we do. Reading is a cultural activity, developed only about 5,500 years ago. For most children, many aspects of reading need to be explicitly taught and only improve with practice. Often, learning to read requires a lot of hard work. Exactly how the skills are taught remains controversial, even though in the United Kingdom one method, synthetic phonics, is now mandatory.
Keith Stanovich has noted that when it comes to reading ability, the more children do of it, the better they get at it. He termed this the ‘Matthew effect’ because in literacy terms the rich always get richer and the poor always get poorer. Good readers tend to read more and so their reading improves. Poor readers tend to read less and so their reading falls further and further behind that of their more literate contemporaries.
Reading is a highly complex process involving several different areas of the brain, including visual and auditory processing areas as well as aspects of short-term memory. To read and understand a passage such as the one that you are now reading, a complex array of brain-based skills need to be utilised. These include regulation of eye movements, decoding a visual sign into a sound, making meaning from this sign and then holding this meaning in the memory.
Abstract
While the learning of language might be a natural process, reading is a highly unnatural activity; in fact, according to David Wren it is one of the most unnatural things we do. Reading is a cultural activity, developed only about 5,500 years ago. For most children, many aspects of reading need to be explicitly taught and only improve with practice. Often, learning to read requires a lot of hard work. Exactly how the skills are taught remains controversial, even though in the United Kingdom one method, synthetic phonics, is now mandatory.
Keith Stanovich has noted that when it comes to reading ability, the more children do of it, the better they get at it. He termed this the ‘Matthew effect’ because in literacy terms the rich always get richer and the poor always get poorer. Good readers tend to read more and so their reading improves. Poor readers tend to read less and so their reading falls further and further behind that of their more literate contemporaries.
Reading is a highly complex process involving several different areas of the brain, including visual and auditory processing areas as well as aspects of short-term memory. To read and understand a passage such as the one that you are now reading, a complex array of brain-based skills need to be utilised. These include regulation of eye movements, decoding a visual sign into a sound, making meaning from this sign and then holding this meaning in the memory.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- List of tables and figures vii
- About the authors ix
- Acknowledgements x
- Introduction to the second edition 1
- Getting to know the human brain 7
- How brains develop 27
- The development of thinking 43
- Health and the developing brain 63
- Emotional and social development 83
- Attachment and trauma 105
- Language development 133
- Literacy and numeracy development 155
- Learning and memory 175
- Genetics and neurodevelopmental disorders 199
- Glossary 221
- References 229
- Index 271
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- List of tables and figures vii
- About the authors ix
- Acknowledgements x
- Introduction to the second edition 1
- Getting to know the human brain 7
- How brains develop 27
- The development of thinking 43
- Health and the developing brain 63
- Emotional and social development 83
- Attachment and trauma 105
- Language development 133
- Literacy and numeracy development 155
- Learning and memory 175
- Genetics and neurodevelopmental disorders 199
- Glossary 221
- References 229
- Index 271
