how the brain learns to read august 20, 2013 educating the non-traditional student amy lincoln, phd,...

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HOW THE BRAIN LEARNS TO READ AUGUST 20, 2013 EDUCATING THE NON- TRADITIONAL STUDENT Amy Lincoln, PhD, CCC-SLP

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HOW THE BRAIN LEARNS TO READ

AUGUST 20, 2013

EDUCATING THE NON-TRADITIONAL STUDENT

Amy Lincoln, PhD, CCC-SLP

About myself…

Speech-Language Pathologist Learning Disability Specialist PhD in Neuroscience

17 years experience working with children with language and learning disabilities

Epicenter Therapy Services www.epicentertherapy.com

Agenda for the talk…

Provide an overview of the connection between spoken language and reading

Examine the complexities of the learning-to-read process

Consider the unique struggles of non-traditional, ELL students, who are learning to read

The foundation to reading is built on the child’s language system…

1. Spoken Language

• Language is VERY complex for typically developing children in their native language

• Language development is interrupted for IA (internationally adopted) children

• Not all “language” is alike

Spoken Language

Processing Spoken Language BRAIN BASICS

Brain uses Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas for language comprehension and expression

Also uses other neural networks in the left hemisphere

Ability to acquire spoken language is encoded in our genes

Diminishes around 10-12 years of age

Language is complex…

Consider this… A single human voice can pronounce all the

hundreds of vowel and consonant sounds that allow it to speak any of the estimated 6,500 languages that exist today

Learning Phonemes

Units of sounds Combine to form syllables Infant’s brain can respond to all (300+) Only those that are repeated get

attention By age one, neural networks focus on

sound in the infant’s environment # of phonemes in a language may vary

from 11-141

Words

Vocabulary Development First words are usually nouns, labels Action and relationship words come later

Consider this… By age 6…

Expressive vocabulary is ~ 2500+ words Receptive vocabulary is ~ 20,000+ words

Hart & Risley, 2003

The power of VOCABULARY

One study of early vocabulary demonstrated that toddlers (3-4 yrs.) from various socio-economic groups demonstrated the following average # of vocabulary words: Welfare child (529 words) Mid/Low SES (749 words) Upper SES (1,116 words)

Six years later, early scores were predictive of listening, speaking, syntax, semantics and reading skills at age 9-10.

Proust and the Squid, Maryanne Wolf, p.123

Vocabulary

“When one realizes that children have to learn about 88,700 written words during their school years and that at least 9,000 of these words need to be learned by the end of grade 3, the huge importance of a child’s development of vocabulary becomes crystal-clear.”

Language complexity grows exponentially

Phonemes: sounds Recognize hierarchy of language: nouns,

verbs, rules of grammar Vocabulary Morphemes: word parts (-s, -ed) Sentence level Speaking/Understanding

Explicit and inferred

ESL or ELL

ESL – English as a second language ELL – English Language Learner Because most adoptive parents do not speak

the child’s birth language, children quickly lose their abilities in that language Children adopted prior to the age of 2, develop

English similar to native speakers Children adopted at ages 3-4 years lose most

expressive use of their first language in 6-12 weeks

Older kids…??

Language Development in IA Children, Gindis, 2004

“Language Lurch”

The transition period when the first language skills have disappeared and their new language skills have yet to fully form.

“Remember: Language is a powerful tool used in the regulation of behavior: When this tool is taken away from a child, a host of behaviors can be observed…”

Pallier et al., 2003

Brain Basics…

Functional MRI studies of adults who were internationally adopted as children confirm that adult adoptees no longer recognize nor understand their first language, even those who were adopted at school age.

However, the same fMRI studies also confirm that internationally adopted adults process their new adopted language using different areas of the brain than those of native-language speakers.

Language vs. communication Communicative Language

Language skills needed for social interaction in everyday practical contexts

Basic pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar “Picnic Lunch” language

Cognitive Language Is a tool of reasoning, a means of literacy, and

a medium for academic learning “4th Grade Science Project Language”

Development of Cognitive Language

Children are predisposed to cognitive language mastery through their earlier experiences with the language

This step is what the majority of IA children miss in their early development

“Also, as their first language is rapidly lost and their new first language is still weak is a significant interruption of their language development”

Language Development in IA Children, Gindis, 2004

English Language “Mastery”

Communicative Language

≠Cognitive Language

• Learning to read is hard!• Reading requires good auditory

processing, visual processing and language processing (cognitive language) skills

2. The Reading Process

Learning to read

Relatively NEW phenomena Genes have not incorporated reading

into their coded structure If reading were a natural ability,

everyone would be doing it…

How hard is it to learn to read?

“Why is it that the hardest thing children are ever asked to do is the first thing they’re asked to do?!”

-Merryl Pischa, Reading Specialist

Nearly two-thirds of low-income 4th graders cannot read at the proficient level

Nearly 40 million adults (in US) are functionally illiterate

No one method or program has surpassed all others

How the Brain Learns to Read, David Sousa, p. 4-5

Studies Show…

Novice readers use different cerebral pathways than proficient readers

People with reading difficulties use different brain regions to decode written text than do typical readers

The brains of people with reading problems work harder than those of skilled readers

Even though dyslexia is a brain disorder, it is treatable

Brains of young struggling and dyslexic readers can be rewired to more closely resemble those used by typical readers

The reading process

decoding & meaning

Language Processing(Cognitive Language)

Auditory Processing

Visual Processing

Things that can go wrong with reading…

Auditory Problems• Preven

ts hearing the phonemes correctly

Visual Problems• Prevents

seeing letters clearly

• Prevents processing visual information accurately

Auditory/Visual Processing• Timing

s are not synchronized

Semantics• Word

meaning is not known

Working Memory• Memory

does not hold sounds or words long enough to attach meaning

Things that can go wrong with reading…

Auditory Problems• Preven

ts hearing the phonemes correctly

Visual Problems• Prevents

seeing letters clearly

• Prevents processing visual information accurately

Auditory/Visual Processing• Timing

s are not synchronized

Semantics• Word

meaning is not known

Working Memory• Memory

does not hold sounds or words long enough to attach meaning

Auditory Processing

Awareness that speech is composed of sounds (phonemes)

Recognition that written spellings represent sounds (alphabetic principle)

Understanding that phonemes can be manipulated

Phonemic awareness strong predictor of reading success in later grades

Phonemic awareness…

Vowels

Vowel Chart representing where in the mouth vowel sounds are produced…

Source: wikimedia.org

Our brains are wired to hear our native language…

American-English Vowels Amharic Vowels

Things that can go wrong with reading…

Auditory Problems• Preven

ts hearing the phonemes correctly

Visual Problems• Prevents

seeing letters clearly

• Prevents processing visual information accurately

Auditory/Visual Processing• Timing

s are not synchronized

Semantics• Word

meaning is not known

Working Memory• Memory

does not hold sounds or words long enough to attach meaning

Visual Processing Skills, necessary for reading…

Eye-tracking and peripheral vision Eye teaming and convergence Eye focusing stamina and accuracy Visual discrimination Visual figure ground Visual processing speed Part/whole relationships

http://www.mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk/people/matt.davis/cmabridge/

Visual Processing…

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

Visual Processing

Can you read this? Can yOu ReaD this?

How about these… هذا تقرأ أن يمكنك

你能讀 మీరు� ఈ చదు�వుకోవచ�

Можете это прочитать

Visual Processing

Visual spatial patterns in reading Left to Right Front to Back Top to bottom

Culturally based Learned through repeated exposure to

books

Visual Processing:Alphabetic Principle

Learning letters IS NOT EASY… The letters are abstract and unfamiliar to new

readers There are about 44 English phonemes but only

26 letters-each phoneme is not coded with a unique letter

There are over a dozen vowel sounds but only five letters- a,e,i ,o,u – to represent them

The reader needs to recognize that how a letter is pronounced depends on the letters that surround it (e.g., pet, Pete, pea)

Alphabetic Principle: Example

There once was a beautiful bear who sat on a seat near to breaking and read by the hearth about how the earth was created. She smiled beautifully, full of ideas for the realm of her winter dreams.

Alphabetic Principle: Example

There once was a beautiful bear who sat on a seat near to breaking and read by the hearth about how the earth was created. She smiled beautifully, full of ideas for the realm of her winter dreams.

Things that can go wrong with reading…

Auditory Problems• Preven

ts hearing the phonemes correctly

Visual Problems• Prevents

seeing letters clearly

• Prevents processing visual information accurately

Auditory/Visual Processing• Timings are

not synchronized

• Retrieval Speed

• Having the knowledge PLUS getting to it quickly

• Takes practice and repetition in controlled practice

Semantics• Word

meaning is not known

Working Memory• Memory

does not hold sounds or words long enough to attach meaning

Strategies

Provide controlled text for practice Phonetically controlled readers Keep presenting age-level interests

Provide minimal pair drills bot/dot

Do receptive and expressive drilling Which one says “kuh”, What does “K” say

Provide sentences with key words missing, have child provide word

Things that can go wrong with reading…

Auditory Problems• Preven

ts hearing the phonemes correctly

Visual Problems• Prevents

seeing letters clearly

• Prevents processing visual information accurately

Auditory/Visual Processing• Timing

s are not synchronized

Semantics• Word

meaning is not known

Working Memory• Memory

does not hold sounds or words long enough to attach meaning

Strategies for Semantics

Time “Meaningful” repeated exposure Previewing Generating/Answering questions Recognizing story structure Summarizing Mental Imagery (exposure to technology provides

images-students need to have directions for how to do this)

Paraphrasing THEMING* (when varied classroom activities center

around a theme, students can more easily comprehend their related readings

Things that can go wrong with reading…

Auditory Problems• Preven

ts hearing the phonemes correctly

Visual Problems• Prevents

seeing letters clearly

• Prevents processing visual information accurately

Auditory/Visual Processing• Timing

s are not synchronized

Semantics• Word

meaning is not known

Working Memory• Memory

does not hold sounds or words long enough to attach meaning

Working Memory

Stress

Working Memory

Some things to consider

ESL Students & Reading

First Priorities…

Health Attachment Adjustment

How the Brain Learns to Read, Sousa, p.107-108

Remember…spoken language is the foundation to literacy

“It is generally counterproductive to hasten young non-English speaking children into reading English without adequate preparation in speaking English” Reading in any language requires a solid,

mental lexicon of spoken vocabulary Learning to speak English should be the

first priority

Ideally, research supports…

Children should be taught to read in their native language first

Bilingual lessons and cooperative learning both increase ESL student achievement

But… **Bilingualism is not an option for the majority

of IA adopted children** It is most productive to concentrate on

developing and facilitating mastery of spoken English and reading will follow Forget the grade level!!

Thank you!

Q & A