Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

K–12: Phonics Is Winning
American Thinker ^ | Oct. 25, 2019 | Bruce Deitrick Price

Posted on 12/05/2019 4:42:33 PM PST by BruceDeitrickPrice

click here to read article


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-55 last
To: ModelBreaker
"For kids learning, they learn to speak using phonics. "

One of my grandsons is just two. We have a great video of him "speaking" to me at the dinner table. He gesticulates with his hands. He emphasizes some words over others. He speaks in complex sentences. He enunciates very clearly. And he can carry on for many minutes at a time.

The remarkable thing is that he is not speaking English. It's almost like he has his own language. The sound of it is similar to the main character in the movie "Nell". But in his case it is all self-invented.

41 posted on 12/05/2019 7:09:02 PM PST by William Tell
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 38 | View Replies]

To: VTenigma

“Same here. I may not be classified as a “speed reader” but I read extremely fast compared to most.”

my method is to scan a page vertically, taking in entire lines at a time, looking for the parts that matter, and then slowing down and more carefully studying the important parts ...

speed-reading is the main reason i don’t have the patience to watch most video clips ... the information content to time ratio is very poor in most cases (especially lecture type vids or pontificating type vids), plus there’s not a good way to speed past the parts that are BS, which in the case of most video clips is most of them ... two exceptions though: entertainment vids and vids that demonstrate practical matters, like showing how to take apart, repair, and reassemble things one has never repaired before ...


42 posted on 12/05/2019 7:43:40 PM PST by catnipman (Cat Nipman: Vote Republican in 2012 and only be called racist one more time!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: impimp

The arrogant tone of the article implies that the author knows best. Author doesn’t know enough to even know how much they don’t know.


Yeah, just ignore the hundreds of studies that prove you wrong, plus the data that show the massive decline in reading ability in the general population.


43 posted on 12/05/2019 7:58:56 PM PST by webstersII
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: MrEdd

After spending time in Japan I strongly disagree that Kanji is not used as much. Kanji still forms the backbone of most of their writing.


44 posted on 12/05/2019 8:06:23 PM PST by webstersII
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: Little Pig
It is easier to read Japanese hiragana phonetically than English.
45 posted on 12/05/2019 8:10:55 PM PST by Hiddigeigei ("Talk sense to a fool and he calls you foolish," said Dionysus - Euripides)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: webstersII

I spent two years there.
I brought an awful lot of anime magazines.
Only titles are in kanji.


46 posted on 12/05/2019 8:18:55 PM PST by MrEdd (Caveat Emptors)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 44 | View Replies]

To: dfwgator

“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.”
**************************************
So what’s your point? ;-)


47 posted on 12/05/2019 8:38:33 PM PST by House Atreides (Boycott the NFL 100% — PERMANENTLY)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: BruceDeitrickPrice

85 years? I was taught phonics all through grade school in the 50s-early 60s. By the time my kids were in grade school in the 80s phonics had gone.


48 posted on 12/05/2019 9:49:14 PM PST by RJS1950 (The democrats are the "enemies foreign and domestic" cited in the federal oath)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: marktwain
I think that you described the normal path for speed readers. First learn the proper pronunciation using phonics, commit the word and meaning to memory and then practice the sight of the word to improve the rate at which the word is processed.

I am not opposed to phonics as it is a necessary skill for when one encounters unfamiliar words. I do believe that phonics should not be the end and as you described, sight reading should be the next “natural” progression to improve reading rate and comprehension.

As for consuming technical material I would say it depends on the technical background. I have found that as I advance in my understanding of networking, topics which I am familiar with can be consumed much faster. I guess it all comes down to one’s habits of reading.

Personal opinion - I believe that phonics can only make someone a marginal speller in English and often works to interfere with proper spelling. My spelling was extremely poor until I learned alternate the alternate pronunciation method.

For example “stomach” I now mentally process as sto-mach not stum-ick for the purpose of spelling the word. “knight” becomes k-night, etc.

49 posted on 12/06/2019 6:49:29 AM PST by taxcontrol (Stupid should hurt - dad's wisdom)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 39 | View Replies]

To: taxcontrol
For example “stomach” I now mentally process as sto-mach not stum-ick for the purpose of spelling the word. “knight” becomes k-night, etc.

I use similar phonetic tricks for spelling.

I have had to become a better speller, to be a better writer.

Spell checkers help a great deal.

50 posted on 12/06/2019 8:05:55 AM PST by marktwain (President Trump and his supporters are the Resistance. His opponents are the Reactionaries.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 49 | View Replies]

To: catnipman
speed-reading is the main reason i don’t have the patience to watch most video clips ... the information content to time ratio is very poor in most cases (especially lecture type vids or pontificating type vids), plus there’s not a good way to speed past the parts that are BS, which in the case of most video clips is most of them ... two exceptions though: entertainment vids and vids that demonstrate practical matters, like showing how to take apart, repair, and reassemble things one has never repaired before ...

You have correctly identified the reason I think the printed word will maintain a place in society.

It is so much faster at imparting the important information. Video/ images have a lot more information, but most of it is not important and/or distracting.

It shows the usefulness of skill in writing.

51 posted on 12/06/2019 8:09:19 AM PST by marktwain (President Trump and his supporters are the Resistance. His opponents are the Reactionaries.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 42 | View Replies]

To: taxcontrol
“knight” becomes k-night

Not kniggit?


52 posted on 12/06/2019 8:11:22 AM PST by Magnum44 (My comprehensive terrorism plan: Hunt them down and kill them.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 49 | View Replies]

To: marktwain

Very true. I much prefer reading to watching.
That being said, when I watch most videos, I up the speed to 1.5 or 2x. (Tip: this doesn’t work well for Ben Shapiro clips becauseheisafasttalkerwhonevertakesanypauses.)


53 posted on 12/06/2019 8:13:05 AM PST by ClearCase_guy (If White Privilege is real, why did Elizabeth Warren lie about being an Indian?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 51 | View Replies]

To: Wonder Warthog

Many of my kids learned to read before the age of one. This article doesn’t address young readers. I mean young. Dr. Titzer is an academic supporting what I say.


54 posted on 12/06/2019 11:07:50 AM PST by impimp
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: Little Pig
If whole-word really didn’t work, the Japanese and Chinese languages would have collapsed long ago, as both cannot be read phonetically.


Isn't it better to have a language that works phonetically, as well as integrally?
55 posted on 12/06/2019 1:01:20 PM PST by The_Media_never_lie (Please, oh pretty please let Crazy Uncle Joe Biden be the nominee.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-55 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson