Fb2 Understanding Reading: A Psycholinguistic Analysis of Reading and Learning to Read, Sixth Edition (Routledge Education Classic Edition) ePub

This book was required for a graduate course in the psychology of reading. It was not too difficult to read and understand even though one in the field of reading may not necessarily agree with everything the author says. The author takes a more holistic approach to reading and its implications for classroom application.

There are two seminal books on reading: (1) "The Psychology and Pedagogy of Reading" by E.B. Huey (1908); and (2) "Understanding Reading" by Frank Smith (1971). Smith's book, now in its 6th and final edition, combines different areas of study to provide an understanding of the proficient reader. To understand reading requires understanding how language works and how learning works. It requires knowing the role that short-term memory plays in reading and the visual processing limitations of the eye and brain. Smith has integrated concepts from a range of disciplines superbly. This book is a classic, and Smith's ideas and insights about reading will influence scholars and teachers for generations to come.

The Kindle version of this book (ironically a textbook on reading) has annoying errors that make it unpleasant to read- for example, the commas are all apostrophes.

If you have any interest in what really happens in the reading process as well as in learning to read, this book is a "must read." Even the notes in the back are excellent. I have studied the reading process for over 22 years, and have never read a better explanation of the process. This book is a pleasure to read. I could not put it down.

Frank Smith presents problems for a reviewer. He is exceptionally smart, writes extremely well, and seems endlessly sincere. However, he has expended his talents in the promotion of Whole Word, a reading pedagogy that works better in theory than practice.

Understanding Reading--A Psycholinguistic Analysis of Reading and Learning to Read (Fifth Edition, 1994) consists of the original, vastly influential book published in 1971, plus 90 pages of new ideas and research.

Smith is brilliant at the flabbergasting finality: "Fluent reading does not normally require the identification of individual letters or words." (For more, Google my essay "The War Against Reading.")

Smith's point is always the same: phonics is not needed, and Whole Word is the preferred method. Smith is considered Whole Word's chief apostle.

One is reminded that Lord Kelvin stated flatly in 1895 that heavier-than-air flight was impossible; and the New York Times proclaimed that rockets would never be launched into space. Upon seeing these claims proven wrong by reality, a scientist says, "Sorry about that." The priests in charge of Whole Word rarely have such epiphanies. Whole Word is for me a cloud-cuckoo land.

Significantly, this pedagogy does not claim to teach children to read until they are close to college age. The typical goal is that children will memorize 500 word-shapes per year (which is high for most children). Do the math: the smarter kids know less than 5000 words in the 10th grade, and are thus unable to read in any real sense.

All the experts I trust (Rudolph Flesch, Marva Collins, Samuel Blumenfeld, Mona McNee, Don Potter) make the same claim: 99% of children can be taught to read by the age of 7, or 8 at latest. This is the gold standard. If you can beat this, please speak up. If your theories lead to semi-literacy well into high school, please find new theories.

Consider these six-letter words: places spring rubber dhzept vhkwcx nshwtq. A person literate in English knows instantly that the last three "words" are not words. Victims of Whole Word cannot detect this. You could tell these victims that the last word means: "location." They would say, okay, and try to find some way to recall that "nshwtq" is pronounced "location." Such victims know nothing of the internal dynamics of English words, that sounds are captured in consistent and predictable ways. For the victims of Whole Word, every word is just a pile of sticks, a random assortment of scratches going in different directions. Frank Smith says you can easily memorize 50,000 of these irrational designs. Experience shows that one-third of kids can't memorize even 2000 and are therefore labeled "functional illiterates," a dire fate in our complex society.

Similarly, a person literate in English knows that "busy" is a word but "bsuy" is probably a typo. A Whole Word victim sees nothing odd about "bsuy." English words are basically learned like phone numbers. There's nothing odd about 1587649 compared to 1857649. Reversals are common when humans try to memorize either Whole Numbers or Whole Words. How many people could memorize even 100 phone numbers, never mind 500? In reading, such reversals are called dyslexia, an illusory problem created by an illusory pedagogy.

My own sense is that Whole Word occupies a unique distinction in American history: the single largest and most damaging scam. More than 70 years. More than 50 million victims. What else comes close?

(PS: I created 6 graphic videos for YouTube that explain the problems in Smith's thinking; search "Phonics versus Whole Word.")

I have to give this book a 1-star rating because I was sent the 2nd edition when I ordered the 6th edition shown on this page. I ordered the book used from a third-party vendor and said to cancel the order if it was an old edition, but they sent it anyway and Amz did not stand behind their guarantee because they said that the 2nd edition is not "materially different" from the 6th edition. If that is true, then the 6th edition is as badly out of date and lacking as the 2nd edition is.

Very dry and boring. Had to read it for a course. I did not enjoy it.