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ОглавлениеTEACHING CHILDREN TO READ
THE MEANING AND THE PROBLEMS OF THE TEACHING OF READING
Reading Essentially a Problem of Thought Acquisition.—The word “Reading” is traced to the Anglo-Saxon “raedon,” which means “to advise.” “Raedon” referred to the process of searching in books (of bark) for counsel. The Latin “lego” means “to gather,” hence the derived meaning “to gather ideas from written sources.” These etymological definitions, crude and far from the vital problems that must be solved in teaching children to read, nevertheless reflect the essence of the function of reading, viz., “to impart ideas, thoughts, inspirations.” To the ancients, reading was a “mysterie,” a magic art, understood by the shamans and the medicine men. Although the ability to read is today part of every citizen’s educational right, we must, however, realize that it is none the less a “mysterie,” when we consider what a complex psycho-physiological process it is. How can a collection of symbols, static and formal themselves, arouse dynamic thought and living inspiration in the mind of the child?
The Elements of Reading.—I. To Extract Thought.—As far as the classroom is concerned, reading must discharge certain definite functions. We must consider these before we discuss methodology in reading, for they indicate the goal of all method. Classroom reading must seek to develop first, in each child, the ability to extract thought from the printed page. Since this is essentially the object of reading in after life, it must become the governing aim of the teacher’s endeavors. All other aims, such as pronunciation, expression, language, diction, must be subordinated to reading for thought.
2. Proper Vocalisation.—The second function of classroom reading is to develop the ability to properly vocalize, in the words of the author, the thought that was gained; in other words, the ability to read with accurate enunciation, clear articulation, and convincing expression. Here is posited a secondary aim of reading, which, however necessary in the classroom, forms no part of the reading of after life. The teacher finds this added function of reading exceedingly vital. Unless the child has proper vocalization how can she test his ability to recognize symbols, to speak articulately, to utter thought expressively? Through the oral rendition the teacher even learns whether the child has the author’s thought and responds to the emotional appeal. But, in after life, the sole function of reading is the acquisition of thought, while proper oral reading is regarded as a delightful accomplishment. In the final analysis, reading is a means of gaining thought, while oral reading is a means of expressing thought.
3. Literary Appreciation.—But a course of study in reading, the aims of which do not transcend thought acquisition and thought expression, fails in its most vital function. It must strive to develop, in addition, an appreciation of the best in literature. Reading that does not accomplish this end is sterile in those endeavors in which it ought to be most productive. We have left behind the formal conception of education which holds that the school must give only the symbols of knowledge. With such an aim in elementary education reading is complete that teaches how to gain thought and vocalize it correctly. But the scope of education, even of elementary grade, must be more liberal. It must be cultural and inspirational. No school subject is so well adapted to develop this spirit as reading. It introduces the child to the best thoughts and ideals in the life of the race. Its subject-matter, literature, should stimulate the finer emotions, train the imagination, and develop the æsthetic sense. A school course in reading which discharges these functions has fulfilled its raison d’être, for it has given the child the most effective instrument for self-culture and character development. This literary ideal should determine the choice of subject-matter from the very first grade. The school primer, whose inspirational appeal is summed up in “See the black cat!”, “What ails the lock?”, must rapidly become a relic of past pedagogical practice.
Charles William Eliot, of Harvard University, voices the ultimate end of reading in the school when he tells us, “From the total training during childhood, there should result in the child a taste for interesting and improving reading, which should direct and inspire its subsequent intellectual life. That schooling which results in this taste for good reading, however unsystematic and eccentric that schooling may have been, has achieved a main end of elementary education; and that schooling which has not succeeded in implanting this permanent taste has failed. Guided and animated by this impulse to acquire knowledge and exercise his imagination through reading, the individual will continue to exercise himself all through life.” G. Stanley Hall reënforces this statement with, “The prime object of the reading series should not be the cultivation of the art of reading, nor training to good style, nor grammatical or linguistic drill, important as these are, but the development of a living appreciation of good literature and the habit of reading it, rather than bad literature, for with this end all others are secured.”
The Problems in Teaching Children to Read.—With this view of the function of reading, what are the problems that confront us in teaching this art of thought acquisition? To begin with, we must look upon reading as a physiological process, for we must know how these symbols give rise to images on the retina, how the eye moves over this series of symbols, the strain that is experienced, the causes of fatigue and the conditions governing accurate and rapid visual grasp. Reading must be looked upon, secondly, as a psychological process, for the vital questions here are: “How are these visual symbols interpreted into thought?” “How can speed and accuracy of this interpretation be promoted?” And, finally, we must regard reading from its pedagogical aspect, for the teaching problems are many. Reading is an artificial process with artificial symbols. How shall it be made natural to the child? What means of motivation shall we use? Of the imposing array of methods in reading which shall we select, and what shall be the principle of choice? Should ninety-five per cent. of classroom reading be oral, if ninety-five per cent. of the reading of later life is silent? Will this training in oral reading make us proficient in silent reading? Should we train pupils to read slowly and orally in the classroom, in spite of the fact that the reading of mature life is visual and rapid? Does the slow oral reading of the classroom prepare for the rapid visual reading of later days? Is that recitation in reading efficient which requires that all children rivet their eyes on a single paragraph as some unfortunate victim labors through it? Each error makes the pupil more self-conscious and less able to perform the task. What do the other children learn? How much reading does a child learn by listening to others read, even though they be good readers? These are a few of a host of problems that arise in the teaching of the subject. Their answers are vital and make up the pedagogy of reading. The reader’s attention is therefore invited to three successive phases of the subject, which are treated in the chapters entitled, “The Physiology and Hygiene of Reading,” “The Psychology of Reading,” and “The Pedagogy of Reading.”
SUGGESTED READING[1]
Arnold, Sarah L. Learning to Read. Silver, Burdett & Co.
Carpenter, Baker and Scott. The Teaching of English, 66-75. Longmans, Green & Co.
Colby, J. R. Literature and Life in the School. Houghton Mifflin Co.
Goldwasser, I. Edwin. Method and Methods in the Teaching of English, chap. I. D. C. Heath & Co.
Huey, Edmund B. The Psychology and Pedagogy of Reading, chap. I. The Macmillan Co.
Laing, Mary E. Reading; A Manual for Teachers, chap. XXI. D. C. Heath & Co.
McClintock, P. L. Literature in the Elementary School. University of Chicago Press.
[1] The bibliographies at the end of each chapter are not exhaustive. The aim is, rather, to suggest such reading as will amplify and elaborate the various phases of the subject treated in each chapter. Where the publisher is not mentioned, the reader will find the book or the reference listed at the end of a previous chapter.
