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Analysis points to a unexpected cause of reading difficulties

phys.org

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Re: Analysis points to a unexpected cause of reading difficulties

#21

Post by AlotOfReading »

zerof1l wrote: post #12

It would be interesting to see a study comparing languages where writing encodes sounds like English versus languages where writing encodes meaning, like Chinese. And also how a person’s visual and auditory capabilities relate to reading. Because languages like English need both I think. I’m learning Japanese, and I’ve started learning Chinese characters, both their meanings and how to read them. Reading them feels d…

The other major branch of the sino-tibetan languages is traditionally written in alphabetic scripts like Tibetan. If there's a meaningful practical difference associated with what kind of writing system you use, it's not obvious to me what it would be. Modern English is much less phonetic than classical Tibetan as well.

Re: Analysis points to a unexpected cause of reading difficulties

#22

Post by tuukkah »

ckemere wrote: post #17

To the people who are thinking about other languages, "Lexical decoding" - recognition of a word during reading was the strongest predictor of reading compression (as opposed to phonological). Restating the highlighted result: Gc ("Comprehension-Knowledge") had the strongest effect on both lexical and phonological decoding. Knowing a word makes it easiest to comprehend when reading. This is probably completely obviou…

I think that only applies if learning to read in English. In a more phonemic writing system, if you can read, you can read any unfamiliar word too. This way, even a young child can read anything to quickly acquire more vocabulary unrelated to what their parents ever acquired.

Re: Analysis points to a unexpected cause of reading difficulties

#23

Post by anonymars »

aleqs wrote: post #18

Somewhat off-topic but related - doing a lot of AI-assisted coding lately, multiple projects at the same time. I'm basically in 15 hour loops of reviewing code/output and creating prompts, switching to the next project while Claude (and others) work. I noticed an almost dyslexia emerging where I'm thinking of the prompt/instructions while typing, then I look at what I typed and it's not what I was thinking - sometime…

> I'm thinking of the prompt/instructions while typing, then I look at what I typed and it's not what I was thinking

> I'm basically in 15 hour loops

When does...sleeping...happen?

Re: Analysis points to a unexpected cause of reading difficulties

#24

Post by skyberrys »

The solution pointed to by this article is as basic and practical as learning how to read is. For someone to become a successful reader they need a supportive environment around them, willing to work with the young reader and help them overcome the many small difficulties that make reading seem impossible at first.

Re: Analysis points to a unexpected cause of reading difficulties

#25

Post by QuercusMax »

One of my kids has a fair bit of auditory processing issues, and had to have special help in school learning to read - we couldn't figure out how to help them at home. Now they're the biggest reader I know, but without help they might have continued to struggle for a long time.

Re: Analysis points to a unexpected cause of reading difficulties

#28

Post by taeric »

tuukkah wrote: post #8
taeric wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Reading is almost phonetic" is a largely meaningless phrase. There are some orthographies that are more regular than others. But, indeed, the very confusion people love to talk about with English only works if it is phonetic, but ambiguous. And just solving for one form of ambiguity does not, necessarily, help. Consider contronyms. Words that are literally their own opposites. I'm convinced the main thing lost in ge…

I think you misunderstand. In a largely phonetic language, almost everyone learns to read in one school semester, after which it's a fully solved problem - no spelling bees or anything. Peculiarly, you don't need spelling bees either when learning English later. ("Contronyms" and "words" are orthogonal to reading as they apply to spoken language too (and it's very much automatic).)

I think you don't understand the various orthographies.

Again, you base the claim that English is not phonetic based on confusions in how different phonemes are represented using the 26 symbols of our alphabet. A thing that is defined as symbols representing phonemes. You could also have a syllabary or a logography. The syllabary would still be phonetic, of course. A logographic writing system is truly not phonetic. Think emoji.

And, of course, I'm summarizing very very briefly.

Re: Analysis points to a unexpected cause of reading difficulties

#29

Post by taeric »

btreesOfSpring wrote: post #9
taeric wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Reading is almost phonetic" is a largely meaningless phrase. There are some orthographies that are more regular than others. But, indeed, the very confusion people love to talk about with English only works if it is phonetic, but ambiguous. And just solving for one form of ambiguity does not, necessarily, help. Consider contronyms. Words that are literally their own opposites. I'm convinced the main thing lost in ge…

There is a reason why German kids don't have spelling bees.

And, of course, the main reason we have spelling bees is that people enjoy them.

Re: Analysis points to a unexpected cause of reading difficulties

#30

Post by phkahler »

tuukkah wrote: post #22
ckemere wrote: post #17

To the people who are thinking about other languages, "Lexical decoding" - recognition of a word during reading was the strongest predictor of reading compression (as opposed to phonological). Restating the highlighted result: Gc ("Comprehension-Knowledge") had the strongest effect on both lexical and phonological decoding. Knowing a word makes it easiest to comprehend when reading. This is probably completely obviou…

I think that only applies if learning to read in English. In a more phonemic writing system, if you can read, you can read any unfamiliar word too. This way, even a young child can read anything to quickly acquire more vocabulary unrelated to what their parents ever acquired.

>> In a more phonemic writing system, if you can read, you can read any unfamiliar word too.

You mean pronounce the word. Reading is supposed to include comprehension.

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