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- From: hrubin@pop.stat.purdue.edu (Herman Rubin)
- Subject: Re: Bah! to bhaashaa
- Message-ID: <C0nKMG.4vG@mentor.cc.purdue.edu>
- Sender: news@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (USENET News)
- Organization: Purdue University Statistics Department
- References: <1993Jan8.141523.4947@memstvx1.memst.edu>
- Date: Sun, 10 Jan 1993 19:25:28 GMT
- Lines: 30
-
- In article <1993Jan8.141523.4947@memstvx1.memst.edu> connolly@memstvx1.memst.edu writes:
- >Two comments:
-
- >1. If you consult any professor of education, you will discover that it
- >has long been known that people read English by recognizing whole words.
- >In fact, it was at one time usua;lly taught that way: the "look-and-say"
- >method. And most teachers do teach a lot of sight words.
-
- You have misstated even the educationists; the claim is that good readers
- read by recognizing whole words.
-
- And if you consult somebody else, you will be told that this is utter
- nonsense. The "look-and-say" method of teaching produced a generation
- of illiterates, and set of the one successful revolution against the
- excesses of the educationists.
-
- Now I do know how their the "reasoning" behind the educationists' claim.
- It has long been known that good readers take in even several words at a
- glance. But this does not mean that the brain processes things this way.
-
- Also, I believe that most readers of this group are aware that, no matter
- what language is being read, the brain carries out the processing which
- recognizes roots and modifications. It is this ability to use structure
- which enables the efficient learning and use of language, not memorizing
- lots of minor variations.
- --
- Herman Rubin, Dept. of Statistics, Purdue Univ., West Lafayette IN47907-1399
- Phone: (317)494-6054
- hrubin@snap.stat.purdue.edu (Internet, bitnet)
- {purdue,pur-ee}!snap.stat!hrubin(UUCP)
-