Hi Norm,
Thanks for your post. I've read a little bit of the research you
refer to, but not much, and not lately.
I must admit that I am skeptical, though, of the applicability and
utility of this research for educators, particularly classroom
teachers. Given that there is still so much to learn about other
aspects of reading and literacy and the teaching of them that could
be of great use to classroom teachers, my position is that a
brain-based perspective is not of high priority. Not much of the last
20 years of research on the interactional, social, and cultural
dimensions of teaching and learning literacy has made it into our
field of college reading and learning. That research is often more
accessible, more directly applicable by teachers, and is, in fact, a
dialogue that practicing teachers can participate in and inform. So,
not only can we practitioners USE the insights from this
research--because we CAN influence the situations students learn to
read in (but cannot directly manipulate their brain functioning)-- we
can also influence discussions about research and theory of social
and cultural aspects of literacy learning by sharing the knowledge
we've garnered through practice.
I'm also skeptical about the ultimate utility of brain research to
most of the issues I work with students on. For instance, do we
really believe that reading critically and reading for comprehension
are that different at a neural level? Is effectively reading a
textbook that different in terms of brain function than reading a
scholarly article? Is reading a novel for the purposes of literary
criticism like that expected at my institution that different--in
terms of brain "circuitry" --than the circuitry involved in reading
the same novel for the typical high school book report? All of these
are real issues, for me representative of the most important issues
facing my students, that I cannot conceive brain research saying much
about.
Do we have instruments that would be sensitive enough to discern
these kinds of differences even if they exist? And, again, what would
a teacher do with this data? How applicable is information about
universal brain function to the particular student sitting across
from you in your office hours?
I realize brain-based approaches to reading is not your specialty,
but I have some questions that you may be able to address based on
Charles Perfetti's presentation. With respect to the posting from
Read Right via Dan Kern that sparked this discussion in the first
place, it was stated that, "Annually, the dichotomy results in
millions of children and teens that struggle with reading, leading
ultimately to millions of college students who struggle with their
coursework." Did Charles Perfetti's presentation at NRC give any
indication that millions of college readers struggle with their
coursework because they suffer from some anomalous brain functioning?
From what you know, could such a claim that millions of college
students suffer from this problem be credible? Clearly, millions of
students have difficulty with college-level reading, but how do we
know it's because of some problem with their brains? Do you know if
Perfetti and the others you mention have ways of distinguishing
reading problems due to brain function from reading problems due to
other reasons, e.g. lack of strategies or subject matter knowledge?
Of course, if anyone else on the list can address these issues, I'd
appreciate hearing from you.
Thanks,
Nic
>For those interested in brain research that seems to be having some
>interesting impact on the overall field of literacy, you might desire to
>look at the work of folks such as Bennett and Sally Shaywitz, Charles
>Perfetti, Kenneth Pugh, among others. While some of the work has been done
>with problem readers, other work has been done with college freshmen.
>Perfetti did a great presentation at last year's NRC conference on the
>topic. Even those who do not believe that we are in a position to move such
>basic findings to the applied realm would have told you that he presented
>much to think about. He might be a viable keynote for the CRLA conference.
>
>Norman A. Stahl
>Professor and Chair
>Literacy Education
>GA 147
>Northern Illinois University
>DeKalb, IL 60115
>
>Phone: (815) 753-9032
>FAX: (815) 753-8563
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--
Knowledge emerges only through invention and reinvention, through
the restless, impatient, continuing, hopeful inquiry men pursue in
the world, with the world, and with each other. --Paolo Freire
Dominic (Nic) J. Voge
Study Strategies Program Coordinator
University of California, Berkeley
Student Learning Center
136 Cesar Chavez Student Center #4260
Berkeley, CA 94720-4260
(510) 643-9278
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http://slc.berkeley.edu
SPRING 2006 OFFICE HOURS:
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