CDBC/BCAAN Research Bite: Originally emailed February 9, 2024

Book recommendation: Language at the Speed of Sight. The author, Mark Seidenberg, is a major advocate for translating the science of reading into education. He explains things such as the science behind the “Cambridge hoax” where we can easily read words with mixed up letters. Try some of his reading demos. Listen to Seidenberg talk about the science of reading in a video on his website. A couple of important points:

1. Language development is essential for reading development.
2. Explicit instruction is necessary to scaffold reading, but implicit learning plays an important role, and implicit learning speeds up the process of learning to read.
3. Phonemic awareness develops in conjunction with learning about print; it is a result of being a skilled reader, not a precursor. He details this here,  also available in a recording.
4.  To show the impact of reading on phonological awareness, he points to research which shows that when asked to say “sword” without the “s” good readers often say “word.” He makes the point that phonological awareness training should be paired with print/letters.

For more high quality information on the science of reading, check out – Reading Rockets: “A national public media literacy initiative offering information and resources on how young kids learn to read, why so many struggle, and how caring adults can help.”