Sent to Reading Today (International Reading Association), Nov. 26, 2014 The International Reading Association appears to be allergic to reading. Interrupting the cycle of word poverty (Nov/Dec 2014) recommends every possible way of boosting vocabulary except the only way that is truly effective and efficient: extensive reading. William Nagy and colleagues have published compelling evidence showing that we gradually acquire vocabulary from reading for meaning, evidence that suggests that reading alone can do the job of building a large vocabulary, and that reading for meaning is more efficient than direct instruction for vocabulary development After studying the size of the vocabulary appearing in printed school English, Nagy and Richard Anderson concluded that “our findings indicate that even the most ruthlessly systematic direct vocabulary instruction could neither account for a significant proportion of all the words the children actually learn, nor cover more than a modest proportion of the words they will encounter in school reading materials”. Certainly these results, many published in IRA journals, are worth mentioning. Stephen Krashen Professor Emeritus University of Southern California Member, Reading Hall of Fame Original article: Overturf, B. 2014. Interrupting the cycle of word poverty. Reading Today, 32(3): 22-23. This letter, with sources, posted at: tinyurl/m45x7ck
Posted on: Thu, 27 Nov 2014 03:47:58 +0000
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