The missing foundation in teacher education: Knowledge of the structure of spoken and written language |
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Authors: | Louisa Cook Moats |
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Institution: | (1) The Greenwood Institute, Putney, Vermont;(2) P.O. Box 253, 05043 East Thetford, VT |
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Abstract: | Reading research supports the necessity for directly teaching concepts about linguistic structure to beginning readers and
to students with reading and spelling difficulties. In this study, experienced teachers of reading, language arts, and special
education were tested to determine if they have the requisite awareness of language elements (e.g., phonemes, morphemes) and
of how these elements are represented in writing (e.g., knowledge of sound-symbol correspondences). The results were surprisingly
poor, indicating that even motivated and experienced teachers typically understand too little about spoken and written language
structure to be able to provide sufficient instruction in these areas. The utility of language structure knowledge for instructional
planning, for assessment of student progress, and for remediation of literacy problems is discussed.
The teachers participating in the study subsequently took a course focusing on phonemic awareness training, spoken-written
language relationships, and careful analysis of spelling and reading behavior in children. At the end of the course, the teachers
judged this information to be essential for teaching and advised that it become a prerequisite for certification. Recommendations
for requirements and content of teacher education programs are presented. |
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Keywords: | |
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