EDUCATION REPORT - Learning to Read

EDUCATION REPORT - Learning¹ to Read
By Jerilyn Watson

Broadcast: Thursday, June 10, 2004

This is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Education Report.

For most American children, summer is a time away from schoolbooks. But it is not supposed to be a time away from reading. One of the most important issues² in American education is how to teach children to read. The most common methods depend on phonics. This system teaches children to connect words with the sounds of the letters that form those words.

Children often learn the sounds of letters before they learn to read. With phonics, children are taught to "sound out" words they do not know. For example, to learn the word "cat," children first learn to recognize the sound of the letter C. Then they learn the sounds of the letters A and T used together. Finally, they join these sounds to form the word.

In another method of teaching³ phonics, children learn to recognize the whole word first. They write the word enough times until they remember it. Schools often present this method during the teaching of reading, not before. Then the children learn to study words for their sounds. This helps them understand why some letters are used in a word instead of others.

Experts say phonics makes it possible for children to sound out many words that they do not recognize by sight. However, the sound of a letter is not always the same in every word. For this reason, many teachers add other methods to teach reading.

A few years ago, a committee⁴ studied many reading methods. The National Reading Panel⁵ urged⁶ teachers to use phonics in their programs. And in two-thousand-two President Bush⁷ signed an education law called No Child Left Behind. It includes a program called "Reading First." The goal is to increase the reading skills of American children. The program is based on the suggestions of the National Reading Panel.

Over the years, there has been a lot of debate among teachers, parents and politicians⁸ over ways to teach reading. Another method is called whole language. Children are taught ways to learn new words not so much by how they sound as by how they are used. Supporters⁹ of phonics say this requires too much guessing. But a lot of experts say the best way to teach reading is to combine phonics and whole language methods.

This VOA Special Education Report was written by Jerilyn Watson. This is Steve Ember.

1 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

2 issues   

（水等的）流出( issue的名词复数 )； 出口； 放出； （特别重要或大众关注的）问题

参考例句：

• Let's start with the more easily addressable issues. 我们先从较容易处理的问题着手。
• Employment and taxation are the bread-and-butter issues of politics. 就业和征税是很重要的政治问题。

3 teaching   

n.教学，执教，任教，讲授；(复数)教诲

参考例句：

• We all agree in adopting the new teaching method. 我们一致同意采取新的教学方法。
• He created a new system of teaching foreign languages.他创造了一种新的外语教学体系。

4 committee   

n.委员会，全体委员

参考例句：

• We referred the matter back to the Finance Committee.我们把这事转回给财政委员会处理。
• I am going to speak out against the committee's decision.我打算直言反对委员会的决定。

5 panel   

n.面，板，专门小组，控制板，仪表盘

参考例句：

• The unusual control panel on the walls caught our attention.墙上不同寻常的控制板引起了我们的注意。
• The panel of judges included several well-known writers.评判小组中包括几位知名作家。

6 urged   

v.力劝( urge的过去式和过去分词 )；强烈要求；推进；驱策

参考例句：

• She urged him to stay. 她力劝他留下。
• Urged on by the PM the police tried to end the strike. 在首相的敦促下，警方力图终止罢工。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 bush   

n.灌木，灌木丛，矮树

参考例句：

• This bush has grown up a lot in the last few months.这矮树丛几个月来已向上长高了很多。
• A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.一鸟在手，胜于二鸟在林。

8 politicians   

政治家( politician的名词复数 )； 政客，玩弄权术者

参考例句：

• Politicians are ultimately accountable to the voters. 从政者最终是向选民负责。
• backstairs deals between politicians 政客之间的幕后交易

9 supporters   

n.支持者，拥护者，赞助者( supporter的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a battalion of supporters 由支持者组成的队伍
• Thousands of supporters converged on London for the rally. 成千上万的支持者从四面八方汇聚伦敦举行集会。