La lectoescritura en español: �Reaffirming the International Scientific Research Base

Jill Kerper Mora�San Diego State University�moramodules.com�

�La Cosecha 2023 Conference�November 9, 2023�Albuquerque, NM�

Dr. Mora’s Conference Presentation�On-line Access

• On your device go to moramodules.com
• Click on NEWS. This takes you to Dr. Mora’s Bulletin Board.
• Click on the link to the La Cosecha 2023 Conference.
• Click on Dr. Mora’s conference presentation:�La lectoescritura en español: Reaffirming the International Research Base

The Research to Practice Nexus

The purpose of literacy education research is to…

• Provide educators with the best knowledge available from the perspective of multiple academic disciplines about how children and adults learn to read and write.
• Support teachers in acquiring a transdisciplinary knowledge base for articulating their theoretical orientation toward literacy instruction based on research-validated theoretical models and processes.
• Communicate research findings and their implications so that teachers can make informed decisions about literacy curriculum and instruction in the classroom.
• Empower literacy educators to become critical consumers of literacy education research to enhance their pedagogical expertise.

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A teacher’s theoretical orientation toward literacy guides..

Harste & Burke, 1977

Congruence Model

A teacher’s theoretical orientation acts as a filter

between a program’s mandated theory and practice.

Taboada, Mora & Vernon 2005

Survey of Spanish Literacy Research

from Spanish-speaking countries

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Spanish Literacy Research �Topics and Trends

• Phonological awareness, phonemic awareness and morphology framed as metalinguistic knowledge (reflexión).
• Writing as a source of knowledge about phonemes and grapho-phonic relationships more than oral phonological awareness tasks.
• The reciprocity of decoding and comprehension learning, with an emphasis on emergent readers’ vocabulary knowledge.
• Attention to reading fluency observed as prosidy (prosodia) rather than speed and accuracy of decoding.
• Strong emphasis on sociocultural and socioeconomic variables, especially concerning levels of exposure to print.

Dr. Mora’s MoraModules Website�moramodules.com

��Spanish Literacy Research Informs Biliteracy Instruction��

• Determine an authentic scope and sequence of instruction in Spanish language arts.
• Utilize effective methods and approaches for foundational literacy learning.
• Develop metalinguistic knowledge for Spanish-specific oral language and literacy learning.
• Implement accurate and informative Spanish language and literacy assessments.
• Support cross-linguistic transfer for biliteracy development.

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Early literacy instruction in Mexico:

Finding congruence between theory and practice

(2005)

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Diane Sharken Taboada

Berkley Unified School District

Jill Kerper Mora

San Diego State University

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Sofía Vernon

Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro

Una Escuela Rural Guanajuato Grados 1 y 2

Mixed Methods Research

Triangulated Data

Literacy Instruction in Mexico is…

• Constructivismo: Focused on comprehension, with decoding/phonics a tool that readers use to construct meaning from print/text.

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• Enfoque comunicativo funcional: The function of text is communication between author and reader for a specified purpose.

• Reflexión sobre la lengua: Metalinguistic analysis of how language and print convey meaning and the relationship between oral language and text.

Métodos de lectoescritura�México SEP 2011

“La didáctica de la lectura y de la escritura actual parte de una concepción del lenguaje que lo considera como un práctica social …así como centrar la atención en el proceso de aprendizaje más que en el de enseñanza, lo que aporta un elemento al dejar de lado los “métodos” empleados.”

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Reflexión sobre la lengua�Reflection on Language

• Propiedades y tipos de texto

Properties and text types

• Aspectos sintácticos y semánticos de los textos

Syntactic elements and text semantics

• Conocimiento del sistema de escritura y ortografía

Understanding systems of writing and orthography

• Comprensión e interpretación

Comprehension and interpretation of text

• Búsqueda y manejo de información

Searching for and managing information

• Usos sociales de la lengua

Social uses of language

Theoretical Orientation to �Reading in Spanish (TORIS)

Total of 38 Items:

• 26 translated into Spanish and adapted for Mexico context from DeFord (1986) Theoretical Orientation to Reading Profile. Item categories: 10 Phonics; 9 Skills; 7 Whole Language.
• 5 items added to query about Mexico SEP constructivist theoretical framework reforms
• 7 items targeting specific strategies and practices from 1999 Grade 1 Teachers’ Guide

Taboada, Mora & Vernon 2005

TORIS Consensus Items�Constructivism

R-23: Al enseñar a leer, el maestro debe de buscar desde el principio que el alumno dé sentido a todo lo que lee.

When teaching reading, the teacher should ensure from the beginning that the student understands the meaning of what he/she reads. (Constructivism)

R-27. Cuando el maestro enseña gramática, ortografía o puntuación, lo debe hacer en un contexto funcional.

When teaching grammar, spelling or punctuation, the teacher must do so in a functional context. (Constructivism)

R-17. Es indispensable que el maestro constituya sub-grupos de alumnos para completar algunos trabajos de lecto-escritura con el propósito de apoyar a los que tengan distintos niveles de conocimiento.

It is essential that the teacher form sub-groups of students to complete some literacy tasks for the purpose of supporting those who have different knowledge/skills levels. (Constructivism)

Taboada & Mora Mexico Study�“Take-aways”

• Pivotal importance of teachers’ understanding and “buy in” to a coherent theoretical orientation toward Spanish language and literacy instruction.
• The greater teachers’ understanding of how students learn to read and write, the greater their adherence to the Mexico SEP Programa de Español programmatic and instructional guidelines.
• Emphasis on comprehension as the purpose of reading and focus in reading instruction.
• Teachers’ emphasis on language and literacy as communication through oral and written expression.
• For biliteracy instruction, recognition of how literacy approaches are driven by language-specific factors and characteristics.

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Presentation to class: Reading big books

��Think-Pair-Share #1�A knowledge base for Spanish literacy instruction

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• Think about your understanding of how students learn to read and write in Spanish. Can you identify your own theoretical orientation toward Spanish literacy instruction?
• To answer this question, consider the research and evidence base that informs your practice in Spanish literacy instruction.
• Is the Spanish language arts program you implement congruent with your theoretical orientation? Why or why not?
• Share your thoughts with a partner.

WL vs BL vs SL

The Ghost of Whole Language

A Scientist’s View: The Prism

A Linguist’s View: The Prism Metaphor

Fonología

Morfología

Semántica

Sintaxis

Pragmática

Metalinguistic Transfer Model

The Triangle Model of Word Recognition

P = Phonology�O = Orthography�S = Semantics

Hoffman, Ralph & Woollams (2015)

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¿Qué es leer una palabra?

elefante

síntesis

análisis

Al escribir la palabra…

Procesos de

análisis y síntesis

para reproducir

y comunicar

el significado

léxico semántico

A Dual-route Model�(Dehaene, 2009)

Two parallel paths to word meaning:

The spelling-to-sound route…

• “Infrequently used words and neologisms move along a phonological route that converts letter strings into speech sounds.”

The direct-lexical route…

• “Frequently used words, and those whose spelling does not correspond to their pronunciation, are recognized via a mental lexicon that allows us to access their identity and meaning.”

Neuroscience Models of Reading�It’s Complicated!

Thickness of the line around each processing component represents the relative degree of activation.

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Binder et al., 2005

¿Qué significa la palabra _________?

camino

Aspectos de la palabra

¿Cómo llegas a la escuela, Juan?

Camino.

¿Y conoces bien el camino?

¿Cómo llegó Juan a la escuela hoy?

¿Caminó Juan?

Sí, él caminó por el camino que conoce bien para llegar.

¿Cuántos sistemas de señales se requieren

para comprender la palabra?

Sí, él caminó por el camino…

The Science of Reading Controversy�To cue or not to cue?

Three-cueing is banned!

Grapho-phonics

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Semantics

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Syntax

The Linguistics of Reading

“Language in and of itself has no meaning. It is a code, a system by which those who know the code may communicate meaning. Yet language has no existence except in association with meaning.”

Goodman, K. S. (1964). The linguistics of reading. The Elementary School Journal, 64(7), 355-361.

Basic Units of Language: A Metaphor�(Goodman 1964)

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Phoneme = atom�Morphemes = molecule�Syntax = structures in which

morphemes fit together to produce

language.

Meaning Contruction �View of Reading

“The emerging concepts from this research clearly indicate that the higher cortical structures control the transmission of information from the deeper structures. Eye movement analysis, a widely used reading research tool for over a century, simultaneously supports the emerging neuroscientific view of cortical control and the meaning construction model of reading. We conclude that emerging neuroscience provides evidence for the meaning construction view of reading, and that the transactional socio-psycholinguistic character of reading is an instantiation of the memory-prediction model of brain function.”

Strauss, S. L. (2013). We need a paradigm shift in research on reading and dyslexia: Fundamental problems with fMRI studies of written language processing. Journal of the Neurological Sciences, 333, e579-e628.

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Spelling-to-sound �Pathway Obstacles in English

• Does “blood” rhyme with “food” or “good”?
• Why doesn’t “blood” sound like “bloom” or “bloomer”?
• Why isn’t “blood” spelled “blud” or “mud” since the words rhyme?
• Why isn’t “sign” pronounced like “sign” in “signature”?
• What about “header” and “reader”? “flour” and “tour”? “tough” and “dough”?

• The average length of Spanish words is 8.76 letters. 60% of all Spanish words have between 7 to 10 letters. The majority of Spanish words are three-syllable words (trisílabas).
• 51% of the syllables in Spanish words are consonant-vowel CV syllables. 11% are vowel-consonant VC words. 88% of Spanish words are combinations of CV, CVC, V, or VC syllables.
• 75% of Spanish words are stressed on the second to the last syllable (palabras graves).
• 19% of Spanish words are stressed on the last syllable (palabras agudas).
• 3% of Spanish words are stressed on the third from the last syllable (palabras esdrújulas). Palabras esdrújulas always have a written accent mark over the stressed syllable.
• 95% of all Spanish nouns and adjectives are palabras graves that end in a vowel and are stressed on the next to the last syllable.

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Facts About Spanish Words

Ardila & Cuetos 2016

Phonological Processing Tasks

Syntactic Processing Tasks

¡Las sílabas

cantan!

The Bilingual Brain: Same or Different?

Bilingual Brain Networks �

• Whereas input leads to activation of a single language system in monolinguals, in individuals who speak (or sign) in two languages both systems are simultaneously activated in production and comprehension automatically. At the neural level, bilingualism drives structural changes in regions and networks engaged by bilingual language processing.
• The Network Neuroscience framework reveals a set of distinct and overlapping language/executive regions that reflect the specific contribution of L2 Age of Arrival (AoA), Proficiency, and Exposure in driving brain structural plasticity and organization.
• Grouping heterogeneous linguistic profiles under a dichotomous condition may obscure, if not wash out, important, yet distinct facets of the bilingual experience, which is dynamic and complex at the individual level.

Fedeli et al., 2021

Comparison of Cerebral Networks in

the Bilingual Brain Experiences Modulation�Federi, et al., 2021

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Age of L2 Acquisition

L2 Exposure Factor

L2 Proficiency

Fedeli, D., Del Maschio, N. S., Simone, Rothman, J., & Abutalebi, J. (2021).

The bilingual structural connectome: Dual-language experiential factors modulate

distinct cerebral networks. Brain and Language, 220(104978), 1-11.

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A Science of Reading

Half-truth

“Later, brain-imaging studies would show that explicit instruction in decoding words could alter the brain functioning of struggling readers so that their neural activation matched that of skilled readers’.”  

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Sarah Schwartz Education Week Magazine August 31, 2023

The Truth: Instruction does not alter the brain functioning of a reader.

Only learning can alter brain functioning. If instruction causes learning,

Glory Alelluya! However, the brain does not distinguish between

explicit vs. implicit learning. JKM

Bilingual Lexical Access Models

Word Association Model

Concept Mediation Model

Concept

L1 Lexicon

L2 Lexicon

Concept

L1 Lexicon

L2 Lexicon

Goldstein, 2004:107

“Word recognition in single-word

level reading occurs in partially

distinct regions of the brain

in Spanish vs. in English.”

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“Researchers attribute these

observations to the difference in

the nature of the orthographies of

the two languages.”

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"Together, these results suggest that bilinguals will show adjustments to the typical neural representation of reading as necessitated by the demands

of the orthography.”

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Word Reading Brain Activity in Spanish vs. English

Source: Jamal, Piche, et al.,

Human Brain Mapping, 2012.

Critical Consumers of Literacy Education Research

Don’t Jump on the SoR Bandwagon!

Variance in Reading Comprehension

Foorman, B. R., & Petscher, Y. (2018). Decomposing the variance in reading comprehension to reveal the unique and common effects of language and decoding. Journal of Visualized Experiments, 140(October), e58557.

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Foorman & Petscher 2018

Foorman & Petscher 2018

Foorman & Petscher 2018

Foorman & Petscher 2018

Think-Pair-Share #2�Population Validity

• What measures of the components of reading comprehension are valid for dual language readers? In their L1? In their L2?
• What levels of variance in outcomes do you expect to observe in individual biliteracy learners that may not appear for monolingual English speaker?
• What additional evidence or data do you collect for valid evidence of growth in reading comprehension in L1 and L2 with dual language learners?
• Are you convinced that population validity is a critical aspect for assessing the applicability of research studies for informing your theoretical orientation toward literacy instruction?

Professor Marie Clay University of Aukland

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“I dislike the unfortunate tendency to make gurus or villains �out of those who question today’s received wisdom. �History shows that what is known is continually overtaken�by what is newly discovered. “… Reading involves integrating �a complex network of interactive processes, which can

be studied using the lenses of different disciplines and explored �through a range of theoretical models within each discipline.”

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Theoretical models and processes of reading �(Ruddell, Rapp Ruddell & Singer, 1994)

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The SoR Controversy:�Gurus or Villains?

Let’s End the Reading Wars!

The true Science of Reading research…

• Provides evidence to affirm the applicability of the reciprocity of the components of the Simple View of Reading: decoding and comprehension.
• Does not delegitimize any particular approach to reading and writing instruction or nullify other research databases.
• Leads to understanding of the universals of learning to read and write in different languages’ orthographies while highlighting language-specific features of linguistic subsystems.

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Reading-The Grand IIlusion�A Transdisciplinary Perspective�

Kenneth S. Goodman�Psycholinguist & Teacher Educator

Peter H. Fries�Linguist

Steven L. Strauss�Neurologist MD & Linguist

Goodman, Fries & Strauss 2016

Juego de palabras

Pregunta:

¿Cuál es el último animal que creó Dios?

Respuesta:

¡El delfín!

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