Righting reading

纠正阅读

How phonics took over English schools

拼读法是如何“接手”英国学校

词汇

Phonics/拼读法，声音基础教学法

And why it benefited poor children most of all

以及为什么它对贫困儿童最有利

Jul 20th 2019

IN ARK PRIORY PRIMARY ACADEMY a class of four- and five-year-olds sit in immaculate rows, enraptured by their teacher. As part of the daily routine at the state primary school in Acton, west London, Ms Beshirian holds up cards printed with basic sounds—“qu”, “k”, “w”—and the children chant them back to her in unison. Later they practise reading sentences made up of sounds they have previously rehearsed. That is a lot of fish, runs an example.

在ARK PRIORY小学，一群四五岁的孩子在教室里整齐的坐在一排，他们被老师迷住了。作为伦敦西部阿克顿公立小学日常生活的一部分，贝希里安女士拿着印有基本发音——“qu”、“k”、“w”——的卡片，孩子们齐声唱给她听。之后，他们练习阅读由他们之前排练过的声音组成的句子。举个例子：“That is a lot of fish”。

词汇

Immaculate/完美的；洁净的；无瑕疵的

Chant/唱；诵扬

This is phonics, a way of learning to read in which children are taught to decode words. Teachers have long argued about whether this approach is better than the previously favoured one, in which children learned to recognise whole words, typically while someone read to them. To critics there is something Gradgrindian about phonics, which they argue fails to transmit the joy of reading. Nevertheless, over the past decade or so schools in England have adopted the method. When Nick Gibb, a minister, declared the “debate is over” earlier this year, disagreement was muted.

这就是拼读法，一种学习阅读的方法，孩子们在这种方法中学会了解码单词。长期以来，老师们一直在争论这种方法是否比以前的方法更好，以前的方法是让孩子们学会辨认完整的单词，通常是在有人给他们朗读的时候。对批评家来说，拼读法有一种似乎是严格的约束，他们认为这种东西不能传递阅读的乐趣。然而，在过去十年左右的时间里，英国的学校已经采用了这种方法。今年早些时候，当英国大臣尼克•吉布(Nick Gibb)宣布“争论已经结束”时，分歧被淡化了。

词汇

Gradgrindian/查到一个例句【The goal is not Gradgrindian discipline, but the avoidance of bigger confrontations|个人认为表示严格的】

Muted/柔和的；无言的；趋缓的

 

The shift reflects both persuasive evidence and political pressure. In 2005 a study in Scotland found that children who were taught using phonics were, by the end of the programme, seven months ahead of their expected reading and spelling ability. Other work has supported the results. Rebecca Allen of the University of Oxford notes that few teaching methods are backed by such strong evidence.

这种转变既反映了有说服力的证据，也反映了政治压力。2005年，苏格兰的一项研究发现，到课程结束时，使用拼读法教学的孩子的阅读和拼写能力比预期提前了7个月。其他工作也支持这一结果。牛津大学的丽贝卡•艾伦指出，很少有教学方法有如此有力的证据支持。

 

Labour began to promote phonics after it came to power in 1997. Mr Gibb, who became schools minister under the Tory-Lib Dem coalition in 2010, then upped the emphasis. The curriculum was tweaked, funding set aside for textbooks and training, and a new screening test introduced for six-year-olds, to check teachers were doing as told. Mr Gibb is now advising Australia on how to do the same.

工党在1997年执政后开始推广拼读法。吉布在2010年成为保守党和自由民主党联合政府下的教育部长，随后他加大了对这一问题的重视。课程进行了调整，拨出资金用于教科书和培训，并为6岁儿童引入了一项新的筛选测试，以检查教师是否按照要求做。吉布现在正就如何做到这一点向澳大利亚提供建议。

词汇

Curriculum/（学校等的）全部课程

Tweak/调整

screening test/筛选试验

 

The impact is becoming apparent. England’s performance improved in the latest Progress in International Reading Literacy Study, a cross-country comparison. Last year research by academics at the LSE’s Centre for Economic Performance found that phonics improved children’s reading. Sandra McNally, one of the authors, notes that, whereas the boost faded with time for better-off children, who would have eventually learned to read well anyway, it persisted for poor readers and those without English as a first language. “Other approaches rely on existing child vocabulary and life experiences,” says Lydia Cuddy-Gibbs, head of early years at Ark, a charity which runs 38 state schools. “Phonics helps to put children on a level playing field.”

其影响越来越明显。在最新的国际阅读素养研究中，英国的表现有所改善。去年，伦敦政治经济学院(LSE)经济表现中心(Centre for Economic Performance)的学者们进行的一项研究发现，拼读法提高了儿童的阅读能力。桑德拉•麦克纳利(Sandra McNally)这名作家指出，尽管随着时间的推移，对富裕儿童(无论如何他们最终都会学会阅读)的促进作用逐渐减弱，但对贫困读者和那些没有把英语作为第一语言的人来说，这种促进作用依然存在。运营着38所公立学校的慈善机构Ark的早年主管莉迪亚•卡迪-吉布斯(Lydia Cuddy-Gibbs)表示:“其他方法依赖于现有的儿童词汇和生活经验。”“拼读法有助于让孩子们有一个公平的竞争环境。”

 

Nor must phonics kill fun. In Acton the children often play teacher, and phonics is their favourite class to re-enact. Some applaud their friends with teacherly compliments, says Sarah Charlton, who works at the school. “They’ll walk in and say, ‘Maria did amazing reading today’,” she laughs. A well-stocked library introduces children to reading for pleasure.

拼读法并非必定扼杀乐趣。在阿克顿，孩子们经常扮演老师，而拼读法是他们最喜欢的课来进行重新扮演。在这所学校工作的莎拉•查尔顿(Sarah Charlton)说，有些人会像老师一样用赞美的口吻为朋友鼓掌。她笑着说:“他们会走进来说，‘玛丽亚今天的阅读非常棒’。”藏书丰富的图书馆引导孩子们以阅读为乐。

词汇

well-stocked/贮藏量多的；备货充足的

One remaining task is to work out how to help pupils who struggle even when taught with phonics. According to the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), a charity, no intervention consistently improves results for these children. Another job is to make sure phonics is taught across the system. Although there has been a sharp rise in the proportion of children passing the screening test, a bunching of results just above the pass mark suggests that it is partly down to teachers gaming the system. The government last year provided £26m ($32m) for 34 schools to become “English hubs” to spread the gospel.

剩下的一项任务是研究出如何帮助那些即使在拼读法教学中也有困难的学生。据慈善机构教育捐赠基金会(EEF)称，没有任何干预措施能持续改善这些孩子的学习成绩。另一项工作是确保整个系统都教授拼读法。尽管通过筛查测试的儿童比例急剧上升，但一串略高于及格分数的结果表明，这在一定程度上要归因于教师在测试系统背后耍花招。政府去年为34所学校提供了2600万英镑(3200万美元)，使其成为传播福音的“英语中心”。

词汇

Gospel/真理；信条

Arguments continue over the best way to teach phonics, and questions such as when whole words should be introduced. As part of a crusade against what it sees as the over-examination of children, Labour has plans to review the phonics screening test. But whether or not the test stays, phonics seems firmly embedded in English schools. “It’s very rare that you get a piece of education practice that you stick with and push over a number of years,” says Sir Kevan Collins of the EEF. “That’s to be admired, that’s unusual.”

关于教授拼读法的最佳方法的争论还在继续，还有一些问题，比如什么时候应该引入完整的单词。作为反对对儿童过度检查运动的一部分，工党计划重新审查拼读法测试。但是无论测试是否继续，拼读法似乎已经牢牢地嵌入了英语学校。EEF的凯万•柯林斯爵士(Sir Kevan Collins)表示:“你很少能坚持一项教育实践，并坚持多年”，“这是值得钦佩的，这是与众不同的。”

词汇

Crusade/改革运动；宣传攻势