Hilarious Article

I searched "language" on The Guardian's website and found a hilarious article about teenagers and their use of language. Good for Language Change and Language and Technology.

A Multi-Purpose Article

I found this article today and is very useful for Language and Gender, Language and Technology in some ways and is also good to look at as a Media Text.

How Children Read

There has been quite the debate as to whether the use of “synthetic phonics” is really the ideal method to use in order to teach children how to read. Through the answers given in an online survey, some teachers have said that synthetic phonics highly important in order for a child to learn how to successfully read. However, a majority of teachers believe that although synthetic phonics is important, there are other methods which can be just as good. Many people comment that synthetic phonics is not necessarily bad but that children need a variety of different methods in order to become skilled readers.

Many teachers emphasise the importance of reading for meaning, something that is not part of the synthetic phonics method. There has been concerns raised that the current strategy that the government have imposed, synthetic phonics, has led to unbalanced reading curriculums and that certain reading skills have not been developed in children such as the ability to make predictions within texts and being able to make contextual links. It is argued often that the use of synthetic phonics has led to children losing motivation in reading because the reading schemes are not as enjoyable as real books, children no longer enjoying reading and has also led to the development of a reading style where children are simply decoding texts. One of the biggest problems people have with synthetic phonics is that because children become fixated on pronouncing words that they miss all meaning in the text entirely. Children learn to read by engaging with texts and by using their cuing systems but through synthetic phonics children are missing out meaning and therefore not necessarily learning to read “correctly”. Some children may not like synthetic phonics so much that they may get upset as they cannot understand the “nonsense words” that they come across in their reading schemes. Since English is not a phonetically regular language, it make sense that some children may struggle with the teaching of phonics in a very clinical way and has therefore lead to some children set further behind as readers.

In the future, many are hoping that the government change the strategy that teaches children to read from synthetic phonics to something that enables children to experience the rewards of reading and actually enjoy reading. It has to be understood that reading is much more complex than just linking sounds together.

If someone said the names Biff, Chip and Kipper, I would know exactly what they were talking about, would you? They are the main characters in a popular reading scheme some schools use in order to help teach children how to read. Some people think that these reading schemes are great as they stories that children can relate to and are quite engaging. Reading schemes are written in conjunction with experts who know what strategies to use in order for children to learn to read effectively, for example some reading schemes work with experts in synthetic phonics. However, not all schools use reading schemes. Some schools believe that reading real books leads to children engaging more with the texts because they will enjoy reading and then their reading ability will follow. There is much debate on the subject of reading schemes and whether real books would be better and although many believe they would be because they have much more interesting plots and hook more children into reading and enjoying to read, there is a harsh reality that a low budget a school has can mean that they will just use reading schemes. Another big issue some people have with reading schemes is the use of ability ratings on the reading schemes in order for the teachers to know at what level every child is reading at and some believe this can be damaging for a child’s self esteem as they may be aware of where they sit in terms of ability amongst their friends and it may affect their relationship with reading in the future.

Bibliography

Phonic Boom, By John Hodgson, NATE, Teaching English, Issue 4, Page 23

http://www.theschoolrun.com/school-reading-schemes-explained

http://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacher-blog/2012/may/05/literacy-learning-to-read

http://www.tremendouslytwo.com/2011/07/could-we-wave-goodbye-to-reading.html

http://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacher-blog/2014/mar/04/reading-lessons-phonics-world-book-day

Interesting...

I found this article on the guardian website and it was an interesting read. This particular article addressed the difference between gender and sex and also other important issues.

A Christmas Grammar Quiz

Here is an interesting grammar quiz I found that you could take a look at and try for yourself.

This Article Caused Major Controversy...

This Guardian Article tells the story of major criticism being given to the writer of a story about Barbie which was written with intention of inspiring young girls to have careers in areas they wouldn't necessarily think about entering and also to empower them but instead made Barbie an engineer that couldn't do the job herself unless she had a man to help her. Read the article yourself and see how you feel about the issue and whether it was right that the writer of the book received major criticism from many people.

Anti-Heroes vs. Anti Heroines

Have a look at this article here. This article from the guardian simultaneously intrigued and angered me. Emma Unsworth, the writer of this article, explores anti-heroes and anti-heroines and the idea that readers are more likely to be intrigued by anti-heroes because they are more likable, mysterious, and dark all of which capture some readers even if they feel as though they must be disliked due to their actions. She then goes on to talk about anti-heroines and how readers react negatively towards them because they are likely to be characters that go against conventions of society and are unlike other female characters making them more unlikable. A great read. Made me look deeper into both my English subjects and is quite useful. Have you heard of any of the books in the list with famous anti-heroines?