Righting reading

糾正閱讀

How phonics took over English schools

拼讀法是如何“接手”英國學校

詞匯

Phonics/拼讀法，聲音基礎教學法

And why it benefited poor children most of all

以及為什么它對貧困兒童最有利

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小學，一群四五歲的孩子在教室里整齊的坐在一排，他們被老師迷住了。作為倫敦西部阿克頓公立小學日常生活的一部分，貝希里安女士拿著印有基本發(fā)音——“qu”、“k”、“w”——的卡片，孩子們齊聲唱給她聽。之后，他們練習閱讀由他們之前排練過的聲音組成的句子。舉個例子：“That is a lot of fish”。

詞匯

Immaculate/完美的；潔凈的；無瑕疵的

Chant/唱；誦揚

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.

這就是拼讀法，一種學習閱讀的方法，孩子們在這種方法中學會了解碼單詞。長期以來，老師們一直在爭論這種方法是否比以前的方法更好，以前的方法是讓孩子們學會辨認完整的單詞，通常是在有人給他們朗讀的時候。對批評家來說，拼讀法有一種似乎是嚴格的約束，他們認為這種東西不能傳遞閱讀的樂趣。然而，在過去十年左右的時間里，英國的學校已經(jīng)采用了這種方法。今年早些時候，當英國大臣尼克?吉布(Nick Gibb)宣布“爭論已經(jīng)結束”時，分歧被淡化了。

詞匯

Gradgrindian/查到一個例句【The goal is not Gradgrindian discipline, but the avoidance of bigger confrontations|個人認為表示嚴格的】

Muted/柔和的；無言的；趨緩的

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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.

這種轉變既反映了有說服力的證據(jù)，也反映了政治壓力。2005年，蘇格蘭的一項研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，到課程結束時，使用拼讀法教學的孩子的閱讀和拼寫能力比預期提前了7個月。其他工作也支持這一結果。牛津大學的麗貝卡?艾倫指出，很少有教學方法有如此有力的證據(jù)支持。

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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.

工黨在1997年執(zhí)政后開始推廣拼讀法。吉布在2010年成為保守黨和自由民主黨聯(lián)合政府下的教育部長，隨后他加大了對這一問題的重視。課程進行了調整，撥出資金用于教科書和培訓，并為6歲兒童引入了一項新的篩選測試，以檢查教師是否按照要求做。吉布現(xiàn)在正就如何做到這一點向澳大利亞提供建議。

詞匯

Curriculum/（學校等的）全部課程

Tweak/調整

screening test/篩選試驗

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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.”

其影響越來越明顯。在最新的國際閱讀素養(yǎng)研究中，英國的表現(xiàn)有所改善。去年，倫敦政治經(jīng)濟學院(LSE)經(jīng)濟表現(xiàn)中心(Centre for Economic Performance)的學者們進行的一項研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，拼讀法提高了兒童的閱讀能力。桑德拉?麥克納利(Sandra McNally)這名作家指出，盡管隨著時間的推移，對富裕兒童(無論如何他們最終都會學會閱讀)的促進作用逐漸減弱，但對貧困讀者和那些沒有把英語作為第一語言的人來說，這種促進作用依然存在。運營著38所公立學校的慈善機構Ark的早年主管莉迪亞?卡迪-吉布斯(Lydia Cuddy-Gibbs)表示:“其他方法依賴于現(xiàn)有的兒童詞匯和生活經(jīng)驗?！薄捌醋x法有助于讓孩子們有一個公平的競爭環(huán)境?！?/p>

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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.

拼讀法并非必定扼殺樂趣。在阿克頓，孩子們經(jīng)常扮演老師，而拼讀法是他們最喜歡的課來進行重新扮演。在這所學校工作的莎拉?查爾頓(Sarah Charlton)說，有些人會像老師一樣用贊美的口吻為朋友鼓掌。她笑著說:“他們會走進來說，‘瑪麗亞今天的閱讀非常棒’?！辈貢S富的圖書館引導孩子們以閱讀為樂。

詞匯

well-stocked/貯藏量多的；備貨充足的

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.

剩下的一項任務是研究出如何幫助那些即使在拼讀法教學中也有困難的學生。據(jù)慈善機構教育捐贈基金會(EEF)稱，沒有任何干預措施能持續(xù)改善這些孩子的學習成績。另一項工作是確保整個系統(tǒng)都教授拼讀法。盡管通過篩查測試的兒童比例急劇上升，但一串略高于及格分數(shù)的結果表明，這在一定程度上要歸因于教師在測試系統(tǒng)背后?；ㄕ?。政府去年為34所學校提供了2600萬英鎊(3200萬美元)，使其成為傳播福音的“英語中心”。

詞匯

Gospel/真理；信條

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.”

關于教授拼讀法的最佳方法的爭論還在繼續(xù)，還有一些問題，比如什么時候應該引入完整的單詞。作為反對對兒童過度檢查運動的一部分，工黨計劃重新審查拼讀法測試。但是無論測試是否繼續(xù)，拼讀法似乎已經(jīng)牢牢地嵌入了英語學校。EEF的凱萬?柯林斯爵士(Sir Kevan Collins)表示:“你很少能堅持一項教育實踐，并堅持多年”，“這是值得欽佩的，這是與眾不同的?！?/p>

詞匯

Crusade/改革運動；宣傳攻勢