When you learn to read, you first must become familiar with a set of symbols before assigning meaning to them. Generally, teachers design lessons with that in mind. First, students learn the meaning of letters and words. Once they have a handle on that (they can read somewhat proficiently), they then use reading as a means to gather information.
The two stages are very different, so teachers must approach each phase in a certain way. In fact, until recently, the shift between learning to read and reading to learn was thought to occur in fourth grade. The Common Core State Standards and other educational standards pushed kids to reach a certain reading level by fourth grade so they could move onto more complex reading.
However, a study conducted by researchers at Dartmouth College estimates that the neat reading shift everyone wants doesn't really exist.
Basics of the fourth-grade shift
It's important to understand that educational research comes from real-life classroom observation and childhood and adolescent psychology. However, the Dartmouth study took a different approach and observed the brains of students. The read-shift theory (also known as the fourth-grade shift) contends that students see a change in the automaticity of reading, moving from learning to read and toward reading to learn at that grade level.
Testing automatic reading
To test the popular assumption, researchers observed 96 participants. Students were in one of four grade levels at the time the study occurred: third, fourth or fifth grade, or college. Each participant wore an electrode cap that read electrical activity in their brain. Then, students were given a set of symbols to read, each of which fell into one of four categories: actual words (e.g., "bed"); pseudo-words (e.g., "bem"); strings of letters (e.g., "mbe") and a group of meaningless symbols.
Kids in elementary school automatically processed the first three categories about as well as the college students. However, they were confounded by the last one. The children had to actually think about whether or not the symbols were words, a process college students performed automatically and subconsciously. In fact, students had to use their conscious minds to decide what the symbols meant as late as fifth grade.
"[Grade school students'] brains are processing strings of meaningless symbols as if they were words, perhaps in case they turn out to be real letters," Donna Coch, study author and associate professor of education at Dartmouth, said in a statement. "In contrast, by college, students have learned not to process strings of meaningless symbols as words, saving their brains precious time and energy."
The research results carry implications for reading education.
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