Graduate School

Theoretical framework:

This study will anchor on the theory of Beginning

Reading of Eric Digest21. According to him, learning to read

is anything but natural. In fact, it doesn’t develop

incidentally; it requires human intervention and context.

The act of reading is complex and intentional; it requires

bringing together a number of complex actions involving the

eyes, the brain, and the psychology of the mind (e.g.

motivation, interest, past experience) that do not occur

naturally.

The two processes described here,

phonological awareness and word recognition, are essential

to teaching beginning reading to children with diverse

learning and curricular needs, such as pupils with learning

disabilities. For these children, as for many children,

learning to read is neither natural nor easy.

The unnatural act of reading requires a

beginning reader to make sense of symbols on a page. In the

case of English, these symbols are actually sequences of

letters that represents an alphabetic language, but more

important, the printed letters can also be translated into

sounds.

Phonological awareness activities build on

and enhance children’s experiences with written language

(e.g. print awareness) and spoken language (e.g. playing

with words). These activities also develop children’s

readiness and foundation of reading, especially the reading

of words. Children who have been immersed in a literacy

environment in which words, word games, rhyming and story

reading are plentiful and more likely to understand what

reading is all about than those who have experienced and

impoverished literacy environment.

According to Edward William Dolch’s 1951 book

“Psychology and Teaching of Reading”, reading was defined as

“imagining, thinking and feeling about ideas and thoughts

made from past experiences that are suggested by perception

of printed words. ” (p.9) Reading, as asserted by the

author, is an activity that requires the different

capabilities of the mind, as the reader processes words and

their meanings.
 The improvement of this reading skill as pointed out by

Dolch, is highly essential, because a basic level of reading

ability is generally “not enough to master a quantity of

assigned reading in a special field” (p.329) in college. He

also mentions that fluency in reading is especially required

for English Literature subjects.

Reading is not only beneficial in terms of academics,

though, as Dolch explains. It can also help in the

improvement of relationships with other people across

interests and cultures, as readers come across books that

“put on into the life and feelings and experiences of men

and women of all occupations” (p.303).