A Definition of Language and the Implications for Reading and Writing Instruction

Language is time-bound, rule-governed, linear, logical and generative. The implications of this definition for the way we learn to read and write and, more importantly, the way we teach reading and writing are profound.

Language takes place in time. From the first word uttered aloud in a spoken sentence, or read upon the page, to the last word, there is an elapse in time. For everyday communication to be successful, the listener, or reader, must be in the moment with the speaker or writer. It is the same time period for both. If a listener or reader is confused, there may be a brief instance where he breaks from the moment and wonders where the speaker or writer is headed, or he may feel the need to stop and ask for clarification or re-read a portion of the text, but largely he remains in the moment with the speaker or writer and the same time elapses for both.

The grammar of language is a complex set of rules which is largely mastered before school. If a child enters school with a faulty or missing grammar, no true communication is possible. The rules are largely governed by word order and facilitates communication between speaker or writer with listener or reader in the moment.

Pick up any non-illustrated text in most languages and you will see a commonality of view. The manuscript page will contain lines of text. In English, as in many languages, the text will start at the top left of the page and continue left to right, wrapping around the end of each line and to the beginning of the next line, and from the bottom right of each page to the top left of the next page. The visual look of each page, including this one, is in direct alignment with the time-bound and linear nature of language. The text, a construct of thought, moves in linear fashion from the beginning of the text to the end. For the average reader, the text may take a minute or two to read, confirming once again the time-bound nature of language.

The rule-governed nature of language, its grammar, insures the logic of communication. Creative artists take great joy in manipulating this central rule to surprise and entertain, but the vast majority of communication, both everyday and academic, strives, though sometimes fails, to communicate logically. Every sentence I have written has been an attempt to do so.

The linear and logical nature of language is also generative. This may have the most profound implications for instruction. The grammar and logic of sentence construction is a thought generator, in the sense that each sentence generates the next in a logical and linear sequence. The very appearance of a manuscript page is testament to that.

If language is, indeed, time-bound, rule-governed, linear, logical and generative, then how should reading and writing be taught?

Reading

In its earliest stages, reading should move from oral instruction to silent practice as soon as possible and every attempt should be made to promote automaticity.

Automaticity can only be achieved through the extensive practice of silent reading.

Automaticity precedes comprehension. An early reader may report silently reading an entire passage and not recalling any of the content. Traditionally this is a red flag and the solution is often to slow down the reader and return to oral reading. This is the wrong solution.

The achievement of automaticity is the most important signpost on the road to comprehension for the fluent silent reader has freed his mind for the challenging task of comprehension. Slowing the reader down and returning to oral reading will only delay fluency and the comprehension that follows.

Another common strategy that works against fluency is predicting where a text is headed. Rarely will an accomplished reader or listener do this unless the narrative is a suspenseful one or the speaker or writer is an unclear communicator. The vast majority of the time a reader or listener remains ‘in the moment’ with the writer or speaker and that should be the goal of all instruction.

If you want a reader to master text, you must both practice and privilege text. The best way to privilege text is to make all learning begin in text. The true teacher in the classroom is the writer of the text and every effort should be made by the teacher to support the shared communication between writer and reader. In the absence of text, the teacher can be the writer of the text. Replace oral instruction with written text, especially when introducing new learning.

Writing

The best way to teach writing is to recognize the generative nature of the sentence and the fact that sentences are generated in a logical chain. Sentence one generates sentence two and so forth. Writing not only records thought, it creates thought. It is often in the generation of text that the writer discovers his thoughts.

It is a mistake to teach writing as a series of highly structured paragraphs. Recognizing the generative nature of writing, paragraph breaks can be taught after the fact. It is crucial to set the sentence generating machine in motion.

A classroom should be a collection of writers and readers and each student and the teacher should be both.

What does this look like in a classroom?

I did put this model into practice for two years at a high school which was on a semester block schedule. The 95 minute classes aided in creating a learning group utilizing the main strategy that all learning should begin in text. There was still plenty of teacher talk and student talk but talk succeeded text, rather than preceded it.

During one particular lesson, two student teachers visited my class to observe. They lasted about 10 minutes and left. They did not know what they were observing or what to think. Their history as students, and the collective learning in their teacher training programs, had convinced them that teaching is performance art. In such a classroom, the teacher is the main actor and his mission is to engage students. When this job is done well, there is very high student engagement and much actual learning. The teacher’s head is poured into the students and there is a fairly impressive transfer of knowledge. Teaching is talking and learning is listening.

What the ACT research uncovered, that led to the adoption of the Common Core Standards, is that high achieving students who are the recipients of an oral education are woefully unprepared for the text dense classes at the university and the text rich manuals of modern jobs. They are equally unprepared to read contracts, warranties, city codes, legal summons and all manner of text-supported directives of the modern world.

I asked a librarian once what is the most common question a research librarian will field. Her answer,:“Is there a video for this?”

The modern world contains an astounding level of necessary text that is at once both straightforward and mysterious, informative and ambiguous. The key to it all is the definition of language. Accept the time-bound, linear nature of text and begin the close reading and re-reading that will unlock its meaning.