Interest and Ability in Heading
- Author:
Arthur I. Gates. New York.
The Macmillan Company. 1930. vii -j- 264 pp. In keeping step -vvitli the movement of scientific method in education, Perhaps no one has distinguished himself in the publication of material relating to children’s reading so greatly as has Professor Gates, of Teachers College, Columbia University. For the last decade he has interested himself in the specific nature of problems relating to reading, to the extent that in the realm ?f teaching method in this field he has become a standard author. In 1928 two of his volumes appeared as summaries of his investigations up until that time: The Improvement of Heading (Macmillan) and New Methods in Primary Reading (Teachers College).
This new volume acts in a dual capacity. Its primary purpose seems that ?f presenting the results of experimental work in relation to such problems as the interest children show in various types of material which they read, the ratio of new words introduced into reading material to the number of old Words therein, and the influence of type of material. A further analysis of what constitutes the types of material that children prefer, and of the effect of organizing materials into programs of work involving the linguistic, the exploratory, the constructive and the artistic is also presented. The secondary Purpose which the book fulfills is that it supplements in a logical way the Author’s preceding volumes, in that it emphasizes certain facts not stressed in these earlier works, and summarizes the principles set forth in all three Volumes in a clear and convincing way.
The experiments described in this book were all performed on children in the primary grades. Those dealing with the rate at which new words should to introduced into reading material show rather convincingly that dull pupils require a greater amount of repetition (great spacing between new words) m comparison to the brighter children, whose interest cannot be maintained if they are not introduced at a rate much more rapid. For practical purposes, material in these grades should include the introduction of new words at about 1 in 30-40 running words already known. The effect of interest upon the efficiency with which children learn new material is shown definitely to be great. It follows, therefore, that for most children satisfactory results may be obtained by introducing new words through an interesting?”senseful”? medium, rather than through the unnatural and artificial means projected through phonetic drills and other types of study involving isolated words. If the child must have the development of comprehension retarded by emphasis on word recognition and drill on similar fundamentals, he will be obviously the loser. Hence, it is entirely satisfactory, shows the author, to teach reading by emphasis upon comprehension itself, since our object in teaching the subject is for this ultimate goal. For those cases which seem ill suited to these methods (and anyone who approaches reading problems from the clinical angle will appreciate the author’s viewpoint here) Gates would suggest diagnostic testing based on standardized procedure, for only in this way can diagnosis of a differential sort be made. Having diagnosed the case, the next step is an appropriate remedial training.
In order to maintain the interest of the pupils it is vital that reading material be made up of a variety of types, basically suited to the child s appreciation. Gates shows that in the final analysis these elements are of much importance: surprise, or unexpectedness; liveliness, or “something doing”; animalness, or presentations of things animals do and how they do them; conversation; humor from the child’s point of view; and plot. Suitability or intelligibility must be emphasized, as must a proper grading of difficulty. Children must not be bored with the easiness of material, nor must they be overwhelmed with its complexity. Moralness, and what adults term humor seem to have a decidedly negative effect in maintaining the child’s interest.
“What they (children) like is a little surprise, a little life, some animal characters, some conversation, and a bit of plot. They have also decided that there are a few things in the literature handed out to them that they dislike.” The experiments as mentioned above comprise the first part of this book. The second half includes the general conclusion which the author draws, not only in their regard, but as well to other investigations within the sphere of the study. His ultimate aim seems to be to present these principles in relation to applicability in the class room. For this reason the volume should be of use to the teacher who is allowed freedom in the selection of materials and in the management of her program. A scientifically modified form of the “project method” is outlined in some detail, all of which should offer a pertinent suggestion to the progressive administrator. The book has an additional value for those interested in the problem of reading, for it acts rather well in the capacity of an index to and summary of the work done by Professor Gates as director of this type of research at Teachers College. T. W. Kichards
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