A Historical Perspective on Reading Research and Practice Essay Example for Free

A Historical Perspective on Reading Research and Practice Essay This article has responded to both internal and external forces resulting from gradual and dramatic transitions based on historical perspectives. This has permitted a reasonable reflection and a sense of wisdom that is susceptible to loss when one engages in it. The underlying reason is the critical dimension to the present day events and issues analysis resulting from the broadened reading culture. In the late 20th century, reading became a recognized study field with systematic research programs aiming at ascertaining its fundamental nature and its acquisition process. This resulted from the confluence of social, educational, political and economic factors. Quantitative and qualitative changes in U. S. public schools’ systems after the World War II provided favorable environment for the reading transitions. Reading processes and skills were broken down into constituent parts which were practiced and reinforced in a systematic and orderly manner during classroom sections. Reading became a conditioned behavior based on certain environmental contingencies. Individuals positively responded to learning from repeated and controlled stimulation from the environment. This stimulus-response relationship was accompanied by rewards and punishments led to the habituation of the reading act (Alexander Fox, 2004). Therefore, academic learning involved identification of the preferred behaviors prerequisites and training. This aimed at untangling the chained links in reading so as to train the learner in each component skill. In addition, material effectiveness was structured and controlled in the delivery of environmental stimulation and practice opportunities. Emphasis on studying observable behavior focused on reading as a perceptual activity which included identification of visual signals and validating diagnostic instruments and remedial techniques. However, alternative human learning theories which focused on perceptual process as a whole still operated on underground which examined that reading is per introspection rather than through behavior. Human beings could make a coherent sense out of the perceptional data through whole-word recognition, context comprehension and word identification thus considering reading as a unique human activity owning definitive characteristics. Increased interest in internal mental structures and processes ignited by the advancements in neurology and artificial intelligence has caused transformations in the learning institutions. Moreover, the dissatisfaction with behaviorism as an explanatory system caused changes. The article points that present institutions should conceptualize learning as a natural process rather than conditioning and that language should be developed through a meaningful use. Also learning to read should be viewed as an inherent ability rather than a reflective action with laborious skill acquisition. As a result, reading research unified the literacy field through language arts. Learning to read became a matter of arriving at a facility due to the understanding quest within a language-rich environment. The growing attention to the structure and processes of the human mind and increased federal funding by the Unites States led to creation of research centers caused another theoretical transformation. These new researchers explained human language as an interaction between symbol system and mind. Learning as a natural metaphor was replaced with a mechanistic information processing metaphor. Text-based as a form of learning, involved knowledge which was organized and stored within the individual mind (Alexander Fox, 2004). In addition, Knowledge base was depicted as powerful, persuasive, individualistic and modifiable since it was linked to the individual’s perspectives on what they had read, their interpretation and recall out of the written text. The information processing of this period resulted in cognition-related constructs which strengthened the aforementioned characteristics of knowledge. Furthermore, it focused on the individual mind. This was because the computer-based guiding had little considerations of socio-cultural influences in processing linguistic information. To add on, the research studies stressed on individualistic interpretations of written text and exhibited that the knowledge of the students could be greatly modified through training, direct intervention and/or overt instructions. Other contributors of improved text comprehension were instructional environments and pedagogical techniques. In view of any reading approach, there must be a shift away from the neurological argument to much concern for naturalism in the materials and procedures used to teach reading. Moreover, they should create unity within the language arts. The cognitive psychology gave a new viewpoint for literacy and educational researchers. It studied literacy with naturally occurring texts in natural settings with holistic and aesthetic school of thought. It aimed creating a mutual understanding arising in the social interaction of individuals in particular contexts at a time (Alexander Fox, 2004). The dominant perspective was learning being a socio-cultural collaborative experience and the learner being a member of the learning community. Reform on modern schools  Present day schools should anticipate for motivation in the form of readers’ achievement of goals, interest and involvement in the learning experience with change in perception of texts, reader and reading. This can be achieved due to the introduction of the hypermedia and hypertext forms of learning which has increased the attention in classroom discourse thus improving the students’ academic. Effective orientation has to be done so as to capture the complexity of reading and recognize the changing nature of reading as the reader engages in a range of reading-related, goal-directed activities. With the dichotomization of reading into learning to read and reading to learn, it has led to integrated and developmental learning perspective. Engaged learning has led to the acknowledgement of the fact that reading extends to the texts students come across daily such as nonlinear, interactive, dynamic and visually complex materials transmitted using audiovisual media. Current learning institutions should learn about the potentials of alternatives nonlinear media and examine how pedagogical techniques and learning environments can be adapted to aid readers from struggling with traditional texts. Students should be encouraged to participate in meaningful and goal-directed text-based learning. Moreover, attention should be drawn to create a personally and socially valuable body of knowledge. Strategies are put in place to promote reflection, choice and deliberate execution on the learner’s part which actively engages the leaner thus developing the reading perspective. To be complete, readers, and learners should focus on demonstrating fluency in reading and other basic linguistic skills. Workable solutions  Some of workable solutions would include provision of personally relevant texts, both traditional and alternative that will promote deeper and wider student engagement in their learning. Putting in place technological advancements capable of transforming learning and teaching through production of proliferated information sources and different text types can also be productive. Involving high-stakes testing and efforts to institute national standards have hastened the students’ learning since they prescribe the content and skills learners should have acquired at various institutional levels. Investments in basic reading skills and components in special education institutions have helped struggling readers since researchers have greatly supported. Changes which might improve things One of major consideration that should be put in place is recognition of the fact that reading is invariably physiological, psychological and sociological thus an integrated orientation is a prerequisite. Therefore physical, visual, and neurological stimuli to the learning processes should also be employed. In addition, every reading process needs to enhance the psychological interpretation, storage and retrieval of text, goals formulation and expression of interests. Sociologically, a reading culture that focuses in intra-individual and inter-individual communication through linguistic media that are socio-culturally influenced can also play a big role in changing the existing education. Lastly, a fine-grained reading view that incorporate brain structures and mental activities of an individual and social behavior have to be integrated meaningfully throughout these orientations.

Unjust Classification of Literature :: essays research papers

The Unjust Classification of Literature   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The content of literature has been criticized and classified throughout history. Occasionally, stories become known as immoral literature in the eyes of society. This can be damaging both to sales of the book and the reputation of the author. Kate Chopin wrote two stories that are examples of literature deemed immoral by society. â€Å"The storm† and â€Å"The Story of an Hour† were written and the end of the nineteenth century. A time without many liberal opinions towards literature, as well as civil rights. Often critics judge a piece of literature only on the literal meaning of the phrases inside, while ignoring the actual message from the author. Chopin’s two stories were criticized for the impression she gave of woman’s attitudes towards their husbands and marriage. Although her stories seem to contain women that do not respect marriage, the women actually have total love and respect for their husbands The misinterpretation of stor ies leads to the unjust classification of literature as immoral.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"The story of an Hour† and â€Å"The Storm† have different plots, but both convey a similar message from Chopin. â€Å"The Story of an Hour† was written about a wife ,Mrs. Mallard, who receives the sad news of her husbands death. She is flushed with conflicting emotions of sadness from the death, but also joy for the freedom from marriage that his death brings. A twist in the story takes place when she is confronted with her still living husband and she dies from the shock. Chopin wrote of a woman so caught up in married life, she forgot all of the liberties that she had sacrificed for the marriage. â€Å"The storm† tells of another wife, Calixta, living what was a normal life for a woman in the late nineteenth century. While her husband and son are kept inside a store by a passing storm, Calixta is greeted unexpectedly by an old boyfriend, Alcee. Spending time with Alcee releases feelings from Calixta that had been building up thr oughout her marriage. Calixta and Alcee give in to temptation, but never lose their sight of love for their families. Both stories suggest women in marriages sometimes feel imprisoned by the relationship and seek an outlet for their emotions.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Marriage is a sacred bond and should always be honored. Infidelity is the worst act that can be perpetrated on a significant other. The wife, Calixta, betrayed her family and the church by cheating on them.

Reaction Paper to a Motivation Article

REACTION PAPER Topic: â€Å"INCENTIVES ARE NOT THE SAME AS MOTIVATORS†Mr. Clayton Christensen, a renowned author in the field of management, wrote an article entitled â€Å"INCENTIVES ARE NOT THE SAME AS MOTIVATORS†. He enlightens his readers on the difference between incentives and motivators. He was born on April 16, 1952 at Salt Lake City, Utah (USA). Besides being a teacher and a consultant, he is also famous in writing articles about innovator’s dilemma. This article was published by Carmen Nobel last June 4, 2012.Some people may say that â€Å"incentives† and â€Å"motivators† are synonymous to each other, but they are different in a major way. Incentives are somewhat like â€Å"prizes† set for the persons who did something beneficial. Meaning, people will do their best to get the prize. Whereas for motivators, it is somewhat like â€Å"encouragements† to persuade people to do their best to enhance their own skills. It is more la sting and holistic. â€Å"Do this and you’ll get that,† These are the words that we always hear from our parents.This is also a very common and popular phrase in companies. Some corporations rely on some sort of incentive programs, wherein there will always be â€Å"fabulous prizes† if the company’s productivity improves. Henry L. Gantt, contributor to Scientific Management, had designed a program wherein every worker who finished a day’s assigned work load would win a 50? bonus for that day. Because of this, of course, we can conclude that all workers labored to win the prize.But behind all these incentives, do all workers really have passion for their work? In my personal experience, when I was young, I also did the household chores because of incentives – washing dishes for new toys, clothes, and other things; cleaning the house for cell phone load; and many more. But after some time, I realized that without any incentives, I am not motiv ated to perform those tasks. Motivations came when I realized that upon completion of the assigned tasks, I can enjoy and benefit from it.I can feel and enjoy the fruits of my labor. In conclusion, I agree with the author that motivations are better than incentives. If you would look at it carefully, if the incentive program will to be used, people will only do their job because of that â€Å"something† that will be given afterwards. However, if the motivation program will to be introduced instead, it would inspire people to do their best at all times, in order for them to be proud, and contented with what they have done, and with what they have achieved.

Are Video Games Changing Us - 1388 Words

Are video games changing us? In 2008, 97% of twelve to seventeen year olds in America played video games, thus fueling the domestic video games by $11.7 million. Ten out of the top twenty best-selling video games contain violence. Many of these violent video games have been accused of incidents that include crime, bullying, and behavior problems. As the popularity of violent video games increase, more people become victims of behavior problems such as depression, aggressiveness, and addiction. Although video games were intentionally created for entertainment purposes, through studies and experiments it has been established that they are factors of behavior problems because of the active interaction people demonstrate while playing video†¦show more content†¦The more violent video games that young adults play, the more they develop personalities which reflect risk taking, rebelliousness, and risky behavior. This type of behavior change in adolescents can lead to destructive habits such as excessive drink ing, dangerous smoking, and reckless driving; which not only affects them, but can also cause harm to the people around them. In the second experiment, participants were told to play certain violent video games and after they were done they had to create a hot sauce for a taster who did not particularly like spicy food. The participants who played the more competitive video games, prepared a spicier hot sauce than whose who played lesser competitive games. This experiment proved that competiveness may be the main video game characteristic that influences aggression (Adachi). Through this experiment, competitiveness proves to be a great factor in the relation of violent video games with aggressive behavior, which strengthens the idea that violent video games promote behavior changes. In the third experiment operated by the American Psychological Association, participants were exposed to media content of risk taking such as extreme sports, and non-risk taking content. Afterwards, the researchers measured how willing participants were to engage in risky behavior. The results of this experiment proved that video games that glorify risk wereShow MoreRelatedEnvironmental Scanning of Nintendo662 Words   |  3 Pagesenvironment. This consists of broad environmental factors that have an impact on the organization. The PESTEL framework helps us to identify the future trends which might impinge on Nintendo and therefore identify the key drivers of change. On the other hand the five forces framework helps to understand how the competitive dynamics within and around the video game industry are changing. 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