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Author(s) -
TURNER MARTIN
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
support for learning
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.25
H-Index - 30
eISSN - 1467-9604
pISSN - 0268-2141
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9604.1991.tb00422.x
Subject(s) - publicity , reading (process) , sign (mathematics) , state (computer science) , psychology , commission , affect (linguistics) , position (finance) , law , history , political science , economics , mathematical analysis , mathematics , communication , finance , algorithm , computer science
The events of twelve months ago will still be fresh in many people's minds. From relative obscurity Martin Turner was pitched into the centre of a national controversy. Together with other colleagues he published evidence that suggested there was a significant downward trend in reading standards in primary school children. The accompanying publicity, and indeed hysteria, prompted the then Secretary of State to commission two investigations, both of which have now reported. The heat generated by these events shows little sign of abating. Here Turner elaborates on previous statements, giving reasons for maintaining his position that the purported decline is firmly linked to teaching method and in particular the widespread use of the ‘psycholinguistic’ approach. He also challenges readers to propose an alternative hypothesis. Debates about reading standards are, of course, far from new. Periodically the country agonises about such matters without reaching much conclusion. Meanwhile teachers soldier patiently on. This time, one suspects, the debate is in for a much longer run and may substantially affect practice.