Stanislas Dehaene’s book Reading in the brain: the new science of how we read has captured my attention and this blog represents a quick summary of fascinating takeaways for classrooms. Looking to start at the beginning and work your way through? Here is a link to the first two blogs in this series:
- Introduction – Reading in the Brain – Stanislas Dehaene
- Chapter 1 – Reading in the Brain – Stanislas Dehaene (Part 1)
Let’s get right to the second part of Chapter 1 and some of Dehaene’s major points!
#1 of Dehaene’s major points – do all words make sounds?
Text lives a SILENT existence … or at least “silent until the moment in which a reader reads it.” Dehaene’s explanation of this quote from Alberto Manguel exemplifies how magical it seems to be able to read. Once our retina picks up the letters and words from a page, the process is similar to a computer software problem. The (programmed) algorithm that unfolds inside our brains for the skilled reader brings a voice to the page that we may or may not notice as we read.
Dehaene’s description of this process is that the brain mentally breaks each word into relevant units of meaning (a.k.a. morphemes). The brain can’t help itself. Look at the word “car” but try not to hear the word inside your head. When presented with just that word, it is difficult to not hear it. However, when it’s in the middle of a sentence, the sound of the word blends into the other words as your brain moves right to the meaning of the sentence: The car made a sharp right-hand turn.
If it is the first time that I read the word car, then I might also pause when I read the word carpet UNTIL I put meaning to both of these words. Dehaene’s explanation is that “mental conversion into sound plays an essential role when we read a word for the first time.” (Dehaene, 2021, p. 27)
#2 of Dehaene’s major points – Meaning not shape
Our eyes are so “exquisitely sensitive” to the letters on a page and their associated meaning(s), that we notice the difference between “eight” and “sight” more vividly than the difference between “eight” and “EiGHt”. The brain has “eight” and “sight” in two different semantic (meaning) areas whereas “eight” and “EiGHt” are semantically mapped to a mathematical number in the brain.
Another example of this from Dehaene’s book is how we can “DeCoDe, At An EsSENtIaLly NoRmAl SpEeD, EnTiRe SeNtEnCes WhOsE LeTtErS HaVe BeEn PrInTeD AlTeRnAtElY iN uPpErCaSe aNd In LoWeRcAsE.” (Dehaene, 2021, p. 20)
Dehaene’s statement about numerous experiments and studies done on handwritten, printed, font size, and/or uppercase and lowercase letters concludes that “our visual system pays no attention to the contours of words” and that the brain’s ability to recognize words “does not depend on an analysis of their overall shape.” (Dehaene, 2021, p. 21) Meaning before form. Isn’t that how we should also be presenting grammar?
#3 of Dehaene’s major points – What’s in a word?
While some psychologists compare the brain to a computer program, the pathway to reading is not a straight line. In experiments with letter recognition, the brain’s speed increases when there is meaning associated with it. For example, the brain is quick to identify a “D” or a “T” in words with meaning (HEAD, HEAT, BEAT, BEAD, MEAD, MEAT) but slows down to identify a “D” or “T” when the letters do not form a word (LCVD, MSKP, LWBT).
Studies show that the brain is a bit slower to distinguish between “D” and “T” in the second set. Furthermore, brain errors increase when trying to quickly identify single letters on a screen because neither a “D” or a “T” have individual meaning.
#4 of Dehaene’s major points – Smooth is fast
When the brain attempts to quickly process a word, it moves through a system of computing until a smooth pathway has been paved. When a brain initially encounters a new word, there are many neural pathways that fire to come to a consensus. Dehaene’s comparison is like a group of mental politicians.
The brain’s sound system has to work with the visual system which is forced to work with the letter pattern system which works with the meaning system. To make matters more complicated, within each system, there are layers and layers of other mental politicians each arguing with each other:
- “It is the letter F.” (FAN)
- “No, it is the letter E.” (EAN)
- “No, it is the letter T.” (TAN)
As each “political system” comes to an agreement (“it is the letter F”), the pathway is set in stone and there is never a future need to argue about it again. If one political system cannot agree, then it forwards the disagreement to a different system:
- “EAN” is not a word.
- “FAN” is a word.
- “TAN” is a word.
Let’s forward it onto the meaning system to resolve the problem. “It is hot. Turn on the fan.” Problem solved. It is the letter “F”. The pathway to this new “law” has turned into a smooth super highway with no going back. That is called efficiency (a.k.a automaticity). There’s no going back when the brain has smoothly agreed upon the sequence of letters F-A-N representing the word fan. It’s law. The route to read F-A-N is smooth and smooth is fast.
Classroom Implication of Dehaene’s major points
To be clear, the following classroom implications are my interpretations and do not come directly from Dehaene’s book Reading in the brain: the new science of how we read.
One classroom implication for me is that the visual, sound, and meaning areas of the brain are so intertwined that I need to increase oral language opportunities when learning letter sounds, vocabulary words, writing, and/or listening to read-alouds. Providing more oral language opportunities plays an essential role in every aspect of learning to read.
How can we move from grapheme-phoneme correspondence (letter-sound correspondence) into connecting words to meaning? Keep all learning in the context of the content being taught. Do not assign random lists of unassociated high frequency words.
The fact that our brain does not memorize the contour and shapes of words leads me to question the usefulness of whole word memorized spelling lists of high frequency words.
The pathway to skilled reading becomes smoother (with fewer political arguments) as automaticity builds between letters, sounds, and meaning. How do we decrease the number of arguments that the brain’s systems are having? Be explicit, systematic, and direct when teaching foundational skills to learners.
My name is Lisa and I am working my way through Dehaene’s book Reading in the brain: the new science of how we read. Consider watching the video versions of these blogs on my YouTube channel “L’Essentiel French Resources”. Join me next time for more of Dehaene’s book as I dive into chapter 2: The Brain’s Letterbox.
Resources:
– Dehaene, S. (2021). How we learn: Why brains learn better than any machine…for now. Penguin Books..
– Dehaene, S. (2010). Reading in the brain: The new science of how we read. Penguin Books. (I receive a commission if you purchase either Dehaene book from Amazon.)
