The Relationship of Reading Disability and the Techniques of Teaching Reading

Abstract

Lateral Eye Movements were found to be a marker variable for two types of reading disability that can be related to specific stages of the way reading is usually taught. Current techniques used in the teaching of reading rely on the phonological route to meaning: if a child can “auditorize” a word, its meaning can be derived through auditory comprehension. This study has isolated two groups of disabled readers who are deficient in distinct aspects of this phonological route. Approximately 85% of disabled readers have a problem with the first step; they have difficulty converting the written word into its phonological counterpart. The remaining 15% have no difficulty with this first step, but the phonological representation of a word does not lead to its meaning.

Key Words:

• reading disabilty
• teaching reading
• lateral eye movements