Infused Reading - German by Educational Solutions Worldwide Inc.

Infused Reading German Notes For Teachers

Caleb Gattegno

Educational Solutions Worldwide Inc.

Programmed for the Apple II family of microcomputers by A.C. Gattegno and M.J. Hollyfield First American edition published in 1986. Reprinted in 2009. Copyright ÂŠ 1986-2009 Educational Solutions Worldwide Inc. Author: Caleb Gattegno All rights reserved ISBN 0-00000-000-0 Educational Solutions Worldwide Inc. 2nd Floor 99 University Place, New York, N.Y. 10003-4555 www.EducationalSolutions.com

Table of Contents

Eigeniesses Lesen Fur Deutsch .................................... 1 Preliminairies ................................................................................... 1 Remarks and conclusions .............................................................. 16

Eigeniesses Lesen Fur Deutsch

Preliminairies These Notes are written in English though the courseware is conceived as a program for teaching reading to German speaking natives of any age who need to master that skill. A German version will be published later. German is the fifth European language treated by the approach called INFUSED READING. The others to date are, in alphabetical order: English, French, Italian and Spanish. This courseware is similar to those of the last two languages in that all the work is done at one level while the first two are done at three levels and ask for more time. Tests with these coursewares proved conclusive in that random student populations confirmed that it does not take long to become a reader of German; more exactly, it takes a little more than one hour. This is so because:

Infused Reading German

1 We begin with one short text (of 80 words) on twelve lines specially composed to give experience with most of the vowels of German and almost all of its consonants. 2 This text is used again and again as a frame of reference for the vowels of German which are isolated on (screen) “sheets” in turn, to appear exactly at their location in the text. Following this isolated presentation, the overall text reappears to give an opportunity, if it is needed, to point at the words which contain these signs with those sounds associated to them in these German words. If this is not needed, a touch of the spacebar will place in the screen all the previously studied vowels and the new one. In this way a lot of practice is provided the students who now know i) how to distinguish different signs associated to different vowel-sounds and ii) how to distinguish the same signs associated to different sounds. No one would know that the sounds for these vowels uttered are part of the German language since they appear isolated and unrelated to any “meaning” except that of the rules of the game. For speakers of the language the vowel sounds have been with them all their lives. Newcomers to German must make one additional association and thus do what is needed to retain it. Experience showed that it is not hard at all to do that. 3 Once all the vowels of the text have been gone through and they have found their place on the screen, the consonants are introduced one by one. Their order is only important in so far as none of them appears on its own on the screen. Consonants

Eigeniesses Lesen Fur Deutsch

form syllables and these, with the vowels, form the words. So, every time a new consonant is introduced much more of the text is revealed as belonging to the German language. As soon as two or more continuous words form a phrase, students can be asked to attempt to say it. Hence, slowly - but indeed not so slowly newcomers to reading find that, playing the game of uttering what is formed on the screen, leads them to be the source of a flow of words which strangely resembles their spoken language. This is equivalent to saying they, now, can read. Once the text is completed (punctuation included) the text is subdivided in as many phrases as it contains and these are exhibited on the screen as a random sequence. Presented at three speeds (slow, less slow and regular) this sequence serves as a test, called Test 1. No two sequences of the contents of the Test 1 repeat each other. The increase in the speed of display will feed back to the students that reading is not only saying what each word demands, but also that they have to be uttered in groups in the manner the spoken language asks for. The transfer of such a newly acquired capacity to the last three texts completes the courseware. The last two texts are called further reading (I and II) and are shown at a speed considered normal for literate adults. But the text preceding these, called Test 2, can be shown at three speeds as Test 1 was, the fastest being comfortable only for skilled readers. Such a structure of the programs guarantees that newcomers to reading have done all that is needed to make sense of this new form of their speech.

Infused Reading German

The texts and tests of this courseware can be called on the screen either in UPPER case only or in the usual mixture of upper and lower cases. Both are available on this disk. To get the first select #1 of the sequence. 1 2

GROSSE BUCHSTABE GROSSE und KLEINE BUCHSTABE

When this appears on the screen. Both should be used one after the other if necessary in order to say the program has been gone through completely. Alternating 1) and 2) when calling for the successive programs may be sufficient to master both. MENU

1 2 3 4 5 ESC

EIGENIESSES LESEN PRUFUNG 1 PRUFUNG 2 WEITER LESEN I WEITER LESEN II AUSGANG WAHLEN SIE

The program has been automated so that once a # is chosen, the screen shows the choice above for U.C. or the other. Once this choice is entered, according to which it is, the screen will show for #1: WAHLEN SIE ENTWEDER 1 VOKALE ODER 2 KONSONANTEN

Eigeniesses Lesen Fur Deutsch

indicating that it is possible not to go over the work with the vowels if it has already been done, and begin part 2) of that program thus saving time and the boredom of repetition. and for #2 or #3: 1 2 3

LANGSAM NICHT SO LANGSAM NORMAL

for the choice of the speed of unfolding the contents of these modules. The selections 1 through 4 of the MENU end with the following choices which appear on the screen as: WIEDERHOLEN NACHSTE MENU

DRUCKEN DRUCKEN DRUCKEN

SPACEBAR RETURN ESC

the first is needed if some work on the program just finished is required; the second, to continue with the course; the third in case a different choice is intended which the MENU will get on the screen on request. After selection 5, the second line may not be needed if the work has been done satisfactorily, and is replaced by AUSGANG

DRUCKEN

RETURN

Infused Reading German

which corresponds to the usual QUIT, or END of contents. * 1

Program # 1

EIGENIESSES LESEN

The text selected is the following shown first in UPPER Case and second in UPPER and lower case. ICH WURDE SEHR GERN MIT IHNEN INS THEATER GEHEN ABER ICH BIN FURCHTBAR BESCHÄFTIGT. ICH FRAGTE: ,,GEFIEL IHNEN DER

FILM

GESTERN

ABEND?”

WIR

FURCHTEN, DASS WIR MORGEN SCHLECHTES WETTER

BEKOMMEN

WERDEN.

DAS

MÄDCHEN SAGTE DASS ES SEIN AUTO IN DER GARAGE GESEHEN HAT. DER CHAU -FFEUR SAGT, DASS ER FERTIG SEI. WUSSTE ER, WO DAS HOTEL BOO WAR? ER SAGTE, DASS ER ES NIE GESEHEN HATTE. ICH ANTWORTETE, ER SOLLE DEN POLIZISTEN FRAGEN. ER WUSSTE ES SELBSTVERSTÄNDLICH. BALD WAREN WIR DA. Ich wurde sehr gern mit Ihnen ins Theater gehen aber ich bin furchtbar beschäftigt. Ich fragte:

Eigeniesses Lesen Fur Deutsch

,,Gefiel Ihnen der Film gestern abend?” wir furchten, dass wir morgen schlechtes Wetter bekommen werden. Das Mädchen sagte dass es sein Auto in der Garaga gesehen hat. Der Chau ffeur sagt, dass er fertig sei. wusste er, wo das Hotel Boo war? Er sagte, dass er es nie gesehen hatte. Ich antwortete, er solle den Polizisten fragen. Er wusste es selbstverständlich. Bald waren wir da. The text is made up of sentences not necessarily forming a story; though parts do. There is no reason to select a story since the aim is to teach reading and not to entertain. So we did not try to add a problem to our composition of this text by making sure those who can read will be satisfied. The single paragraph format is adopted only because space in this case is at a premium. The order of the vowels is as follows: 1 First all the a which sound as in the word Mann are shown on one “sheet”. They are shown again after the spacebar is touched and as soon as the cursor appears at the end of this module, but this time, within the whole text, when each of them in turn is made to flash; the order followed is from left to right and from top to bottom.

Infused Reading German

2 second all the a which sound as in aber. A voice must be available to put in circulation the vowel sounds. We suggest that it be given only once to see if it is sufficient to get the students to repeat it every time it appears on that “sheet”. This is generally the case. Of course, we meet here the first ambiguity of the written language (or of spelling) in which one sign does not only trigger one sound. (So called phonetic languages are the only ones respecting the one-one sound-spelling correspondences. German is not one of them) Hence, special attention must be paid to the positions of the letter which appear in this second module. A teacher would tell the students to note the position of these vowels before continuing the program. When the spacebar is touched twice quickly, the screen will show the scanning of the text for both a’s, thus creating the first feeling that there is a difficulty in recognizing what to say when letters appear on their own. In practice it does not make much of a difference if some of the a’s are not what they will be at the end when words are completed. The two a’s are again separated after this joint appearance. In the text on the screen only the second set is made to flash. This gives students an opportunity to locate them better. 3 Since in German there are short and long vowels, each of the letters will appear twice (like the a’s above), and similar treatment as the one above is adopted all through. •

first the two i, that for bin and that for wir with a few of their different spellings: like Ih as in Ihmen; ie as in sie for the long i. The set of short i’s is scanned first, the long ones second. 8

Eigeniesses Lesen Fur Deutsch

•

then the two closed e, also short (as in es) and long (as in gesehen) and the two open e, short (as in der) and long (as in verstandlich)

•

the two o’s, short (as in bekommen) and long (as in wo)

•

the two u’s, short (as in wuste) and long (as in furchtbar)

4 In this text there are three vowels which do not appear in their two forms (long and short) though two of them exist as such in German. The third one, the schwa has only one form, the short one. The sound for ü in the word furchten is long (and would be short in ülm). The sound for ö in the word Chauffeur is short (and would be long in schön). The schwa appears in a module placed immediately after the two i’s. The ö after the two o’s and the ü as the last vowel. *

German has three dipthongs among its vowels, only two of them appear in this text and only once, au in auto, and ei in sei. The third one eu (as in leute) could not be fitted in this text but will be met in one or other of the next 3 texts. The German consonants are introduced one at a time, once all the vowels of the text are displayed on the screen in their respective places. The order chosen is the Following:

Infused Reading German

first d, then r, then n, then l, b, z, sch, m, w (or v), t, s, p, f (or v), g, x, k, h,(neglecting the j as in ja, the ch of noch and the nasal n)and using the French g (found in garage). Among the double-sounded consonants z, qu, x, r, only z and r are included in this text, leaving for other texts which follow, the double-sounded qu (as in quelle), and the x (of axiom). z appears in Polizisten and r in hier. A number of these consonants appear under different spellings: for s, d for t (in und); ch (in chauffeur) and s (in verstĂ¤ndlich) for sch (as in schlecht); ch (of ich) and g of (fertig). For the insertion of the punctuation marks, the order has been first the comma, then the question mark, then the hyphen, then the colon, the semi-colon, the quotation marks and finally the period. *

As said above we recommend that the students go through the vowels first as thoroughly as their patience and determination to learn allow. If a small group is watching the screen at the same time a chorus reading of the sheets of vowels (the isolated ones or the sequences given above) may serve to remove some of the boredom of repetition. In any case in less than 30 minutes this work can be done thoroughly. The work with the consonants can be undertaken either immediately after or, if desired,

Eigeniesses Lesen Fur Deutsch

postponed for a few hours or even for a day or two without loss of learning. The completion of this first program takes less than one full hour and it represents the essential of our approach to the freedom of literacy. * 2

Program # 2

PRÜFUNG 1 AND PRÜFUNG 2

These are programs which act as tests to confirm that the first program led to actual literacy. Prüfung 1 uses the random function of the computer to present the sequence of 33 phrases found in Text 1 when we watch the reading voice making its pauses. Here is one of the sequences offered by the computer. furchtbar beschäftigt der Film gehen er solle dass er morgen Ich antwortete Der Chauffeur sagt es nie gesehen hatte

Infused Reading German

mit Ihnen Gefiel Ihnen schlechtes Wetter Er wusste es sein Auto das Hotal Boo war gestern abend Wusste er, wo Ich würde sehr gern dass wir Bald waren wir da. Ich fragte gesehen hat den Polizisten fragen aber ich war Wir fürchten fertig sei selbstverständlich dass es in der Garage Er sagte, dass er bekommen werden ins Theater Das Mädchen sagte On the screen this or any other, sequence can be asked for either in UPPER case or like this one, and either displayed very slowly for students who seem to need that much time to complete each phrase or at two faster paces; the last one (called “normal” here) corresponding to a speed good readers will accept as right for them.

Eigeniesses Lesen Fur Deutsch

The progress made from program 1 to program 2 consists in the shift from vowels, syllables and words, to phrases in the sequences. The computer offers a real help in this transition, for, now, newcomers to reading will know that reading resembles speech in its flow of words and no one will any more do what is done in some reading classes and called chanting. Prüfung 2 is a new text presented as a continuous unfolding of a sequence of sentences, phrase by phrase at any one of three speeds, in UPPER case or a mix of UPPER and lower cases as above. Again there is no story as such but the various sentences make sense. Das Gedächtnis spielt einem / zuweilen Streiche. / Wie oft / könnte man schwören, / dass man / eine Sache / an einen bestimmten Platz gelegt hat / und findet dann / spater / heraus, / dass sie / ganz woanders liegt. / Milde Fruhlingsluft drang / durch das offene Fenster / in ihre Wohnung. / Ohne den Strassenlärm / hatte man glauben können, / auf dem land zu sein. / Es war / eine herrliche Nacht. / Nun stand sie / in Fleisch und Blut / vor ihm, / gorss, / schlank, / eine junge Dame. / Sie hatte eine wohl geformte Nase, /ein energisches Konn / und machte / einen lebhaften Eindruck. / The phrasing is the key to the smooth reading resulting from this exercise acting as a test. Comprehension is obtained because the references of the sentences are from every day living.

Infused Reading German

We now leave testing and enter expansion of the powers of reading. We do this through two texts sectioned into paragraphs each of them showing its phrases. One short text and one much longer. Again neither tells a story though each section in them carries definite meanings which form a unit in itself. WEITER LESEN I Ich fühlte mich dort / sehr glücklich, / alle waren freundlich / zu mir, / ich ging / in die Schule, / hatte viele Freundinnen. / Ich habe Geld, / ich bin gesund, / ich bin ganz hubsch, / ich kann das Leben / geniessen. / Sie kennen sie nicht, / sie ist höchst ungewöhnlich, / ein Mädchen, / mit grosser Charakterstärke. / Etwas später / ging ich in Haus, / um mir einen Pullover / zu holen, / denn es wehte / ein kuhler Wind. / Ich las leidenschaftlich gern / und bewies / einen guten / literarischen Geschmack. Er lehnte sich zurück / und streckte / seine langen Beine aus. / Ihr Gedächtnis / ist erstaunlich. / Man erinnert sich / selbstverständlich / an die Hauptsache. / The speed of presentation is slightly slower than the “normal” speed of the tests. There is no special reason for its choice, except to create some variety in this matter. The automatic re-

Eigeniesses Lesen Fur Deutsch

appearance at the end of this exercise of choices which include a repetition of this module gives a chance to improve upon one’s performance if one is not fully satisfied. Otherwise, by touching the Return Key one gets into the final module of this courseware. There is no strict need to complete the course in one sitting but it can be done and thus make literacy a shorter challenge. WEITER LESEN II This text is much longer but still only requires a few minutes to be completed. Es hat keinen Zweck, / sich / über etwas zu ärgern, / wogegen / man nichts tun kann. / Es hat keinen Zweck, / mit dem Kopf / durch die Wand / rennen zu wollen. / Man kann / aus Liebe zur Wahrheit / die Wahrheit suchen. / Wahrheit / war ihre zweite Natur. / Ich wollte nicht / ihre Gefühle verletzen. / Ich danke Ihnen, / lieber Freund, / ich bin hochst gespannt. / Darüber / brauchten Sie sich / keine Sorgen / zu machen. / Sie weiss ganz genau, / was sie will. / Es stimmt schon, / aber ich will jetzt / nicht darüber / sprechen. / Kinder / wissen oft mehr, / als man denkt. / Bevor das Kind / zu Bett ging, / beschimpfte es

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Infused Reading German

fürchterlich / und schrie: / es würde ihm / wie im Märchen / eine Bratwurst / an der Nase baumeln, / die er / nie wieder loswürde. / Als ich / nach der Uhr sah, / war es schon / ziemlich spät, / und wir mussten uns / beeilen / um rechtzeitig / zum Essen zu kommen. / Es waren alle schon / beim Tisch. / In der Halle / stand eine grosse Vase / mit weissen Lilien, / die einen starken Duft / verbreiteten. Ein reizendes Kind, / vielleicht etwas zu ruhig, / zu nachdenklich. / Es konnte sich studenland / allein beschäftigen. / Es war sehr naturlich / und nicht verwöhnt. / Das ergibt sich / bei kinderreichen Familien / mit wenig Geld. / Die Mutter hat einfach keine Zeit, / sich / zu sehr / um die einzelnen Kinder / zu kümmern. / Die Kinder merken, / dass die Mutter sie liebt / ohne / von allzu vielen Ausserungen / diese Liebe / behelligt zu werden. /

Remarks and conclusions 1 Like our other Infused Reading programs, we tested this one on non-German speaking people to find out if it could serve to teach newcomers to that language. So far our results confirm what had been found for Spanish, French and Italian: indeed

Eigeniesses Lesen Fur Deutsch

Infused Reading provides a remarkable entry into a correct pronunciation of the German language. 2 Although this program is, in a way, a very structured approach to learning to read the language selected for it, it revealed a number of links with other aspects of language learning, including writing and spelling. The reason seems to be that peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s awareness of the written form of their spoken language becomes so much clearer that they can concentrate their imaginative powers on creative issues and improve their writing and their grasp of the shape of words, hence their spelling. 3 Users of this courseware will find that if they look at a German paper or a magazine or a book, they will have almost no need for adaptation to the size, arrangement and format of the contents of the pages. Such transfers are the best proof that approaches like the one in this work are correct and should be extended to more languages. 4 It is not frightfully important that the learning of reading is done in the number of minutes mentioned above, but it is important to know that if the task of learning to read is as easy as we made it through such coursewares, the school populations, i.e. students, teachers, administrators and local authorities should know of it. On the one hand much frustration and unnecessary failure will be avoided and on the other, people owning reading as a new, but well grounded skill, will be able to apply it to further their social and economic worth .

Eigeniesses Infused Reading Lesen Fur German Deutsch

5 Since in so many cases the actual apprenticeship of reading will take so little time, it becomes possible to spend a little longer with those students who present special problems. Even if it takes three times longer for these students to do what is done by the majority, it is a very short time indeed compared with that which they are expected to spend with traditional approaches which miss so many students regularly. For these students it still remains very important that they master the vowels first and that consonants are not introduced by themselves, but through the syllables they form in the words part of Text 1. 6 The retention of what the texts tell is not required at all, and no one should read their content to the illiterates who are there to benefit from this austere but very effective approach. We concentrated on the techniques which overcome the obstacles to reading fluently and with comprehension. They and nothing else solve the problems. Students experiencing that they can do what is asked of them, suddenly find themselves reading and this by itself opens their minds and enhances their morale. It is unnecessary to comment on the merits of that work and better to take it all as a matter of fact. When we all learn that learning to read is not such a big deal and can be taken care of at a low cost for all concerned, we would have simply restored a situation to its reality. *

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