the g-of-40 note
Mike Cole (mcole who-is-at weber.ucsd.edu)
Thu, 16 May 1996 19:17:52 -0700 (PDT)
"This letter is a communication by Massachusetts residents to
Massachusetts officials. It was not intended for distribution
outside our area. We do not authorize distribution or quotation
by organizations or groups. Individuals who choose to make copies
for others must include this notice at the top."
-The signers
>From: Forty Massachusetts specialists in linguistics and psycholinguistics
To : Dr. Robert V. Antonucci
Commissioner of Education, Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Cc: Linda Beardsley, Curriculum Frameworks Coordinator,
Dept. of Education
Dr. Michael Sentance, Secretary of Education
His Excellency, William F. Weld, Governor of Massachusetts
Date: July 12, 1995
Subject: Standards for Reading Instruction in Massachusetts
Dear Dr. Antonucci:
We are researchers in linguistics and psycholinguistics -- and
Massachusetts residents. We are writing to raise certain questions about
the inclusion of contentious and, in our view, scientifically unfounded
views of language in the sections on reading instruction of the draft
Curriculum Content Chapter on Language Arts ("Constructing and Conveying
Meaning"), recently circulated by the Massachusetts Department of
Education. These views are presented as a principal support for the
reading curriculum advocated as an instructional "standard" in this
document.
The proposed Content Chapter replaces the common-sense view of
reading as the decoding of notated speech with a surprising view of
reading as directly "constructing meaning". According to the document,
"constructing meaning" is a process that can be achieved using many
"strategies" (guessing, contextual cues, etc.). In this view, the
decoding of written words plays a relatively minor role in reading
compared to strategies such as contextual guessing. This treats the
alphabetic nature of our writing system as little more than an accident,
when in fact it is the most important property of written English -- a
linguistic achievement of historic importance.
The authors of the draft Content Chapter claim that research on
language supports their views of reading. The document asserts that
research on language has moved from the investigation of particular
"components of language -- phonological and grammatical units" to the
investigation of "its primary function -- communication". These
supposed developments in linguistic research are used as arguments for a
comparable view of reading. We are entirely unaware of any such shift
in research.
We want to alert the educational authorities of Massachusetts to
the fact that the view of language research presented in this document
is inaccurate, and that the claimed consequences for reading instruction
should therefore be subjected to serious re-examination.
The facts are as follows. Language research continues to focus on
the components of language, because this focus reflects the "modular"
nature of language itself. Written language is a notation for the
structures and units of one of these components. Sound methodology in
reading instruction must begin with these realities. Anything else will
shortchange those students whom these standards are supposed to help.
As linguists, we are concerned that the Commonwealth, through its
powers to set standards for schools, should presume to legislate an
erroneous view of how human language works, a view that runs counter to
most of the major scientific results of more than 100 years of
linguistics and psycholinguistics. We are even more concerned that
uninformed thinking about language should lie at the heart of a
"standards" document for Massachusetts schools.
Respectfully,
[list of signers starts on next page]
[Signers are listed in alphabetical order]
1. Prof. Emmon Bach
(Linguistics, University of Massachusetts at Amherst;
President, Linguistic Society of America)
2. Prof. Andrea Calabrese
(Linguistics, Harvard)
3. Dr. David Caplan
(Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital;
Director of the Reading Disability Clinic, Massaschusetts General
Hospital)
4. Prof. Charles Clifton
(Chair, Dept. of Psychology, University of Massachusetts at
Amherst)
5. Prof. Mark Feinstein
(Dean of Cognitive Science & Cultural Studies, Hampshire College)
6. Prof. Kai von Fintel
(Linguistics, MIT)
7. Prof. Suzanne Flynn
(Foreign Languages and Literatures/Linguistics, MIT)
8. Prof. John Frampton
(Mathematics, Northeastern University)
9. Prof. Lyn Frazier
(Linguistics, University of Massachusetts at Amherst)
10. Prof. Edward Gibson
(Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT)
11. Prof. Kenneth Hale
(Linguistics, MIT;
former President (1994), Linguistic Society of America;
Member, National Academy of Sciences;
Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences)
12. Prof. Morris Halle
(Institute Professor, Linguistics, MIT;
former President (1973), Linguistic Society of America;
Member, National Academy of Sciences;
Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences)
13. Prof. Irene Heim
(Linguistics, MIT)
14. Prof. Kyle Johnson
(Linguistics, University of Massachusetts at Amherst)
15. Prof. James Harris
(Foreign Languages and Literatures/Linguistics, MIT)
16. Prof. Ray Jackendoff
(Linguistics/Volen Center for Complex Systems, Brandeis;
author, Patterns in the Mind)
17. Prof. Samuel J. Keyser
(Linguistics, MIT)
18. Prof. Michael Kenstowicz
(Linguistics, MIT)
19. Prof. John Kingston
(Linguistics, University of Massachusetts at Amherst)
20. Prof. John McCarthy
(Chair, Dept. of Linguistics, University of Massachusetts at
Amherst)
21. Prof. Joan Maling
(Linguistics/Volen Center for Complex Systems, Brandeis)
22. Prof. Gary Marcus
(Psychology, University of Massachusetts at Amherst)
23. Dr. Janis Melvold*
(Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital)
24. Prof. Shigeru Miyagawa
(Foreign Languages and Literatures/Linguistics, MIT)
25. Prof. Mary Catherine O'Connor
(Developmental Studies and Applied Linguistics, Boston
University)
26. Prof. Wayne O'Neil
(Chair, Dept. of Linguistics and Philosophy, MIT)
27. Prof. Barbara Partee
(Linguistics, University of Massachusetts at Amherst;
former President (1986), Linguistic Society of America;
Member, National Academy of Sciences;
Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences)
28. Prof. David Pesetsky*
(Linguistics, MIT;
Co-director, Research Training Program "Language: Acquisition and
Computation")
29. Prof. Steven Pinker
(Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT;
Director, McDonnell-Pew Center for Cognitive Neuroscience;
author, The Language Instinct)
30. Prof. Alexander Pollatsek
(Psychology, University of Massachusetts at Amherst)
31. Prof. Mary C. Potter
(Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT)
32. Prof. Janet Randall
(Director, Linguistics Program, Northeastern University)
33. Prof. Keith Rayner
(Psychology, University of Massachusetts at Amherst)
34. Prof. Thomas Roeper
(Linguistics, University of Massachusetts at Amherst)
35. Prof. Elisabeth O. Selkirk
(Linguistics, University of Massachusetts at Amherst)
36. Prof. Margaret Speas
(Linguistics, University of Massachusetts at Amherst)
37. Prof. Esther Torrego
(Chair, Dept. of Hispanic Studies, University of Massachusetts at
Boston).
38. Dr. Gloria Waters
(Neuropsychology Lab, Massachusetts General Hospital;
School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, McGill
University)
39. Prof. Calvert Watkins
(Linguistics/Classics; Harvard)
40. Prof. Kenneth Wexler
(Dept. of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT;
Co-director, Research Training Program "Language: Acquisition and
Computation")
*For further information or discussion, please contact:
Prof. David Pesetsky
Dept. of Linguistics and Philosophy
20D-219
Massachusetts Institute of
Technology
Cambridge, MA 02139
phone: (617) 253 0957
fax: (617) 253 5017
e-mail:pesetsk who-is-at mit.edu
Dr. Janis Melvold
Neuropsychology Lab
Dept. of Neurology
Vincent-Burnham 827
Massachusetts General Hospital
Fruit St.
Boston, MA 02114
phone: (617) 726 5007
e-mail:
melvold who-is-at helix.mgh.harvard.edu
-------- End of Forwarded Message(s) ---------