Do you have difficulty reading in class? If so, a special reading program
that helps match sounds with letters could speed up your brain.
At least one out of every five elementary school students in the US has trouble
learning to read, even when the students are good at other subjects. {{U}}
{{U}} 1 {{/U}} {{/U}} Researchers from Yale
University, US, studied a group of children from New York and Connecticut State.
As part of the study, 37 struggling readers received special tutoring.
Every day, instructors worked with them on recognizing how written
letters represent units of sound called phonemes (音素). {{U}} {{U}}
2 {{/U}} {{/U}} By the end of the school year, these
children could read faster than before. They also made fewer mistakes, and
understood more of what they read than they could earlier in the year.
As part of their study, the researchers used a special machine to take
action photos of the students' brains. {{U}} {{U}} 3 {{/U}}
{{/U}}This is the same part of the brain that becomes active when good readers
read. This activated brain area appears to include a structure that helps people
recognize familiar written words quickly. In lower level readers, this structure
remains inactive. A year later, the brain structure was still
working hard in the students who had gone through the special tutoring, and they
continued to do well in reading tests {{U}} {{U}} 4 {{/U}}
{{/U}} However, some researchers still doubt the study.
{{U}} {{U}} 5 {{/U}} {{/U}} A. Many adults are
interested in matching sounds with letters. B. The students
also practiced reading aloud and spelling. C. The biggest
challenge for many of these kids, scientists say, is matching sounds with
letters. D. Another group in the study who went through a more
traditional reading program didn't show the same progress. E.
The pictures showed an increase in activity in the back of the brain on the left
side. F. They believe that reading without making any noise or
linking words to sounds is more efficient.