International Reading Association board member and professor of early childhood education at Utah State University Dr. Ray Reutzel delivered the keynote address at the Bermuda Reading Association's annual conference last weekend on the topic, 'Trends and Issues in Literacy Education — a Broad Overview.'

In a separate, wide-ranging interview with Lifestyle's Nancy Acton, Dr. Reutzel spoke about the detrimental effects modern technologies had on childhood literacy, the role teachers and parents must play in motivating children of all ages to read and the educational approach to teaching children how to read for themselves.

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There was a time when small children routinely curled up next to their parents in the family home and listened in rapt attention to stories being read to them. They especially enjoyed hearing their favourites over and over again and were quick to point out any omissions committed. A story at bedtime was as much a part of the evening ritual as the family meal.

As a result of that family activity, children acquired early literacy through the absorption of received language and subsequently use it in communicating with others. When they went to school, they were taught the skills with which to read for themselves. The twin processes thus developed a lifelong culture of reading and the many pleasures to be derived therefrom.

In today's world, however, this culture has largely been lost among families, and children in particular are not reading for pleasure — a development Dr. Reutzel attributes to the pervasiveness of technology in every aspect of their lives.

"Our access to technology is actually undermining the kinds of traditional family actions which are supportive of young children," he said. "For example, what happened to mealtime conversation? What happened to reading books to children at night instead of parking them in front of televisions?

"Families are being ripped apart by technology, and are no longer communicating. Mother can be in the kitchen watching TV, father can be in the den working on the computer and children can be on their cell phones talking to their friends or sitting at their Sony playstations. They are all disassociated from one another, and this is very destructive to early literacy. Children need a strong language base before they learn to read and write in order to make the connection between what they have stored from their life experiences and what they see on the written page."

Because early literacy is the foundation upon which teachers will later build, children who have not been read to at home are actually disadvantaged when they start school.

"The culture of reading starts in the home," Dr. Reutzel said. "If not, the schools have to act as surrogate homes and create that culture. That supplants the major role of schools in providing instruction on the requisite skills for reading. Children who come from homes without a culture of reading are behind when they begin school, whereas those from homes with that culture have a jump start."

Displacing the dominance of computers and technology in today's world and motivating children of all ages to read books is going to require "an inordinate amount of effort" on the part of parents, teachers and children alike, the visiting expert warned. To infect children with a love of reading, and to make it an exciting and interactive experience for them will mean engaging them at the emotional level.

"Part of what happens with reading is that the child interacts with both the author and others who have also read that author," Dr. Reutzel said. "We really 'sell' books to one another, and parents and teachers of literacy and reading need to see themselves as book pedlars. We need to give books, read them in our families and create book clubs with our children and in our classrooms. By reading to their children, parents motivate and nurture them, although they are not necessarily required to provide the necessary skills to read — that is what teachers do."

While Dr. Reutzel is certainly not anti-technology, he said the reason it had gained the upper hand in today's world was because of its colourful, visual appeal which, in certain ways, allowed children to circumvent reading, and he noted that struggling readers very often chose books with pictures in them "to act as if they are reading".

Speaking as a board member of the International Reading Association, with which the Bermuda Reading Association is affiliated, he said it was his organisation's mission to promote the act of reading.

"Whether people use technology to do that, or whether they use books or stone tablets, the medium is not our message. Technology was intended to be a tool to bring us together, but unfortunately it has become a tool of isolation, and we need to think innovatively about how to use technology to bring us together. Why can't we use technology as we do books? There could come a day where books are only electronic. We must find ways to make technology work for us. It is our servant, not our master."

In terms of encouraging children to read, Dr. Reutzel said this accrued additional benefits. Not only did reading increase vocabulary but also it promoted a love of words "because words are fun".

"Programmes which motivate children to learn vocabulary are important. When you have words then you can get on to other languages."

Acquiring good vocabulary is achieved in three progressive ways: through incidental exposure to words in print and talk; systematic instruction in unfamiliar words; and motivation to learn words through word-play games, puzzles and contests.

On the contentious issue of whether phonics (breaking words down to sounds and syllables) or whole language (look-say) is the best method for teaching children to read, Dr. Reutzel was emphatic: phonics is the correct method.

"If you think about it, whole language is silly. Of course you have to be able to decode the print. You can't get meaning if you can't decode. A colleague (at another university) said, 'There is no comprehension strategy that is so strong that it can overcome a deficit in decoding.' Children must be taught how the system works, and learn how to use the decoding system. Once they can use that fluently then they can divert more of their mental attention to the construction of meaning. It is not true that decoding is the enemy of comprehension. They occur at different times and stages as they are needed, and are complementary."

Dr. Reutzel is a distinguished educator who is internationally recognised for his research on the complexities of literacy development and instruction. The author of over 165 referenced research reports, articles, books, book chapters and monograph, he has also received many prestigious awards.

Dr. Reutzel is passionately committed to continued improvement in literacy instruction, and his early literacy and early childhood education projects provide teachers with new knowledge and assistance for improving reading and writing instruction. A guest of the Bermuda Reading Association, he was here to pass on ideas and procedures required to establish a culture of reading in the local environment.