Reading test for six-year-olds to include non-words
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- Category: Education News
A number of made-up words such as "koob" or "zort" are to be included in the government's planned new reading test for six-year-olds in England.
A number of made-up words such as "koob" or "zort" are to be included in the government's planned new reading test for six-year-olds in England.
The idea has drawn criticism from literary experts who say the approach will confuse those beginning to read.
The UK Literacy Association said the plan was "bonkers" as the purpose of reading was to understand meaning.
The government said non-words were being included to check pupils' ability to decode words using phonics.
This is the reading system by which children sound out words using letter sounds.
Non-words were being included to check that children were not just regurgitating memorised words, a spokesman for the Department for Education said.
The proposed new test will take about 10 minutes to complete and would include about 40 items - words and non-words.
President of the UK Literacy Association David Reedy said the inclusion of non-words would be counter productive since most six-year-olds expect to make sense of what they read.
"The test is trying to control all the different variables so that things like meaning don't get in the way.
"We think that seems a bit bonkers when the whole purpose of reading is to understand words," he said.
Read more about this story at the BBC.co.uk
