WORDS & SKILLS TRAINING
“We think with words.” (A. G. Draper)
In article by E. D. Hirsch, Jr. in the City-Journal, “A Wealth of Words,” expands on that theme:
. . . vocabulary size is a convenient proxy for a whole range of educational attainments and abilities—not just skill in reading, writing, listening, and speaking but also general knowledge of science, history, and the arts. If we want to reduce economic inequality in America, a good place to start is the language-arts classroom. . . .
. . . correlations between vocabulary size and life chances are as firm as any correlations in educational research. Of course, vocabulary isn’t perfectly correlated with knowledge. People with similar vocabulary sizes may vary significantly in their talent and in the depth of their understanding. Nonetheless, there’s no better index to accumulated knowledge and general competence than the size of a person’s vocabulary. Simply put: knowing more words makes you smarter. And between 1962 and the present, a big segment of the American population began knowing fewer words, getting less smart, and becoming demonstrably less able to earn a high income.
However, on the other hand, today’s industrial skills training programs must not overreach with the use of written vocabulary — if learning and longer term retention are our ultimate goals.
And, that means tailoring the written vocabulary used in our classroom presentations and our e-Learning programs to a 4th grade reading level as nearly half of our workforce cannot assimilate anything written beyond that.
Most importantly, e-Learning programs must be designed with a word-for-word audio option so that all trainees, no matter their reading level, have equal access to the content.
More on Monday – – –
— Bill Walton, co-Founder, ITC Learning
March 1, 2017
www.itclearning.com/blog/ (Mondays & Wednesdays)
“THE WORLD RELIES ON THE HANDS OF ITS MEN AND WOMEN”
(This is a personal blog. Any views or opinions represented in this blog are personal and belong solely to the blog owner, jhbillwalton@gmail.com, an independent consultant. They do not represent those of people, institutions or organizations that the owner may or may not be associated with in a professional or personal capacity.)
