Bannatyne Reading, Writing, Spelling and Language Program
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SPLITTING WORDS
Before an unfamiliar word can be vocally blended from its separated sounds, those sounds (articulemes/phonemes) have to be individually identified as individual unit optemes in a process called word-splitting. For example, the Bannatyne trained student looks at the printed word "ability" and splits it into its individual optemes "a-b-i-l-i-t-y" each of which is then linked (associated) with its equivalent individual articuleme/phoneme /a/-/b/-/i/-/l/-/i/-/t/-/y/. Once these individual articulemes are identified (articulated) out loud, they can be vocally blended into the correct spoken word /ability/. The fundamental sequencing process in all words in a phonetic language is auditory-vocal, not visual. (See: blending, orthography, sequencing, linking, spelling)
STANDARD DEVIATION
(See: Statistics)
STATISTICS
The following descriptions of statistical terms are only to give non-statisticians some working approximate idea of their meanings; they are not intended to be exact definitions. Let us say you have a class of 31 Grade 1 students with IQs that range from 80 for lowest student up to 120 for the student with the highest IQ.
Mean: For all practical purposes the mean is the average you get when you add up all the IQ scores of all your students and then divide the total by 31. In the national population of all Grade 1 students (and any other very large random group of students) the mean IQ would always be 100 by statistical definition. Let's say that the mean IQ in your class is 101.
Median: The median is the IQ of the middle student in your group (the sixteenth student in your class of 31). The sixteenth student up from the bottom has an IQ of 102 and so this is the median of your class.
Distribution: The distribution tells us how the IQs of your students are clustered. How many students are clustered (or found to be grouped in) the following ranges of IQ:
There is 1 student with an IQ from 80 through 85
There are 2 students with IQs from 86-90
There are 4 students with IQs from 91-95
There are 8 students with IQs from 96-100
There are 8 students with IQs from 101-105
There are 5 students with IQs from 106-110
There are 2 students with IQs from 111-115
There is 1 student with an IQ from 116-120
TOTAL: 31 students with IQs from 80 through 120 (See bell curve of distribution below)
The bold numbers in the above list tell us the distribution of IQs in your grade 1 class of 31 students.
Bell curve: A bell curve is a graphical illustration of the distribution of IQs in the class of 31 students. This is easy to understand if you examine the following illustration and read the words underneath it. Note that the bell curve can be skewed, and this would be the case if the bottom half of the class (say 15 students all had IQs between 90 and 100. This would make the left hand side of the bell curve very steep while the right hand side would still be stretched just as shown. Statisticians do not like skewed bell curves and usually rewrite and readjust their IQ tests or academic tests to make the bell curve nice and symmetrical again. This has dire implications for teachers who are trying to get all students (in a grade) reading at or above grade level, because the statistical psychologists will alter the tests to drop the skewed half the students below grade level in a nice even bell curve distribution! (See: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS -- Section on Handicapped and Disabled Students -- Question on "...nothing naturally abnormal...")
Standard deviation: The standard deviation of this class (or any groups or population) is the middle range of students in the class and not infrequently this middle group comprises approximately 66% to 70% of the students. Note that the standard deviation stretches out from both sides of the mean. Two standard deviations would include approximately 95% of the group who fall between roughly IQ 85 and IQ 115 on the above chart.
SYLLABLES
The syllables and word-parts (prefixes, suffixes, etc.,) used in words in the Bannatyne Program are solely for the purpose of facilitating the correct articulation of words by students and the spelling of words, and so the syllables may not always correspond with the grammatical syllables used in many dictionaries--and even different dictionaries may vary slightly on the syllabication of some words. (See: word parts, core words, word families)
SYMBOL
Some thing that stands for some other thing. A visual letter shape (opteme) or its equivalent handwritten shape (a grapheme) is a symbol for a sound (phoneme or articuleme) in a phonetic language such as English. By contrast, Chinese is not a phonetic language. The Bannatyne Program uses numerous very minor alterations to the some of the traditional opteme/grapheme symbols of the English language which facilitates their immediate recognition by students. However, NO dependency is formed on these modified symbols because the words which incorporate them are overlearned to the point of easy recognition in any standard English font or handwriting. (See: orthography, phonemes, optemes, graphemes, spelling. When you purchase the Bannatyne Program all the graphemes used in English are presented clearly in the Grapheme Book.)
SYNTAX
Syntax is concerned with sentence structure and the sequential order and organization of the words in any sentence. For example, reordering the same words in a sentence changes its meaning from a statement to a question: Bob can bat well becomes, Can Bob bat well? In English the verb is usually in the "middle" of a sentence between subject and object (e.g., "The girl ate the sandwich."), whereas in German it is often at or near the end of the sentence. Syntax covers the relationships among the words, phrases, and clauses which form the sentence. Syntax is taught throughout the Bannatyne Program. (See: grammar)
The Bannatyne Reading Program uses over eighty-eight techniques and is based on the results of studies and research findings. The Bannatyne Reading Program is unlike any other reading programs currently available. This means you will find many features which are only in the Bannatyne Reading Program. In some Commonwealth countries the program may be referred to as: Bannatyne Programme, or Bannatyne Reading Programme.
Bannatyne Reading, Writing, Spelling and Language Program -- Copyright © 2003 Alexander Bannatyne, PhD
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