The miracle of reading: from written signs to immortal imagery

ABSTRACT In this article, perspectives originated from the Linguistic, Psychology and Educational fields are placed together in order to: 1. Understand the specificities of how reading skills are acquired and how skilled readers' brain processes written material; 2. Contribute to the goal achievement of public policies focused on improving literacy (in particular, the Brazilian national agreement for learning to read at the right age - PNAIC) by taking advantage of the progress made in the science of reading. Two lines of reasoning will be followed aiming at trying to find out why the progress in neuroscience research has not turn yet into a better reading instruction, with special attention to the Brazilian context. The first reasoning line concerns to the conscious and unconscious processes of reading and how the pedagogy of reading can be betrayed by the visible tip of the iceberg; the second reasoning line relates to the shared characteristics of the oral and written language and to the specificities of the latter. If these specificities are better understood, the intervention of teachers and other professionals can be improved, thereby contributing to the indispensable dialogue between public policies, science and education.

摘要 本文整合了语言学、心理学与教育学领域的研究视角，旨在达成两大目标：1. 厘清阅读技能的习得规律，以及熟练阅读者的大脑加工书面材料的特异性机制；2. 依托阅读科学的研究进展，助力旨在提升全民读写素养的公共政策（尤其是巴西适龄阅读国家协议PNAIC）实现目标。本文将沿两条研究脉络展开，探究神经科学研究的进展为何尚未转化为更优质的阅读教学实践，并重点聚焦巴西本土语境。第一条研究脉络关注阅读的意识与无意识加工过程，以及阅读教学如何被冰山一角的表象所误导；第二条研究脉络则围绕口头语言与书面语言的共通特征，以及书面语言的专属特异性展开。若能深化对这些特异性的理解，便可优化教师及其他相关从业者的干预策略，进而推动公共政策、科学研究与教育领域之间不可或缺的良性对话。