Natural Learning Theory of

Reading
By: Mallory, Maria, and Raigan
Principles of Natural Learning Model of Reading
● Assumes that human beings are biologically programmed to acquire
language through meaningful use
● Humans emerge from the womb with the pre existing template that
guides language
● Reading is an innate ability that is learned when provided with the right
supports.
Aligning Natural Learning Models of Reading with
Historical Eras
● 1966-1975

“Ken Goodman’s whole language movement officially began in 1972 would become known as “the most significant
movement in reading curricula in the last thirty years.” In whole language, teachers were facilitators, not tellers.
Teachers observed what children did, decided what they needed, and arranged conditions to allow students to discover
those very insights about reading, writing, and learning for themselves”

● Justification from the article: student behavior, human language, social

roles and settings, relationships, human performance
Conditions that prompted Natural Learning Models
of Reading
● Dislike of Skinner's theories of learning and behavior, behaviorism

● Dislike of skill-and-drill type teaching

● Advances in neurology and artificial intelligence

● Educators on opposite ends of theory came together

● Funding - First Grade Studies

Leading Researchers of Natural Learning Research
in Reading
● Chomsky (1957, 1965, 1998, 2002): Natural Learning

● Halliday (1969, 1976): Aspects of Literacy

● Goodman (1965, 1980): Miscue analysis
● Frank Smith (1970s): Understanding Reading, acquiring meaning through
print
How does a Natural Learning model inform
research in reading?
Research Questions - Is learning language a natural process? Are we born
with the capacity for both oral and written language?

Methodologies - assumptions of innate mental structures, eye-movement

analysis

Instructional Recommendations - Provide a language-rich environment,

understand how a reader came up with an “unexpected response,” teach to
skip, make-up, and if all else fails sound-it-out
Visual of Natural Learning Theory
References:
Alexander, P. A., & Fox, E. (2004). A Historical Perspective on Reading Research

and Practice. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

A Short History of United States’ Reading Research and Instruction: 1900 to

2006 (and chart)

Kim, James S. (2008). Research and the Reading Wars. Phi Delta Kappan

International