Reading text written in capitals.

[George9978]

A have a Dc that is a very good reader, however I have just realised he struggles when text is all capitals.

When do children become good at this? I understand it's due to the shape of words not being the same.

Are there any reccomended ways to help with this?

Thanks.

It's a literary technique nothing to do with word shapes or being more difficult to read

When you say something loudly (shout) it doesn't make it less clear

If presenting text it is generally deemed bad practise to write it all in capitals other than for a short bit of emphasis or a title/headline. This was always the case even before it was considered to represent shouting.

There are various reasons as to why it is "harder" to real all capitals than mixed case and all lower case. People read all capitals a fair bit slower than the rest.

Part of this is because we are not really used to it - most text we read is mixed case. There are other various reasons given and there has been quite a lot of research done it over the years.

In some countries children are taught to write in all capitals first because it is easier.

He does recognise both upper and lowercase as the correct sounds, he still reads fluently, just much slower.

I asked if teachers taught blocks of text as I was wondering if all children did this, you would only know if you tested them.

I'm not worried, just wanted to know what the natural process is and how to address it. ( or if it even matters when your 5) he is way ahead with reading, and loves it so I was just looking to help.

Actually quite a lot of things are written in block capitals, street signs for example. Lots of marketing information, book titles.

Not being a teacher I'm often surprised when they can't do something. I never really think about the effort that goes into learning something if that makes sense.

Thank you anyway.

It's a literary technique nothing to do with word shapes or being more difficult to read

You'd better publish your research. My opening bid for you being wrong is

Influence of type form on speed of reading.
Tinker, M. A.; Paterson, D. G.
Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol 12(4), Aug 1928, 359-368

Forms A and B of the Chapman-Cook Speed of Reading Test were given in 3 type forms—all capitals, roman lower case, italics—to 640 subjects. Comparisons were made between the speed of reading the all capitals vs. the lower case text and the italics vs. the lower case text. The ABBA method of sequence was used for each form of the text and each style of type. A difference of 13.4% was shown in favor of lower case vs. capitals; 2.8% in favor of lower case vs. italics

It's a pretty well-accepted principle in the HCI community, the graphic design community, the typography community and the safety community that all-caps signage is harder read. No-one's done a study which seriously suggests it's wrong. Presumably you have.

I remember a presentation way back that said that our brains naturally process lower case letters faster - hence road signs etc as mentioned up thread.

I remember my DS going through this. The answer to why he was reading all in capitals was that he had chosen a comic strip book from the library where all the captions were in capitals. We went for the avoidance strategy.

3 years later, they probably won't bother him as much. I think maturity as a reader has a lot to do with it.

Perhaps you should read the thread more carefully ... Lowercase didn't help with understanding?

www.graphics.com/article-old/how-people-read

www.safaribooksonline.com/library/view/100-things-every/9780132658638/ch13.html

books.google.co.uk/books?id=yODWdMUhkFwC&pg=PA12-IA3&lpg=PA12-IA3&dq=reading+capital+letters+is+harder+myth&source=bl&ots=staLqu2IKQ&sig=u6sb2Q8uV8Cc50QBTebZjvidJJE&hl=en&sa=X&ei=N_IVVMLyM-6p7Aaw2YCgCA&ved=0CC4Q6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=reading capital letters is harder myth&f=false

blog.adrianroselli.com/2010/01/all-caps-harder-to-read.html

My youngest is a great reader - largely self taught after the basics. He can read fluently in capitals due to non-stop reading of the Beano - mostly written in capitals. I recently got a huge pile of old Dandy annuals and my two DSs haven't had their noses out of them. It's a great way to read as there are so many pictures that the child can work out what the word is plus they love reading them. I totally recommend it.

If all you are taught, or mostly taught, is capitals then that would be the norm and why you would find it easiest and/or quickest.

In the UK we read mostly in mixed case writing, with capitals used primarily for the start of a sentence and proper nouns. Therefore this is the form of text which we generally find the easiest and quickest to read, closely followed by all lower case.

Since the introduction of printed text I don't think there has ever been a time when all upper case letters have been used and certainly from the time I was in school it has always been advised against the use of all upper case due to the research studies done which found that most people read all caps much more slowly than mixed case or lower case.

I think that writing upper case letters is often easier, as there are more straight lines and they are simple less complex to form on the whole, especially compared to lower case letter formation.

I'm not sure the same works for reading though. I don't know of any countries where children are taught to read in all upper case letters, but I am prepared to be found wrong on that.

On road signs normally only one word/very short phrases are used in capitals - as emphasis. ie STOP

Road names are often capitals - but they are smaller and meant to be red close up.

Road signs, such as those advising turn offs and distances on motorways are mixed case, using a capital only for the start of the word - presumably so they can be read quickly, from a distance and at speed.

The link provided in mrz post of 20:56:24 actually summaries what I was trying to say.

We do read upper case more slowly, primarily as it is not common practise and we are not used to it.

How many official forms ask us to use capital letters? Why do you think that is?

Generally in the US children are taught to write in all capitals first ... They have to be able to read what they write.

I always assumed that forms asked people to fill them in in capital letters as it is harder to be untidy with capitals, they are also all a uniform size and fit on a straight line so no worrying about a y sticking out the bottom of the box or a b sticking out the top etc.
I find it harder to read large amounts of text that is all in capitals but I'm fairly certain that it is due to lack of practice and that it just looks so dense on a page.

Writing on forms is to ensure clarity of each letter and to avoid joining up
Is letters. The reader doesn't need to read fast and is often done by computer too. Each letter is easier to define with less chance of them being mixed up for a different letter. Upper case are easier to form - more straight lines, less curves and no joining. You can see the issue with handwriting in joined up lower case on old census records which have been electronically and manually transcribed - there are errors.

As said before the reasons between writing in capitals are different to the reasons for reading in capitals.

Even the research which says that upper case is not harder to read does state that people do read upper case more slowly.

I don't know any countries which encourage children to learn to read using all upper case.

"How many official forms ask us to use capital letters? Why do you think that is?"

Because untrained automatic reading of cursive handwriting is at the outer limits of current vision and artificial intelligence research, while automatic reading of capital letters by scanners is reliable and effective.

Prior to automated scanners, material was typed into computers (indeed, onto cards) using systems that didn't support mixed case at all, by staff who were trained to read the forms letter by letter rather than as words.

Before then, all forms and records were completed in cursive handwriting. Hence the Victorian obsession with copperplate and so on. Go and look at some old census forms: they're all completed cursively. Insistence on forms being completed in block capitals, and of course often with boxes or marks provided to force the spacing, is a product of the computer age.

Why not ask to print in lower case?

In terms of computer reading, capitals are still less complex shapes and more easily defined than lower case, and there are less alternative formations too.

I wasn't talking about computer reading ... The requirement to use block capitals predates the use of computers