Gestalt Language Processing (GLP) is a description of a Natural Language Acquisition process that helps us understand how some of us make sense of language and perceive its meaning. Ordinarily, if you’re hearing this term, you are in the presence of a speech pathologist. Rarely, if ever, will you hear this term uttered in a school setting. That’s a BIG problem. Here’s why.
Imagine you're looking at a picture puzzle. Instead of focusing on individual puzzle pieces, your brain automatically tries to see the entire picture, recognizing patterns and filling in the missing pieces to form a complete image.
Similarly, when we listen to or read language, our brains naturally try to perceive the overall meaning by organizing the words, phrases, and sentences into a coherent structure. We don't just process each word separately; we integrate them to understand the bigger picture.
For example, let's consider the sentence: "The cat chased the mouse." In GLP, we don't just process the words "cat," "chased," and "mouse" individually. Our brains automatically recognize that the cat is the one doing the chasing, and the mouse is being chased. We grasp the relationship between the words and form a complete mental image of a cat chasing a mouse.
GLP also involves our ability to fill in gaps or make predictions based on the context. Suppose I say, "She was tired, so she went to..." You might instinctively anticipate the word "bed" because it fits the context and completes the sentence. Our brains use previous knowledge and context to make these predictions and create a meaningful understanding of the language.
But what happens when a GLP is first learning language? From where does this background knowledge come? From where does the knowledge of the letters and words derive? Many of us GLPs leverage our skills with echolalia and pattern recognition to gain great oral fluency and prosody when reading, essentially fooling teachers and parents into thinking we can read. The problem, the BIG problem, is that whilst we can recite the words on the page / screen with some practice, we usually have no idea what they mean in total. In other words, we lack comprehension skills. I say we because this was me growing up.
I don’t think it’s fair that we assign Analytic Language Processing as the default, drill the Science of Reading into everyone, then ship GLPs off to therapy. There should be a program that comprehensively and holistically teaches literacy in one classroom. There should be, but there isn’t.
Natural Language Processing: the big picture
Natural Language Processing: the big picture
Natural Language Processing: the big picture
Gestalt Language Processing (GLP) is a description of a Natural Language Acquisition process that helps us understand how some of us make sense of language and perceive its meaning. Ordinarily, if you’re hearing this term, you are in the presence of a speech pathologist. Rarely, if ever, will you hear this term uttered in a school setting. That’s a BIG problem. Here’s why.
Imagine you're looking at a picture puzzle. Instead of focusing on individual puzzle pieces, your brain automatically tries to see the entire picture, recognizing patterns and filling in the missing pieces to form a complete image.
Similarly, when we listen to or read language, our brains naturally try to perceive the overall meaning by organizing the words, phrases, and sentences into a coherent structure. We don't just process each word separately; we integrate them to understand the bigger picture.
For example, let's consider the sentence: "The cat chased the mouse." In GLP, we don't just process the words "cat," "chased," and "mouse" individually. Our brains automatically recognize that the cat is the one doing the chasing, and the mouse is being chased. We grasp the relationship between the words and form a complete mental image of a cat chasing a mouse.
GLP also involves our ability to fill in gaps or make predictions based on the context. Suppose I say, "She was tired, so she went to..." You might instinctively anticipate the word "bed" because it fits the context and completes the sentence. Our brains use previous knowledge and context to make these predictions and create a meaningful understanding of the language.
But what happens when a GLP is first learning language? From where does this background knowledge come? From where does the knowledge of the letters and words derive? Many of us GLPs leverage our skills with echolalia and pattern recognition to gain great oral fluency and prosody when reading, essentially fooling teachers and parents into thinking we can read. The problem, the BIG problem, is that whilst we can recite the words on the page / screen with some practice, we usually have no idea what they mean in total. In other words, we lack comprehension skills. I say we because this was me growing up.
I don’t think it’s fair that we assign Analytic Language Processing as the default, drill the Science of Reading into everyone, then ship GLPs off to therapy. There should be a program that comprehensively and holistically teaches literacy in one classroom. There should be, but there isn’t.
I intend to change that.
Stay tuned.