Who we are
CAN screenS HELP WITH THE PROBLEM OF SCREENS?
Screens teach skimming.
We aim to train deep reading.
Phatiks builds reading games to help young people get more out of language and more into reading. We try to stop them skimming and scrolling, so they think more deeply about the words they see, and then tune in to the possible worlds they describe.
The company was started by an English teacher, after twenty years of worrying that for young people, turning on screens meant turning off reading. Instead of hoping those screens might somehow go away, however, he asked: what if the problem might also offer a solution?
phat·ic adj., Linguistics
language used to build and maintain social bonds, keep channels of communication open. Not such small talk after all!
The idea
learn to read, THEN learn to read EVEN better
I get the irony here: English teacher complains about the influence of screens on young people's reading, then tries to tackle the problem by giving young people more reasons to stay on their screens. In my defence, English teachers like irony. And this one loves videos games. But there's also the matter of the research: while it appears that reading on digital screens cuts understanding and recall, the reason is not simply the screens. It's the habits they encourage, such as scrolling and skimming. So, the reasoning goes, what if you use those screens to retrain young readers in new habits, the ones that expert readers need - the thinking and inferring and attending to details that take us more deeply into the texts we encounter, and the worlds that deeper reading can open up?
Skimming is learned behaviour
Text on a screen appears in a dynamic environment. There's always a lot to do (all that moving the mouse, clicking the cursor, following hypertexts, and playing around with the scroll-bar). It's why, way back in the '90s, websites referred to their 'users' rather than 'readers' (and why they still seem more interested in 'eyeballs' than the minds and brains behind them). We use a website, usually to find or do a specific thing, which means we spend most of our time getting better at scrolling and, arguably, worse at reading.
Recall needs practiced attention
With scrolling, we learn to pass over words without responding to their potential meanings or their specific contexts. So, even if the words are clocked, their real implications can be missed. Wide reading is the best way of compensating for this. It builds comprehension speed and depth, because you start to recognise words and phrases from other contexts. That recognition process, however, can also be trained, helping us recognise not just the meaning, but the possible implications of words and phrases.
Phatiks makes it fun
These games are not substitutes for real reading. We see them as exercises in a kind of linguistic gym. A gym that helps you flex your language muscles. A gym that is also fun. You can't just blast your way to high scores, though. Whether it's knowing the answer or inferring it from evidence, you'll need to think to win. So,the more you think, the deeper you will read, and the higher the score you'll get. Then, when you next take a page of rough, groundwood paper between your thumb and forefinger, you might just see a whole lot more...
How the games fit together
GAMES AT ALL LEVELS OF LANGUAGE
There are lots of ways of reading more deeply, from considering individual word choice to spotting themes that run through whole texts. We aim to offer games at all levels of language. We still have a few more to go, but you'll see the ones we've done because the level is flagged on the game links. Each game should explain itself, of course, but coloured tabs also show the skills it aims to train.
Toolkit - core skills
Learning the parts
Word classes are the working parts of language. Quick, high-score-driven games help you learn what those parts are called and find out what they do: grammar (syntax), morphology (the building blocks of words), pattern recognition (how forms recur in texts), vocabulary (lexis), and meaning (semantics).
Depth - skills in action
Reading for meaning
Deep reading means exploring what happens when those working parts start working together. Slower, more thoughtful games help players move from the surface of texts down into their possible deeper meanings: using evidence, inference, and the discovering the rewards of re-reading.
Forensics - analysis
Reading across texts
Sharp eyes and keen brains can recognise patterns of language use across texts as well as within them. Some games ask players to compare texts and find evidence that identifies possible authors: spot stylistic fingerprints, register, bias, the stuff of real-life detective work.
Affect - feelings
Tracking your response
Reading is about the 'heart' as well as the 'head'. So, expert readers don't just look for information, they register their emotional responses too (or the ones the writer tries to evoke). Our games explore this side of reading too: as a text moves, simply clock how it moves you too.
Most of our games train more than one skill at once. Emotional Rollercoaster, for example, tests vocabulary (a 'Toolkit' skill) as well as emotional response (an aspect of 'Depth'). So the games might come in boxes, but the ideas don't. You can find out more about them, and the theory behind it, on our links page.