What You Need When You Read

Before children learn to read, they acquire vocabulary. In fact children learn words as early as their first year of life and so that by the time that they enter school, they have acquired a few thousand words in their speaking vocabulary and a mental lexicon/inventory of a few thousand more words (Sousa, 2005). Vocabulary and language sets the stage for the written representation of language such as reading. However, reading is a complex skill that requires phonemic awareness (manipulation of spoken syllables in words), phonics (letter-sound correspondences), fluency (reading speed and accuracy), vocabulary (lexicon of known words) and comprehension skills (ability to derive meaning from print (Feifer & Toffalo, 2007).

Sousa (2006) explained that successful reading requires the development of the following specific skills:

1. Phonological and phonemic awareness

Phonological awareness is the recognition that oral language can be divided into small components such as sentences into words, words into syllables and individual sounds in words. To be phonologically aware, children have to hear the differences between sounds such as "bat" and "cat". Before children actually read words, they need to be able to recognize that words are made up of individual sounds called phonemes and that the sounds can be manipulated to create new words (phonemic awareness).

2. Phonics

Children recognize that spoken words are made up of phonemes and that the phonemes are represented in written text as letters. When young children are instructed in phonics, they are learning to associate letter and sounds with the written symbol, that is, to match letters on a page to their speech sounds. They are able to demonstrate their knowledge of phonics when they, for example, can state which letter is needed to change "bat" to "cat" and "pan" to "pat".

3. Vocabulary

Children learn the meaning of words in their everyday experiences with oral and written language through conversations with their parents, families and others as well as through listening to adults read to them and reading on their own. Also, they learn vocabulary when they are directly taught words meanings, especially when some words are not part of their everyday experiences. Therefore, it is important that readers possess words in their mental dictionary to assist them in recognizing it in print.

4. Fluency

The ability to read text orally with accuracy, speed and appropriate expression is defined as fluency. If children lack fluency, they read slowly and laboriously. When this style of reading occurs, it is difficult for children to remember (working memory) what they have read and to relate the ideas in the text to their own experiences. Sousa (2006) noted that fluency bridges the gap between recognizing words and comprehension. Fluent readers do not need to spend a lot of time decoding words. Consequently, they are able to focus their attention on the meaning of the text. Frequent practice in reading contributes to developing fluency.

5. Text Comprehension

Comprehension of what is read is described as a complex interactive process. This process begins with children identifying words (by using their knowledge outside the text), accessing the meaning of the word from the text (context), recognizing the grammatical structures (sentences), understanding the details, drawing inferences (conclusions) and at the same time self-monitoring to make sure that what is being read makes sense. These processes are required for reading fluency and comprehension.

Parents can begin to develop these reading skills at home when they read to their children and as they expose them to print materials. Doing this enables children to hear word sounds, practice pronunciation and speak more fluently as well as to learn new words and their meanings. According to Sousa (2006), as children experience literacy at home, they will begin school not just able to learn to read, but ready to learn to read.

References

Feifer, S. and Della Toffalo, D. (2007). Integrating RTI with Cognitive Neuroscience: A Scientific Approach to Reading. Middletown, MD: School Neuropsych Press.

Sousa, D. A. (2005). How the Brain Learns to Read. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin Press.

Sousa, D. A. (2006). How the Brain Learns. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin Press.

Submitted by:

Dr. Emelita A. Jacqueline Outerbridge

School Psychologist

Department of Education