Reading

[1][2][3][4] For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling), alphabetics, phonics, phonemic awareness, vocabulary, comprehension, fluency, and motivation.

[10][11] Major predictors of an individual's ability to read both alphabetic and non-alphabetic scripts are oral language skills,[12] phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming and verbal IQ.

The great benefit of writing systems is their ability to maintain a persistent record of information expressed in a language, which can be retrieved independently of the initial act of formulation.

[103] However, some critics of CCSS say that "To achieve reading standards usually calls for long hours of drill and worksheets – and reduces other vital areas of learning such as math, science, social studies, art, music and creative play".

[127][128] Subsequently, in 2008 Maryanne Wolf, UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, published a book entitled Proust and the Squid in which she describes her view of the following five stages of reading development.

[164] More recent research by Laurie E. Cutting and Hollis S. Scarborough has highlighted the importance of executive function processes (e.g. working memory, planning, organization, self-monitoring, and similar abilities) to reading comprehension.

[232] The Ontario Association of Deans of Education (Canada) published research Monograph # 37 entitled Supporting early language and literacy with suggestions for parents and teachers in helping children prior to grade one.

It covers the areas of letter names and letter-sound correspondence (phonics), as well as conversation, play-based learning, print, phonological awareness, shared reading, and vocabulary.

[234] Louisa Moats, a teacher, psychologist and researcher, has long advocated for reading instruction that is direct, explicit and systematic, covering phoneme awareness, decoding, comprehension, literature appreciation, and daily exposure to a variety of texts.

[238] Robert Slavin, of BEE, goes so far as to suggest that states should "hire thousands of tutors" to support students scoring far below grade level – particularly in elementary school reading.

[241] Evidence for ESSA[242] (Center for Research and Reform in Education)[243] offers free up-to-date information on current PK–12 programs in reading, writing, math, science, and others that meet the standards of the Every Student Succeeds Act (U.S.).

However, their effectiveness varies considerably because the methods differ in such areas as the range of letter-sound coverage, the structure of the lesson plans, and the time devoted to specific instructions.

Embedded phonics is different from other methods because instruction is always in the context of literature rather than in separate lessons about distinct sounds and letters; and skills are taught when an opportunity arises, not systematically.

It also suggests the "best teaching" includes a brisk pace, engaging children's interest with multi-sensory activities and stimulating resources, praise for effort and achievement; and above all, the full backing of the headteacher.

When teaching phonemic awareness, the NRP found that better results were obtained with focused and explicit instruction of one or two elements, over five or more hours, in small groups, and using the corresponding graphemes (letters).

In this process, students, rather than decode from left to right, are taught to focus attention on the irregular elements such as a vowel-digraph and a silent-e; for example, break (b – r – ea – k), height (h – eigh – t), touch (t – ou – ch), and make (m – a – ke).

Consequentially, they suggest that teachers and tutors should focus on "teaching decoding with more advanced vowel patterns before expecting young readers to tackle irregular words".

[297] It has also been found that sustained content literacy intervention instruction that gradually builds thematic connections may help young children transfer their knowledge to related topics, leading to improved comprehension.

[299] However, some researchers say reading comprehension instruction has become "content agnostic", focused on skill practice (such as "finding the main idea"), to the detriment of learning about science, history, and other disciplines.

[302] Researcher and educator Timothy Shanahan believes the most effective way to improve reading comprehension skills is to teach students to summarize, develop an understanding of text structure, and paraphrase.

[303] Evidence supports the strong synergy between reading (decoding) and spelling (encoding), especially for children in kindergarten or grade one and elementary school students at risk for literacy difficulties.

[323][324][325][326][327] According to phonics advocate and cognitive neuroscientist Mark Seidenberg, balanced literacy allows educators to diffuse the reading wars while not making specific recommendations for change.

[334] It is defined as explicit, systematic teaching that focuses on phonological awareness, word recognition, phonics and decoding, spelling, and syntax at the sentence and paragraph levels.

[348] For example: when a student encounters a word they do not know or get it wrong, the three steps are: 1) pause to see if they can fix it themselves, even letting them read on a little, 2) prompt them with strategies to find the correct pronunciation, and 3) praise them directly and genuinely.

Languages such as Chinese and Japanese are normally written (fully or partly) in logograms (hanzi and kanji, respectively), which represent a whole word or morpheme with a single character.

[254][378][379][380] In 2005 the government of Australia published a report stating "The evidence is clear ... that direct systematic instruction in phonics during the early years of schooling is an essential foundation for teaching children to read".

[399] Scientific studies have demonstrated that speed reading – defined here as capturing and decoding words faster than 900 wpm – is not feasible given the limits set by the anatomy of the eye.

It suggests that flatlined student outcomes and policy shortcomings have much to do with PISA's implicit ideological biases, structural impediments such as union advocacy, and conflicts of interest.

[426] Chapbooks were small, cheap forms of literature for children and adults that were sold on the streets, and covered a range of subjects such as ghost stories, crime, fantasy, politics, and disaster updates.

During this time, researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) conducted studies that showed early reading acquisition depends on the understanding of the connection between sounds and letters (i.e. phonics).

A reading muse
There is a growing body of evidence which illustrates the importance of reading for pleasure for both educational purposes as well as personal development. [ 9 ] Photo: Reading a newspaper in Catania, Sicily.
Volunteer reads to a girl at the Casa Hogar de las Niñas in Mexico City .
Woman reading on a train ride to pass the time, Oklahoma , U.S., June 1974
Senior reading a newspaper in Nepal
Researchers have concluded that approximately 95% of students can be taught to read by the end of the first or second year of school, yet in many countries 20% or more do not meet that expectation. [ 49 ] [ 50 ]
Reading to children is not the same as teaching children to read; however, it does help if the children's attention is directed to the words on the page as they are being read to. [ 96 ] [ 97 ]
Reading time at a primary school in rural Lao PDR , Southeast Asia. In 2017, approximately 70% of five-year-old children were not enrolled in Early Childhood Education programs, with those in hard-to-reach areas and from poor families being the most excluded. [ 131 ] The daily reading period shown here uses books provided by Big Brother Mouse , a not-for-profit that promotes reading in Lao schools and villages. [ 132 ]
Writing is only about 5,500 years old, unlike human speech which is thought to be from 50,000 years to 2 million years old. [ 148 ] So, unlike speech, the brain did not evolve to read naturally. As a result, the brain adapts to the challenge of reading. The process of reading involves most of the brain, especially an interconnection between visual areas and language areas; but also neural systems related to action, emotion, decision-making, and memory. [ 149 ] [ 150 ]
The Simple View of Reading proposes four broad categories of developing readers: typical readers; poor readers; dyslexics; and hyperlexics.
The Simple View of Reading proposes four broad categories of developing readers: typical readers; poor readers; dyslexics; and hyperlexics.
Reading to children has many benefits; however, for most children it is not sufficient to teach them how to read. For that "all teaching should be initially focused on a single goal, the grasp of the alphabetic principle whereby each letter or grapheme represents a phoneme". [ 211 ]
A Course of Study in Phonics, San Francisco, U.S., 1912 [ 212 ]
The National Reading Panel concluded that systematic phonics instruction is more effective than unsystematic phonics or non-phonics instruction. [ 246 ]
Laotian girls sit outside their school, reading books they received at a rural school book party.
Although widely used, whole-word methods are not supported by science. [ 309 ] [ 77 ]
Hieroglyph, one of the earliest forms of writing
McGuffey's Primer 1836
A person reading a book, in a second-hand store.
Average reading rate in words per minute (wpm) depending on age and measured with different tests in English, French and German
A Catholic monk reading in a monastery library
Nicoline Tuxen - Portrait of a woman reading in bed
An American girl reading a newspaper (1969)
In 2000 the National Reading Panel in the U.S. identified five ingredients of effective reading instruction: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension .