Learning to Read: A Call from Research to Action - Page 2

How Do Children Learn to Read?

Sounds are Connected to Print

Learning to read the English language is not as easy as conventional wisdom would suggest. Every type of writing system, whether it be a morphosyllabic system as used by the Chinese (where a written symbol represents a whole word) or an alphabetic system (such as English, French, and Spanish) presents challenges to the beginning reader. In an English alphabetic system, individual letters are abstract and meaningless, and must be linked to sounds called phonemes, blended together and pronounced as words, at which point meaning is finally realized. To learn to read English, children must learn the connections between the approximately 44 sounds of spoken English (the phonemes), and the 26 letters of the alphabet.

Our NICHD research has taught us that in order for a beginning reader to learn how to connect or translate printed symbols (letters and letter patterns) into sound, the would-be reader must understand that our speech can be segmented, or broken into small sounds (phoneme awareness), and that the segmented units of speech can be represented by printed forms (phonics). This understanding is absolutely necessary for the development of accurate and rapid word reading skills. Children are not born with this insight, nor does it develop naturally without instruction.

Why are phoneme awareness and the development of the alphabetic principle so critical for the beginning reader? Because if children cannot perceive the sounds in spoken words-for example, if they cannot hear the "at" sound in "fat" and "cat" and perceive that the difference lies in the first sound, they will have difficulty decoding or "sounding out" words in a rapid and accurate fashion. Unlike writing, the speech we use to communicate orally does not consist of separate sounds in words. For example, while a written word like "cat" has three letter-sound units, the ear hears only one sound, not three, when the word "cat" is spoken aloud. This merging and overlapping of sounds into a sound "bundle" makes oral communication much more efficient. For many children, this skill is only learned with difficulty, and thus must be taught directly, explicitly, and by a well-prepared and informed teacher. It has also become clear that the development of these critical early reading-related skills, such as phoneme awareness and phonics, are fostered when children are read to at home during the preschool years, when they learn their letter and number names, and when they are introduced at very early ages to concepts of print and literacy activities.

Does this mean that children who have difficulty understanding that spoken words are composed of discrete individual sounds that can be linked to letters suffer from brain dysfunction or damage? Not at all. It simply means that the neural systems that perceive the phonemes in our language are less efficient in these children than in other children. Differences in neural efficiency can also be hypothesized to underlie the individual differences that we see every day when we observe people attempting to learn skills such as singing, playing an instrument, or painting a portrait. In some children, phonological differences likely have a genetic basis, although it is important to note that genetic influences in reading can be modified significantly by environmental factors. In other children, the differences seem to be attributable to a lack of exposure to language patterns and literacy-based materials during the critical preschool years. In most cases however, the majority of children can be taught by properly trained teachers with appropriate and timely instruction.

The development of phoneme awareness, the development of an understanding of the alphabetic principle, and the translation of these skills to the application of phonics in reading and spelling words are non-negotiable beginning reading skills that all children must master in order to understand what they read and to learn from their reading. The development of phoneme awareness and phonics, while necessary, are not sufficient for learning to read the English language so that meaning can be derived from print. In addition to learning how to "sound out" new and/or unfamiliar words, the beginning reader must eventually become proficient in reading, at a fast pace, larger units of print such as syllable patterns, meaningful roots, suffixes, and whole words.

The Development of Reading Fluency

While the ability to read words accurately is a necessary skill in learning to read, the speed at which this is done becomes a critical factor in ensuring that children understand what they read. As one child recently remarked, "If you don't ride a bike fast enough, you fall off." Likewise, if the reader does not recognize words quickly enough, the meaning will be lost. If reading is slow and labored, the reader simply cannot remember what he or she has read, much less relate the ideas they have read about to their own background knowledge.

The amount of practice that is required for fluency and automaticity in reading to occur varies greatly and the average child needs between four and 14 exposures to automatize the recognition of a new word. It is therefore vital that children read a large amount of text at their independent reading level (with 95 percent accuracy), and that the text provide specific practice in the skills being learned. It is also important to note that spelling instruction fosters the development of reading fluency. Through spelling instruction, youngsters receive many examples of how letters represent the sounds of speech and are reminded that written words are made up of larger units of print (like syllables). This insight lets the developing reader know that word recognition can be accomplished by reading words in larger "chunks" rather than letter-by-letter.

Constructing Meaning from Print

The ultimate goal of reading instruction, enabling children to understand what they read, appears to be based on several factors. Children who comprehend well, seem to be able to activate their relevant background knowledge when reading-that is, they can relate what is on the page to what they already know. Good comprehenders also must have good vocabularies, since it is extremely difficult to understand something you can not define. Good comprehenders also have a knack for summarizing, predicting, and clarifying what they have read, and they frequently use questions to guide their understanding. Good comprehenders are also good at using sentence structure within the text to enhance their comprehension.

Once children can read the words accurately and fluently, they can begin to construct meaning at two levels. At the first level, literal understanding is achieved. Next, they can begin to guide themselves through text by asking questions like, "Why am I reading this and how does this information relate to my reasons for doing so?", "What is the author's point of view?", "Do I understand what the author is saying and why?", "Is the text internally consistent?" It is this second level of comprehension that leads readers to reflective, purposeful understanding of what they have read.

The development of reading comprehension skills, like the development of phoneme awareness, phonics, and reading fluency, needs to be fostered by highly trained teachers. Research shows that teachers must arrange for opportunities for students to discuss what they have read and explore any difficulties they had when reading. Children's reflections on what they have read can be directly fostered through instruction in comprehension strategies. These sorts of discussions and activities should be conducted throughout a range of literacy genres, both fiction and nonfiction, and should be a regular component of the language arts curriculum throughout the children's school years.