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The Importance of Learning Reading Skills in the Language Learning

Process

Learning to readis the process of acquiring the skills necessary for reading; that is, the abilityto acquire meaning from print. Learning to read is paradoxical in some ways. For an adult who

is a fairly good reader, reading seems like a simple, effortless and automatic skill but the

process builds on cognitive, linguistic, and social skills developed in the years before reading

typically begins

Using Reading Strategies

Language instructors are often frustrated by the fact that students do not automatically transferthe strategies they use when reading in their native language to reading in a language they are

learning. Instead, they seem to think reading means starting at the beginning and going wordby word, stopping to look up every unknown vocabulary item, until they reach the end. henthey do this, students are relying exclusively on their linguistic knowledge, a bottom!upstrategy. "ne of the most important functions of the language instructor, then, is to helpstudents move past this idea and use top!down strategies as they do in their native language.

#ffective language instructors show students how they can ad$ust their reading behavior todeal with a variety of situations, types of input, and reading purposes. %hey help studentsdevelop a set of reading strategies and match appropriate strategies to each reading situation.

&trategies that can help students read more quickly and effectively include

'reviewing( reviewing titles, section headings, and photo captions to get a sense of the

structure and content of a reading selection

'redicting( using knowledge of the sub$ect matter to make predictions about content

and vocabulary and check comprehension; using knowledge of the text type andpurpose to make predictions about discourse structure; using knowledge about theauthor to make predictions about writing style, vocabulary, and content

&kimming and scanning( using a quick survey of the text to get the main idea, identify

text structure, confirm or question predictions

)uessing from context( using prior knowledge of the sub$ect and the ideas in the text as

clues to the meanings of unknown words, instead of stopping to look them up

'araphrasing( stopping at the end of a section to check comprehension by restating the

information and ideas in the text

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Instructors can help students learn when and how to use reading strategies in several ways.

*y modeling the strategies aloud, talking through the processes of previewing,

predicting, skimming and scanning, and paraphrasing. %his shows students how thestrategies work and how much they can know about a text before they begin to read

word by word.

*y allowing time in class for group and individual previewing and predicting activities as

preparation for in!class or out!of!class reading. +llocating class time to these activitiesindicates their importance and value.

*y using cloe -fill in the blank exercises to review vocabulary items. %his helps

students learn to guess meaning from context.

*y encouraging students to talk about what strategies they think will help them

approach a reading assignment, and then talking after reading about what strategies

they actually used. %his helps students develop flexibility in their choice of strategies.

hen language learners use reading strategies, they find that they can control the readingexperience, and they gain confidence in their ability to read the language.

Reading to Learn

/eading is an essential part of language instruction at every level because it supports learningin multiple ways.

Reading to learn the language( /eading material is language input. *y giving students

a variety of materials to read, instructors provide multiple opportunities for students toabsorb vocabulary, grammar, sentence structure, and discourse structure as they occurin authentic contexts. &tudents thus gain a more complete picture of the ways in whichthe elements of the language work together to convey meaning.

Reading for content information( &tudents0 purpose for reading in their native

language is often to obtain information about a sub$ect they are studying, and thispurpose can be useful in the language learning classroom as well. /eading for contentinformation in the language classroom gives students both authentic reading materialand an authentic purpose for reading.

Reading for cultural knowledge and awareness ( /eading everyday materials that are

designed for native speakers can give students insight into the lifestyles and worldviewsof the people whose language they are studying. hen students have access tonewspapers, magaines, and eb sites, they are exposed to culture in all its variety,and monolithic cultural stereotypes begin to break down.

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hen reading to learn, students need to follow four basic steps(

1. Figure out the purpose for reading. +ctivate background knowledge of the topic in

order to predict or anticipate content and identify appropriate reading strategies.

2. +ttend to the parts of the text that are relevant to the identified purpose and ignore therest. %his selectivity enables students to focus on specific items in the input and reducesthe amount of information they have to hold in short!term memory.

3. &elect strategies that are appropriate to the reading task and use them flexibly andinteractively. &tudents0 comprehension improves and their confidence increases whenthey use top!down and bottom!up skills simultaneously to construct meaning.

4. 5heck comprehension while reading and when the reading task is completed.

6onitoring comprehension helps students detect inconsistencies and comprehensionfailures, helping them learn to use alternate strategies.

%he aim of this paper is to examine the ways of teaching and developing reading skills of

foreign language learners. /eading is one of the main skills that is to be developed in the

foreign language learning. + foreign language learner faces much of the target language

material while reading different text!materials, so it is largely important to teach and develop

reading skills in order to achieve such goals as memoriing words, grammatical rules, spelling,

etc., namely, the learner gets a good command of the target language through reading. +s it is

seen above, teaching reading skills is rather an important task to do for a foreign language

teacher. &o, it is not in vain that many scholars, such as 6. *arnett, '.L. 5arrell, 7. 8evine,/.

/. 8ay, 7. *amford, 5. allace and many others paid a great attention to this problem and

made different researches on it. /eading is about understanding written texts. It is a complex

activity that involves both perception and thought. /eading consists of two related processes(

word recognition and comprehension. ord recognition refers to the process of perceiving of

how written symbols correspond to the spoken language. 5omprehension is the process of

making sense of words, sentences and connected text. /eaders typically make use of

background knowledge, vocabulary, grammatical knowledge; experience reading the text and

other strategies to help them understand the written text. Learning to read is an importanteducational goal. %he ability to read opens up new worlds and opportunities. It enables us to

gain new knowledge, en$oy literature and do everyday things that are a part and parcel of

modern life, such as, reading the newspapers, $ob listings, instruction manuals, maps, and so

on. 6ost people learn to read in their native language easily, but come up to a difficulty in

reading something in a foreign language. &ome have problems neither in their mother tongue,

nor in foreign languages. &o a foreign language teacher must always be in search of finding

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ways to make the learners read without any difficulties. /eading instruction needs to take into

account different types of learners and their needs. %he type of a learner will affect the type of

methods and materials to be used. %he context of learning is also important. For instance,

foreign language learners also need to learn about the culture of the target language. *ecause

texts are written with a specific audience in mind, cultural knowledge is always present in texts

and it is assumed that the reader is familiar with such knowledge.

%his term paper is devoted to the study of teaching reading in a foreign language teaching. e have tried to

study and put forward the most effective ways that can be helpful for a teacher of #nglish in a foreign

language class.

%he analysis of theoretical and practical material concerning the problem of teaching and developing reading

skills helped us to come to conclusion that the reading lesson should aim to build learners ability to engage in

purposeful reading, to adopt a range of reading styles necessary for interacting successfully with authentictexts, and to develop critical awareness. %his implies developing competence in the foreign language,

awareness of the structure of written texts, and knowledge about the world. It also implies developing

confidence in using these to create meaning from a text. *oth competence and confidence involve

preparation and practice in the supportive environment of the classroom and persuasion to carry on reading in

the target language outside the classroom. /eading is an important way of getting information. It gives us the

chance to see and understand the world around. )ood reading can be achieved through different hard

practices, so it is important for language teachers to be able to help their pupils to read as better as it is

possible. /eading is fundamental to function in today0s society. %here are many adults who cannot read well

enough to understand the instructions on a medicine bottle. %hat is a scary thought !especially for their

children. Filling out applications becomes impossible without help. /eading road or warning signs is difficult.#ven following a map becomes a chore. 8ay!to!day activities that many people take for granted become a

source of frustration, anger and fear. /eading is important because it develops the mind. %he mind is a

muscle. It needs exercise. 9nderstanding the written word is one way the mind grows in its ability. %eaching

young children to read helps them develop their language skills. It also helps them learn to listen. Lack of

listening skills can result in ma$or misunderstandings. )ood reading skills, especially in a phonics reading

program, improve spelling. +s students learn to sound out letters and words, spelling comes easier. +lso,

reading helps to expand the vocabulary. /eading new words puts them in their mind for later use. &eeing how

words are used in different contexts can give a better understanding of the word usage and definitions than

the cold facts of a dictionary. *ooks, magaines and even the Internet are great learning tools which require

the ability to read and understand what is read. + person who knows how to read can educate themselves in

any area of life they are interested in. e live in an age where we overflow with information, but reading is the

main way to take advantage of it.

6ost people read for meaning and vocabulary but in reality there are other things you can

learn by reading. I recently conducted training for #nglish language teachers on i I: via a

webinar where I showed $ust how reading can be used to encourage their students to read

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more carefully. *y reading more carefully, readers can many times get the meaning of words or

phrases without referring to a dictionary.

8ictionaries can be a great help in learning a language, however its over use can actually

cripple your language learning powers. %hat may be too strong a statement for some of you,

however after having taught many hundreds of language learners from most countries of theworld, I have seen it with my own eyes. hat happens is that over use removes the need to

read carefully to try to work out the meaning. +s a result readers may inadvertently learn to

become one dimensional in their reading.

%his extends far beyond reading as your mind starts to adopt an attitude of getting a quick

answer from somewhere and not having the understanding that meanings can be worked out

on the run, as it were. +n attitudinal shift can improve your language learning< %he

understanding that language is like a pule, where you have to search for and workout the

answer is at the core of effective language learning. /eading a text that is not too hard is great

for that.

"ne strategy you can to revitalie or develop your reading skills, is to discard your dictionary

and start looking for clues for meanings of words. &ometime this can be slow when you start,

or if you choose lexically dense texts -lots of new and varied words in a text then it is much

harder or course. &o the best way to start on this is with a light novel where the meaning is

more predictable. *y reading for the meaning, by looking carefully at what led up to the new

word and by looking at the grammatical environment, it is possible to many times to start to

approximate to what the word might mean. )etting the word exactly right is not a requirement.

%hat can come over time. -&ometimes of course we do need it in real life

Skills Necessary for Proficient Reading

A Fundamental Skills Necessary for Proficient Phonologic Processing!

" Phonemic Awareness

'honemic awareness is literally =sound awareness. 'honemic awareness is understandingwords are made up of sounds and being able to hear, recognie and manipulate the individualsounds that form the word. 'honemic awareness is primarily an auditory skill of distinguishingand recogniing the sound structure of language. For example, phonemic awareness isrealiing the word =puppy is made up of the sounds >p> >u> >p> >ee> or the word the word =shapeis formed by the sounds >sh> >ay> >p>. 'honemic awareness is developing an =ear for soundsand it is critically important to reading and spelling success.

Individuals vary greatly in their natural ability to hear sounds within words. ?earing theindividual sounds within a word isdifficult because spoken language is so seamless. hen wespeak, we naturally and effortlessly blend all the sounds together to say and hear the overall

http://www.strategiesinlanguagelearning.com/guessing-in-language-learning/http://www.strategiesinlanguagelearning.com/guessing-in-language-learning/

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word. %he natural ease of seamless speech hides the phonetic nature of our spokenlanguage. For example( %he child says and hears the word @puppyA as one seamless word>puppy> and does not recognie or distinguish the separate sounds >p> >u> >p> >ee> that make upthe word.

/esearch shows children with poor phonemic awareness struggle with reading and spelling.Individuals who do not distinguish sounds within spoken words have difficulty recogniing thenecessary link between print and sound critical to proficient reading and spelling. It is importantto realie phonological abilities are not related to intelligence. ?ighly intelligent individuals canhave phonological weakness that leads to reading difficulty. In addition, tendency for naturalphonologic weakness may be an inherited trait as it appears to run in families.

+lthough some children and adults have a definite natural phonological weakness, the goodnews is phonemic awareness -'+ can be taught and learned. Balidated scientific evidenceshows '+ instruction has a significant positive effect on both reading and spelling.

It is important to realie oral '+ instruction alone is not sufficient. /esearch shows '+

instruction is most effective when students are taught to manipulate sounds with letters. Inother words, the greatest effectiveness in helping children learn to read occurs when essentialoral '+ training -recogniing the sounds is linked directly to the printed letters -knowing thespecific black squiggles. %he student need to recognie the word =fire starts with the >f> sound

+C8 know this >f> sound is represented by the printed letter =f. %o read, the student must linkoral '+ skills directly to the printed phonemic code.

# $nowledge of %omplete Phonetic %ode

%he complete phonemic code is the specific printDsound relationships written #nglish is basedon. %he #nglish phonemic code is complex. Letters and sounds do not have a one!to!onecorrespondence. %here are 2E letters and 44 sounds. &ome letters represent more than onesound. 6any sounds are made from a combination of letters. %here is overlap where onesound can be written several ways. %hen to top it off, our language includes spellings fromother languages and some irregular words. +lthough it iscomplex, #nglish is not completerandom chaos. #nglish is mostly phonetic or follows predictable patterns. If all sounds arelearned and patterns practiced, most words canbe phonetically decoded.

%he student needs to acquire knowledge of the completephonetic code. nowledge of thebasic alphabet is not sufficient. %he student needs to know the multiple vowel sounds,consonant digraphs, vowel!combinations, r!controlled vowels, and other complexities that

comprise the vast ma$ority of printed words. 'honograms are the distinct printed letters orcombinations of letters that symbolie specific sounds within written #nglish words. 8ependingon exactly how they are classified, there are between GH to H phonograms. In addition to the2E single letters of the alphabet, the student needs to learn consonant digraphs -th, sh, ch, wh,ck, ph, wrJ, vowel combinations -ee, oa, oe, ai, ay, oi, oy, ea, ow, ou, ue, auJ., r!controlledvowels -ar, or, ore, er, ur, ir, ear, eer, air... and other combinations -aKl, wKa, cKe, igh,oughJ. It is no surprise the vowel combinations and other complexities are frequently thesource of reading and spelling difficulties. 6any students lack necessary knowledge of the

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complete phonetic code. Instruction often fails to teach these complexities or teaches them inan indirect, incomplete or haphaard manner. %he most effective way to ensure studentsacquire complete and accurate knowledge of the complex phonemic code is to directly teachall phonograms to the student.

%o read proficiently, the student must process print phonetically. %he student needs toaccurately convert the printed phonograms directly to sound. %o maximie efficiency, theprocessing of print needs to be accurate, direct and automatic. %he student effectively learnsthis =printed letter=sound association through direct instruction and repeated practice. %hegoal is for the student to automatically know the printed alphabetic character equals soundassociation -printed letter(s)=sound of the complete phonemic code. hen the sound isautomatic, the student does not have to spend any effort consciously think about what it is andcan then concentrate on higher reading skills. *y acquiring direct automatic printDsoundknowledge for the complete phonemic code the student can then process print phoneticallyand establish proficient reader phonologic processing pathways.

& 'irectional Tracking

In #nglish, we read and write from left!to!right. 'roper directional tracking of looking at andprocessing all the letters in orderfrom left!to!right is essential for reading success. +lthoughthis simple sub!skill may appear self!evident, many students do not apply this essentialelement. /emember, scanning left!to!right in a straight line is not a natural process.Instinctively, looking all over is a superior way to gather information. Left!to!right processing isone of the arbitrary artificial components of our man made written #nglish language that thestudent must learn and automatically apply. nowing the individual sounds is not sufficient.For accurate reading, the student must process sounds in order from left-to-right.%he followingwords demonstrate order of the letters is important( -stop!pots!tops -thorn!north -no!on-miles!limes!smile -step!pets!pest -every!very -felt!left. 'oor readers have frequent tracking

errors where they improperly process letters out of order. 'oor readers often exhibit erratic eyemovement as they look around for =whole words or $ump around searching for familiar hunksor word families. %hese incorrect tracking strategies contribute to reading difficulty. %o readproficiently the student must not only know the individual sound but must process the letters inorder left!to!right. %he most effective way to ensure the student acquires this essential skill is todirectly teach and require proper directional tracking.

( )lending

%o read proficiently, the student needs to blend individual sounds smoothly together into wordswithout choppy pauses between the sounds. %his essential blending skill does not come easilyand automatically for some students. 8ifficulties blending are usually evident as =choppy

sounding out. &ome students inability to blend smoothly creates a hurdle that blocks readingdevelopment. If the student chops sounds apart they are not able to put all the sounds togetherand =smoothly say the word, and build fluency. %hey might know the sounds in isolation but areunable to =hook the sounds together. %hey may initially get by with short words but quickly runinto trouble with words containing four or more sounds. %o avoid potential difficulty it isimportant to directly teach smooth blending skills from the beginning or to specifically work onblending with any student who has not acquired this essential skill. For example, teach thestudent to read the word =mast with smoothly blended sounds >mmaasst> instead of a

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choppy >m>J.>a>J.>s>J.>t>. hen sounding out it is essential the parent or teacherdemonstrates the correct blending skills of not stopping between the sounds.

* Attention to 'etail

+ttention to detail is carefully looking at all the letters>sounds in a word. %he details are critical

to accuracy. &killed reading involves focus on the internal details of the word. %he student mustprocess all sounds in order, without skipping any sounds or adding sounds that are not actuallythere. ords are too similar -insist!insect!inspect -stain!strain -play!ploy -stay!stray -form!from -tree!three!there -then!than -change!charge-strange!strong!string. "nly 2E lettersmake up +LL our words< Listen to a student who struggles with reading and you will quicklyobserve how they make numerous errors because they miss details. 6any struggling readershave not developed skills in paying attention to detail. &tudents need to learn to look carefullyat the details. 8espite some claims, the fact is you cannot read accurately by only looking atthe first and last letter. Cot only are the details critical for accurate reading but careful attentionto detail is also important in forming the accurate neural model of the word that allowsdevelopment of fast>fluent reading. ou can help a student develop the attention to detail skill

that is so critical to reading success. 'aying attention to detail is closely intertwined withhelping the student develop skills in proper tracking and correct phonologic processing.

) %om+ining Fundamental Skills and 'e,eloping %orrect-fficient Phonologic Processing

5orrect phonologic processing is a complex process and requires integration of many differentfundamental subskills. &tudents need to convert print to sound so they can tap into the brainsphonologic processors designed for effortlessly processing spoken sound. %o do this efficientlythe student must recognie the sound structure of language -phonemic awareness, directlyand automatically know the phonemic code including the complexities -knowledge of the

complete code. %hey must process print from left to right -tracking and pay close attention toall the letters in the words -attention to detail. Learning the individual components in isolationis not sufficient. %he student must not only master these individual skills but also integrate andautomatically apply these skills when they read. In addition, as with all learned skills, practicewith correct phonologic processing is essential to developing proficiency.

It is important to also keep in mind this initial step of =sounding out, the strong phonologicprocessing base, is essential to develop the advanced skill of =fast fluent reading. Ceuralresearch shows fluent or =fast reading is built word by word and based on repeated correctphonologic processing. ithout the essential process of correct phonologic processing-sounding out the student will not develop =fast reading> fluent reading pathways. &tudents

who do not develop and use phonologic processing may work hard and eventually learn toread accurately but they will not achieve the quick and almost =effortless process of skilledreading.

In summary, to become a skilled reader the student needs to develop proficient phonologicprocessing pathways. %o develop these proficient phonologic processing pathways the studentneeds to integrate and apply individual skills in phonemic awareness, knowledge of thecomplete phonemic code, directional tracking, blending, and attention to detail in correct print

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to sound processing. hen teaching young children and when remediating struggling readers,it is imperative you directly help the student develop these correct phonologic processingpathways. %he most effective and efficient method of insuring your student develops proficientreading pathways is to directly teach the student necessary skills. 'arents and teachers canuse targeted activities directly build necessary skills and intentionally develop correct

phonologic processing pathways.

% Proficient Reading is ./R- than phonologic processing

"bviously proficient or skilled reading is more complex than correct phonologic processing.5orrect phonologic processing provides the essential foundational process of accurate andeffortless decoding. 'roficient reading is more complex and requires higher level skills influency, handling multisyllable words, comprehension, vocabulary, and skills such as the abilityto extract necessary information.

hile a strong direct systematic phonics program establishes the foundation of correctphonologic processing, this is only the beginning. %he student still needs to develop higherlevel advanced skills in handling multisyllable words, building fluency, expanding vocabularyand improving comprehension. %hese skills are all enhanced by direct instruction. %he mosteffective way to ensure a student acquires important higher level skills is once again to directlyteach those specific skills.

" Skill in handling multisylla+le words

%he multisyllable or longer words are harder to read. %he ma$ority of #nglish words aremultisyllable so it is critical to read them effectively. %o read multisyllable words the student

needs to apply a more advanced strategy. &ome students automatically develop the properstrategies for reading multisyllable words but many do not and struggle with multisyllablewords. 8irect instruction and guided practice teaches students how to handle multisyllablewords.

&yllables are simply the hunks of sound within a spoken word that are said with a single puff ofair. #very syllable has at least one vowel sound with or without the surrounding consonantsounds. 6ultisyllable words are made up of a combination of these distinct sound hunks. %oread multisyllable words the student has to break the word down by distinguishing andclumping the appropriate sounds to form the correct syllables and then smoothly combiningthese correct sound hunks with all the ad$acent syllables into one fluid word. %he student

needs to capture allthe appropriate sound hunks in the word without missing one or addingone that should not be there. It is tricky and it absolutely takes practice to master this complexskill.

6any struggling readers have difficulty with multisyllable words. +lso some students who havea strong reading base run into problems with higher reading levels as they begin to face manymultisyllable words. %hese students need to learn strategies for handling multisyllable words.%he general rule of thumb is 1stgraders should easily read 1 syllable words, 2ndgraders should

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easily handle 2 syllable words, 3rdgraders 3!syllable words and 4thgrade 4 or more syllables. Itis also important to realie, this advanced skill of reading multisyllable words can not beproficiently mastered until after the student is able to automatically decode and blend theindividual sounds.

ou can help a student develop proficiency in reading multisyllable words by directly teachingstrategies to handle these longer words and by providing guided practice in readingmultisyllable words. 8irect instruction in reading multisyllable words is important when helpingbeginner readers advance and when remediating struggling readers.

# Fluency

Fluency is =fast or =automatic reading. Fluent readers are able to read quickly and accuratelywithout effort. Fast oral reading with proper expression is a trademark of fluent reading.Fluency is critical to skilled reading and comprehension. *y appearances, the student knowswords instantly and reads the =fast way without slowly sounding out the word. It seems bysimply =knowing the words the individual reads easily and quickly. ?owever, it is important to

realie appearances do not reveal the actual process involved in fluent reading. %o helpstudents become fluent readers, we need to learn specifically about the actual process offluent reading and how fluent reading is developed. %he necessary answers lie in the amaingfield of modern neuroscience.

%he remarkable advances in neural imaging research allow scientists to look closely at theprocess of fluent reading and how fluent reading is developed. /esearchers are learningfluent or =fast reading utilies a neural =expressway to process words. %his =fast reading areaof fluency is different from the slow phonologic processing pathways used by beginningreaders. ith fluent reading, a quick look at the word activates a stored neural model thatallows not only =fast reading but also includes correct pronunciation and understanding of the

word.

Importantly, the neuroscientists are learning more about how fluency is developed. Fluentreading is established after the individual reads the word at least four times using accuratephonologic processing -slow accurate sounding out. Fluency is build word by word andentirely dependent on repeated, accurate, sounding out specific words. Fluency is notestablished by =memoriing what words look like but rather by developing correct neural!phonologic models of the word. /epeated accurate phonologic processing is the essentialprecursor for developing =fast neural pathways. In simplified terms, the repeated accuratephonologic processing engraves a neural model of the word that then is stored in the =fastreading area available for rapid retrieval. e now know fluency is not the apparent visualrecognition of an entire word but rather the retrieval of the exact neural model created byproper repeated phonologic processing.

Ceuroscientists also discovered dyslexic readers do not develop these fluent or =fast readingpathways. &truggling readers do not convert print to sound using phonologic processingpathways. 5onsequently, they fail to develop fluent =fast reading pathways. ithout theseexpress reading pathways, reading remains slow and takes much effort. *ecause they are notutiliing phonologic processing pathways the neural =engraving of the word is never made andfluent reading is not developed. #ven if they work hard and learn to read accurately, reading

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remains laborious. For reading to become =easy the student must first repeatedly sound outthe word using phonologic processing pathways. &tudents who fail to use correct phonologicprocessing do not develop fluency. In other words reading a word over and over does notdevelop fluency unlessthe student is processing the print phonetically.

#ffective reading instruction can directly help a student develop these fluent or =fast neuralpathways. First, intentionally establish correct phonologic processing of print. %hen provideguided practice so the student repeatedly sounds out individual words consequently expandingtheir storehouse of rapid retrieval neural models, allowing them to read more and more wordsquickly and effortlessly. Fluency is developed word!by!word and is dependent on repeatedaccurate print to sound -phonologic processing.

&0 1oca+ulary

+s can be expected, vocabulary knowledge is important to reading development. Bocabulary isbeyond correct decoding. It is understanding the meaning of the word. #xpanding thestudents knowledge bank of vocabulary words is important to comprehension. %he greater the

students vocabulary the easier it is to make sense of and understand text. Bocabulary isgenerally related to understanding individual words where =comprehension generally refers tounderstanding larger parts of the text. Bocabulary and overall comprehension are related.

Bocabulary knowledge is distinct from the skill of decoding print. + student can fully understandwords that he is not able to read>decode. For example a five year old has a much largerspeaking and understanding vocabulary than a printed reading vocabulary. ?e may not be ableto decode the printed words =gorilla, =vacation or =chocolate but has the vocabulary knowledgeto understand exactly what these words mean. In contrast a student may be able to correctlydecode a strange word perfectly and still now know what it means. %he student may correctlydecode the word =placid, =leviathan or =mien but have no idea what these words mean. %his

would be a vocabulary knowledge issue. "f course for comprehension, the student needs toboth accurately decode the word and know what the word means. #xpanding a studentsvocabulary knowledge is important to reading development.

(0 %omprehension

5omprehension is deriving meaning from the text. "bviously, comprehension is criticallyimportant to the development of skilled reading. 5omprehension is an active process thatrequires thoughtful interaction between the reader and the text. Bocabulary development iscritical to comprehension. 5omprehension, or reading for meaning, obviously is the goal ofreading instruction.

/emember, to achieve comprehension, the student must firstdevelop accurate phonologicaldecoding skills and build fluency. Fluency and accuracy are critical to reading comprehension.If the student struggles with accurate fluent decoding this inability to easily convert print intolanguage will continue to limit reading comprehension. If decoding takes significant effort, thestudent has little energy left to devote to thinking about what they are reading. hen thestudent can easily, accurately and fluently decode the printed text, he then is able to focusenergy on higher level comprehension skills.

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/eading comprehension is a skill that needs to be developed. 5omprehension is a complexhigher level skill that is much greater than decoding. It is important for students to developcomprehension strategies. 5omprehension strategies focus on teaching students tounderstand what they read not on building skills on how to read>decode. hile readers acquiresome comprehension strategies informally, e2plicit or formal instruction in the application

of comprehension strategies has +een shown to +e highly effecti,e in enhancingunderstanding-from the /eport of the Cational /eading 'anel. In other words you cantakespecific actions to help students develop comprehension skills.

' Summary

&killed reading requires the mastery, integration and application of numerous skills andknowledge. +n effective direct!systematic!phonics program explicitly teaches students toconvert letters into sounds and then blend the sounds into words develops proficientphonologic processing of print. ?owever, it does notconstitute a complete curriculum or entirereading program. + direct!systematic!phonics program provides the essential foundation of

accurate effortless decoding so the student can begin to achieve the higher goals of reading.In addition to requiring practice to build proficiency, a comprehensive reading program needsto include vocabulary, fluency and comprehension development. "ther essential languagecurriculum areas in spelling, grammar, creative and technical writing, exposure to literature,appreciation and en$oyment of writing and ability to extract and research information frommultiple sources are absolutely essential to education. %he importance of these educationalelements is ? you must firstget allstudents on the right track to reading proficiency.

+ highly effective direct systematic phonics reading instruction program helps your child orstudent build necessary skills and establish the essential foundation for proficient reading sothey will be able to obtain the higher skills and greater ob$ectives.

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