Learning to Read: Should We Keep Things Simple?

2015/01/27 by Language and Reading Research Consortium · 185 citations
Computer Science · Psychology · #Active listening #Cognitive psychology #Communication #Comprehension #Educational Methods and Media Use #Educational Strategies and Epistemologies #Fluency #Linguistics #Listening comprehension #Mathematics education #Psychology #Reading (process) #Reading and Literacy Development #Reading comprehension #Vocabulary

paper · open access · doi:10.1002/rrq.99

published in Reading Research Quarterly 50(2), 151-169 (Wiley)

openalex publication_date 2015/01/27 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29

Abstract

The simple view of reading describes reading comprehension as the product of decoding and listening comprehension and the relative contribution of each to reading comprehension across development. We present a cross-sectional analysis of first, second, and third graders (N = 123–125 in each grade) to assess the adequacy of the basic model. Participants completed multiple measures to inform latent constructs of word reading accuracy, word reading fluency, listening comprehension, reading comprehension, and vocabulary. In line with previous research, structural equation models confirmed that the influence of decoding skill decreased with increasing grade and that the influence of listening comprehension increased. However, several additional findings indicate that reading development is not that simple and support an elaboration of the basic model: A strong influence of listening comprehension on reading comprehension was apparent by grade 2, decoding skill was best measured by word and nonword reading accuracy in the early grades and word reading fluency in grade 3, and vocabulary skills indirectly affected reading comprehension through both decoding skill and listening comprehension. This new elaborated model, which provides a more comprehensive view of critical influences on reading in the early grades, has diagnostic and instructional ramifications for improving reading pedagogy.

Citations

• A not-so-simple view of reading: how oral vocabulary and visual-word recognition complicate the story
• Aligning Theory and Assessment of Reading Fluency: Automaticity, Prosody, and Definitions of Fluency
• Subgrouping Poor Readers on the Basis of Individual Differences in Reading-Related Abilities

Cited by

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• Identifying interactive biological pathways associated with reading disability. [europepmc]
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• The Simple View of Reading in Children Acquiring a Regular Orthography (Italian): A Network Analysis Approach. [europepmc]
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• Selective visual attention skills differentially predict decoding and reading comprehension performance across reading ability profiles. [europepmc]
• The identification and classification of struggling readers based on the simple view of reading. [europepmc]
• The Extended Simple View of Reading in Adult Learners of Chinese as a Second Language. [europepmc]
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• How is vocabulary involved in second language reading comprehension? A study in Chinese-English bilingual children. [europepmc]
• Caregiver Oral Reading Prosody Is Associated With Preschoolers' Storybook Listening Comprehension. [europepmc]
• On the Linguistic and Cognitive Factors that Predict Reading Abilities Among Arabic-Speaking University Students. [europepmc]

Related

• The Science of Reading Progresses: Communicating Advances Beyond the Simple View of Reading
• The relationship between reading and listening comprehension: shared and modality-specific components
• Vocabulary does not complicate the simple view of reading
• Hierarchical and dynamic relations of language and cognitive skills to reading comprehension: Testing the direct and indirect effects model of reading (DIER).
• How Are Practice and Performance Related? Development of Reading From Age 5 to 15