I n tr o d u ct i o n b y D r . L i s a Y o n e k , C u rr i c u l u m & R e a d i n g C o o rd i n a t o r a t t h e AIU ’ s R e a d i n g A c h i e v e m e n t C e n t e r I n t e r v i e w s b y A m a n d a R i tc h i e
The Simple View Formula Word Recognition The ability to transform print into spoken language
Language Comprehension The ability to understand spoken language
Through 50 years of scientific research involving thousands of studies, we now understand the psychological and cognitive processes that occur when a child learns to read. Despite the evidence, many educators are not trained in understanding or utilizing these evidence-based concepts, an inter disciplinary field of study known as the Science of Reading (SoR). Equipped with evidence-based knowledge of how the brain acquires the skill of reading, we can employ the explicit instruction that has been found to build neural connections between several pathways in the brain responsible for word recognition. Teachers who have studied these concepts are better equipped to implement reading instruction aimed at the various areas of the brain that need to be activated in order to build automatic word recognition, which enables a student to focus cognitive energy on text comprehension. Yet, colleges and universities often fail to include SoR in their educator coursework. To better understand what skills contribute to reading comprehension, researchers Gough and Tunmer developed a framework known as The Simple View of Reading (1986) that views comprehension as the product of automatic word recognition and language comprehension. Without proficiency in both of these domains, text comprehension will be flawed. Psychologist Hollis Scarborough expanded on that framework with a c oncept known as the Reading Rope, which gives more detail to the skills of each domain that work together in the reading process. All of the strands are important for reading comprehension to take place.
Reading Comprehension The ability to understand written language
Both the Simple View of Reading and the Reading Rope are helpful to educators today because they provide a framework in setting up instructional components for the literacy block. School districts and universities have a responsibility to provide this information to their teachers and make certain that all programs and resources are aligned to what the research has taught us.
Scarborough, H. S. (2001). Connecting early language and literacy to later reading (dis)abilities: Evidence, theory, and practice. In S. Neuman & D. Dickinson (Eds.), Handbook for research in early literacy (pp. 97-110). New York: Guilford Press.
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