What Is Basic Pages 14-18 Why Reading Is Not A Natural Proce

What Is Basic Pages 14-18 Why Reading Is Not a Natural Process Nearly four decades of scientific research on how children learn to read supports an emphasis on phoneme awareness and phonics in a literature-rich environment

Reading development is a complex process that has been extensively studied over the past several decades. Contrary to the popular misconception that children learn to read naturally, scientific research indicates that reading is a learned skill that requires explicit instruction, particularly in phoneme awareness and phonics. The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) has dedicated significant resources to understanding how children develop reading skills and why some children encounter difficulties. Their findings underscore the importance of systematic and explicit teaching methods to ensure all children become proficient readers.

Understanding the foundational role of phonemic awareness is crucial. Phoneme awareness—the ability to recognize and manipulate the individual sounds in words—is a critical precursor to decoding skills. Learning to decode involves understanding that written symbols represent spoken sounds, a concept known as the alphabetic principle. This recognition is essential for ungluing word sounds from speech, which is a natural but unconscious process in spoken language. Unlike speech, reading requires deliberate effort to decode and connect sounds with letters, an unnatural skill that must be directly taught. This explicit instruction contrasts with approaches that rely solely on context or whole language methods, which research shows are insufficient for developing decoding skills.

Children must develop automaticity in decoding to free cognitive resources for comprehension. Fluency and automatic decoding enable rapid recognition of words, which is fundamental for understanding text. Without fluent decoding, children struggle with comprehension because they allocate too much mental effort to word recognition rather than understanding the material. Consequently, reading instruction should focus on phoneme awareness, phonics, and repeated practice to build fluency. Moreover, vocabulary development and comprehension strategies are vital for fostering high-level understanding and enjoyment of reading.

Despite popular beliefs in some educational circles that reading occurs naturally, scientific findings strongly support the view that early reading involves unnatural, highly teachable skills. These include recovering phonemes from speech, applying them to letters, and understanding that written language is a code. Many cultures lack written language altogether, yet possess rich oral traditions, which further debunks the idea that reading naturally develops from oral language exposure alone. Furthermore, research indicates that explicit, systematic instruction is necessary to teach phoneme awareness, phonics, and comprehension strategies effectively.

Research also shows that many children with early language experiences and high intelligence still struggle with reading due to deficits in phonemic awareness. Poverty, limited exposure to print, speech or hearing impairments, and lack of early literacy experiences increase the risk of reading failure. However, even children with robust language backgrounds and early literacy experiences may face difficulties, largely due to challenges in acquiring phonemic awareness. These deficits negatively impact decoding, fluency, and ultimately comprehension.

Importantly, the science underscores that decoding is a skill that must be explicitly taught, rather than acquired intuitively. The evidence refutes the whole language perspective that skilled readers rely predominantly on context and partial word sampling to recognize words. Skilled readers decode through rapid and automatic phonetic recognition, while less-skilled readers depend heavily on context, which can hinder their decoding accuracy and fluency. The robust body of research demonstrates that explicit instruction in phonemic segmentation, phonics, and decoding strategies is essential for early readers, especially those at risk for reading difficulties.

Therefore, early reading instruction should be grounded in evidence-based practices, emphasizing phoneme awareness, phonics, vocabulary, and comprehension. Preschool literacy activities, such as being read aloud to, foster print awareness and a positive attitude towards reading. For children who struggle with decoding and comprehension, intensive and systematic instruction in these foundational skills is essential. This structured approach ensures that children develop the automaticity needed to understand and enjoy reading, ultimately supporting their academic success and lifelong literacy skills.

Despite the compelling scientific evidence, some educators and administrators remain skeptical of research-driven methods. This skepticism often stems from difficulties in accessing high-quality, practical, and credible research. To improve reading outcomes, it is critical that educators trust and implement instruction backed by rigorous research. Science's fundamental role is to continually test and refine our understanding, guiding educators away from assumptions that reading is a natural process and towards evidence-based practices that meet children’s needs. Ultimately, the goal must be to provide every child with the explicit, systematic instruction necessary to become proficient, confident readers.

References

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• Edelsky, C., Altwerger, B., & Flores, B. (1991). Whole Language: What's the Difference?. Heinemann.
• Fletcher, J. M., & Lyon, G. R. (in press). Reading: A Research-Based Approach. Hoover-Institute.
• Foorman, B. R., Francis, D. J., Fletcher, J. M., Schatschneider, C., & Mehta, P. (1998). The role of instruction in learning to read: preventing reading failure in at-risk children. Journal of Educational Psychology, 90(1), 1-15.
• Gough, P. B., Juel, C., & Griffith, P. (1992). Reading, spelling, and the orthographic cipher. In P. B. Gough, L. C. Ehri, & R. Trieman (Eds.), Reading Acquisition. Erlbaum.
• Gough, P. B., Alford, J. A., & Holley-Wilcox, P. (1981). Words and contexts. In O. J. Tzeng & H. Singer (Eds.), Perception of Print: Reading Research in Experimental Psychology. Erlbaum.
• Liberman, A. M. (1992). The relation of speech to reading and writing. In R. Frost & L. Katz (Eds.), Orthography, Phonology, Morphology, and Meaning. Elsevier Science.
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• Stanovich, K. E., West, R. F., & Freeman, D. J. (1981). A longitudinal study of sentence context effects in second-grade children: tests of an interactive-compensatory model. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 32.