Blackwell Reference Online

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In most societies children begin formal reading instruction before they are 7 years old. However, learning to read is not a trivial task. At what is usually considered the basic level, it involves learning how the symbols of printed words are related to the linguistic features of spoken words, mappings that vary considerably in their consistency across languages. Since the goal of reading is understanding, reading also involves a range of higher-level cognitive processes that are used in the transformation of print into ideas. These include, word- and sentence-level comprehension processes and strategies for text integration. The complexities of the process of reading acquisition pose a challenge to the developing child. Reading sub-skills draw upon a variety of different cognitive processes and, as we shall see, children come to the task of reading varying in the prerequisite skills. Children's reading skills are shaped by the language they are learning and how they are taught, as well as by their motivation to read. The corollary of this is that children experience reading difficulties for different reasons, and at different times in their development. This chapter begins by reviewing the role of cognitive skills in the process of learning to read before proceeding to consider individual differences in reading within a developmental framework. From a remarkably young age, children ... log in or subscribe to read full text