Simple view of reading
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The simple view of reading is that reading is the product of decoding and language comprehension.
In this context,
β’ βreadingβ refers to βreading comprehensionβ,
β’ βdecodingβ is simply recognition of written wordscite-ref-1[1]
β’ and βlanguage comprehensionβ means understanding language, whether spoken or written.
Decoding (D) x (Oral) Language Comprehension (LC) = Reading Comprehension (RC)cite-ref-2[2]
The parts of the equation are:
(D) Decoding: Converting written words into spoken languagecite-ref-3[3]
(LC) Language (listening) comprehension: understanding the meaning of the words in context (as if they had been spoken out loud).
(RC) Reading comprehension: understanding the meaning of the written words in context.
To be clear, all of this can be done while doing silent reading.
The equation asserts the following:
β’ If a reader can decode the words in a text accurately and understands the meaning of those words in context, they will be able to understand the text (i.e. reading comprehension).
β’ If a reader can decode the words accurately, but does not understand the meaning of the words in context, they will not have reading comprehension. (e.g. A reader who can decode the word βetymologyβ but does not know what it means, will not achieve reading comprehension.)
β’ If a reader cannot decode the words accurately, yet understands the meaning of those words in context, they will not have reading comprehension. (e.g. A reader who knows what a tyrannosaurus rex is, but cannot decode the words, will not achieve reading comprehension.)
Contents
β’ Research basis
β’ Visualizations
β’ Quadrants
β’ The reading rope
β’ In education
β’ England
β’ Limitations
β’ See also
β’ Further reading
β’ Books
β’ Journal articles
β’ References
β’ External links
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Research basis
First publication
The simple view was first described by Gough and Tunmer in the feature article of the first 1986 issue of the journal Remedial and Special Education. Their aim was to set out a falsifiable theory that would settle the debate about the relationship between decoding skill and reading ability.cite-ref-decoding-reading-and-reading-disa-6-0[6] They define decoding as the ability to read isolated words βquickly, accurately, and silentlyβ and dependent fundamentally on the knowledge of the correspondence between letters and their sounds.cite-ref-referencea-7-0[7]
In setting out the simple view, Gough and Tunmer were responding to an ongoing dispute among psychologists, researchers and educationalists about the contribution of decoding to reading comprehension. Some, such as Ken Goodman (credited with creating the theory of Whole Language) had downplayed the role of decoding in skilled reading. He believed it was only one of several cues used by proficient readers in a βpsycholinguistic guessing game.β He viewed decoding as, at best, a by-product of skilled reading and not at the core of skilled reading as maintained by Gough and Tunmer.cite-ref-8[8]cite-ref-decoding-reading-and-reading-disa-6-1[6]
This dispute was one front of what came to be known as the reading wars, a protracted and often heated series of debates about aspects of reading research, instruction and policy during the twentieth century. In proposing the simple view, Gough and Tunmer hoped that the use of the scientific method would resolve the debate about the connection between decoding and comprehension.cite-ref-decoding-reading-and-reading-disa-6-2[6]
Apart from providing a focus for the debate over decoding, the authors felt the simple view had important insights into reading disability.cite-ref-referencea-7-1[7] If reading ability results only from the product of decoding and listening comprehension, reading disability could result in three different ways: an inability to decode (dyslexia), an inability to comprehend (hyperlexia), or both (which they term βgarden variety reading disabilityβ).cite-ref-referenceb-9-0[9]
Empirical support
The original empirical support for the simple view came from multiple regression studies showing the independent contributions of decoding and linguistic comprehension to silent reading comprehension.cite-ref-referenceb-9-1[9]cite-ref-10[10]cite-ref-11[11] Since first publication, the theory has been tested in over 100 studies in several languages with learners having various disabilities.cite-ref-12[12]
In their 2018 review of the science of learning to read, psychologists Anne Castles, Kathleen Rastle and Kate Nation write that "The logical case for the Simple View is clear and compelling: Decoding and linguistic comprehension are both necessary, and neither is sufficient alone. A child who can decode print but cannot comprehend is not reading; likewise, regardless of the level of linguistic comprehension, reading cannot happen without decoding."cite-ref-auto-13-0[13] Further, studies show that decoding and linguistic comprehension together account for almost all the variance in reading comprehension and its development.cite-ref-auto-13-1[13]
Visualizations
Quadrants
β’ Readers with poor decoding skills but relatively preserved listening comprehension skills would be considered 'poor decoders', or dyslexic;
β’ Readers with poor listening comprehension skills are referred to as 'poor comprehenders';
β’ Readers with poor decoding skills and poor listening comprehension skills are considered 'poor readers', or sometimes referred to as 'garden-variety poor readers'; and
β’ Readers who have good decoding and listening comprehension skills are considered 'typical readers'.
The reading rope
The reading rope is a visualization of the simple view published by psychologist Hollis Scarborough in 2001, showing the interactivity of decoding and language comprehension (and their sub-components) in producing fluent reading comprehension.cite-ref-16[16] By depicting strands winding together to form 'the rope' of skilled reading, the visualization expands the simple view to include the cognitive sub-components (Language Comprehension and Word Recognition) as integral to the process of skilled reading.cite-ref-17[17]
In education
Psychologist David A. Kilpatrick writes that the simple view of reading is not just for researchers. It is also helpful to school psychologists, teachers, and curriculum coordinators in understanding the reading process, identifying the source of reading difficulties, and developing lesson plans."cite-ref-18[18] Others have noted that, by distinguishing the two components of reading comprehension, the simple view assists teachers by showing that their students may differ in their abilities in the two components and therefore require different teaching strategies to support their reading development.cite-ref-19[19]
England
In 2006, the Independent Review of the Teaching of Early Reading (the Rose Report) recommended that the simple view be adopted as the underlying conceptual framework informing early reading instruction in England for practitioners and researchers."cite-ref-20[20] The review recommended that the Simple View be used to "reconstruct" the searchlights (or cueing) modelcite-ref-21[21] that had informed the 1998 National Literacy Strategy for England, saying it should incorporate both word recognition and language comprehension as "distinct processes related one to the other."cite-ref-22[22]
Limitations
In 2018, Castles, Rastle and Nation noted the following limitations of the simple view of reading:
Although the Simple View is a useful framework, it can only take us so far. First, it is not a model: It does not tell us how decoding and linguistic comprehension operate or how they develop. Second, in testing predictions of the Simple View, the field has been inconsistent in how the key constructs are defined and measured. In relation to decoding, as Gough and Tunmer (1986) themselves noted, it can refer to the overt βsounding outβ of a word or to skilled word recognition, and measures vary accordingly. In relation to linguistic comprehension, measures used have ranged from vocabulary to story retell, inference making, and verbal short-term memory. To fully understand reading development, we need more precise models that detail the cognitive processes operating within the decoding and linguistic comprehension components of the Simple View.cite-ref-auto-13-2[13]
See also
Further reading
Books
β’ citerefkilpatrick2015Kilpatrick, David (2015). Essentials of assessing, preventing, and overcoming reading difficulties. New Jersey: Wiley. ISBN 978-1-118-84524-0.
β’ citerefoakhillcainelbro2015Oakhill, Jane; Cain, Kate; Elbro, Carsten (2015). Understanding and teaching reading comprehension : a handbook. Oxon: Routledge. ISBN 9780415698313.
β’ citerefseidenberg2017Seidenberg, Mark (2017). Language at the speed of sight : how we read, why so many can't, and what can be done about it. New York: Basic Books. ISBN 9780465019328.
Journal articles
β’ citerefcattsadlofweismer2006Catts, Hugh W.; Adlof, Suzanne M.; Weismer, Susan Ellis (April 2006). "Language Deficits in Poor Comprehenders: A Case for the Simple View of Reading". Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research. 49 (2): 278β293. doi:10.1044/1092-4388(2006/023). PMID 16671844. S2CID 12238016.
β’ citerefsabatinisawakishorescarborough2010Sabatini, John P.; Sawaki, Yasuyo; Shore, Jane R.; Scarborough, Hollis S. (23 February 2010). "Relationships Among Reading Skills of Adults With Low Literacy". Journal of Learning Disabilities. 43 (2): 122β138. doi:10.1177/0022219409359343. PMC 3269070. PMID 20179307.
β’ citerefripoll-salcedaaguado-alonsocastilla-earls2014Ripoll Salceda, Juan C.; Aguado Alonso, Gerardo; Castilla-Earls, Anny Patricia (January 2014). "The simple view of reading in elementary school: A systematic review". Revista de Logopedia, FoniatrΓa y AudiologΓa. 34 (1): 17β31. doi:10.1016/j.rlfa.2013.04.006.
References
cite-note-11. β citerefhoover-wesley1990Hoover, Wesley, Gough, Philip (1990). "The Simple View of Reading". ResearchGate: 130.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
cite-note-33. β page-158-appendix-12-glossary"The reading framework: Glossary" (PDF). DfE UK. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
cite-note-1414. β citerefcattshoganfey2016Catts, Hugh W.; Hogan, Tiffany P.; Fey, Marc E. (18 August 2016). "Subgrouping Poor Readers on the Basis of Individual Differences in Reading-Related Abilities". Journal of Learning Disabilities. 36 (2): 151β164. doi:10.1177/002221940303600208. PMC 2848965. PMID 15493430.
cite-note-1515. β citerefcattsadlofweismer2006Catts, Hugh W.; Adlof, Suzanne M.; Weismer, Susan Ellis (April 2006). "Language Deficits in Poor Comprehenders: A Case for the Simple View of Reading". Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research. 49 (2): 278β293. doi:10.1044/1092-4388(2006/023). PMID 16671844. S2CID 12238016.
cite-note-1717. β "Scarborough's Reading Rope: A Groundbreaking Infographic, International Dyslexia Association". 2 April 2018.
cite-note-2020. β citerefroseRose, Jim. "Independent review of the Teaching of Early Reading" (PDF). Department for Education and Skills. p. 77. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
cite-note-2121. β "Searchlights: Reading strategies, The Lancashire county council, UK" (PDF).
cite-note-2222. β citerefroseRose, Jim. "Independent review of the Teaching of Early Reading" (PDF). Department for Education and Skills. p. 70. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
External links