recoding (i.e., decoding via translation of a printed letter string into its spoken form) is the mechanism or self-teacher that enables a reader to independently acquire an autonomous orthographic lexicon…. A successful decoding encounter with an unfamiliar word provides the reader with an opportunity to acquire word-specific orthographic information, such as order and identity of letters. This exhaustive grapheme-by-grapheme decoding (en route to a correct pronunciation) will result in the formation of well-specified orthographic representations…. The ability to independently decode novel strings through phonological recoding, such that rich orthographic representations can be formed, stored, and used, is perhaps the most valuable skill for learning orthographic representations of words. (pp. 265, 277)
To sum up, phonological recoding (sounding words out) is a critical skill because it enables independent reading. In turn, implicit learning during independent reading is the only way for students to acquire the comprehensive and implicit understanding of English orthography that they need to be skilled readers.
While it is not feasible to teach all of the phonics patterns in English directly, research shows that teaching a systematic progression of them helps jump-start phonological recoding (Gough, 1996; NICHD, 2000; Thompson, Fletcher-Flinn, & Cottrell, 1999; Tunmer & Nicholson, 2011). Catherine E. Snow and Connie Juel (2005) explain that “phonics may be useful to children not because of the specific letter-sound relations taught, but because a phonics approach gives children the chance to discover the alphabetic principle, and provides practice looking closely at word spelling” (p. 516). In chapter 4, we provide research-based guidelines regarding which phonics patterns to teach and what order to teach them in.
Consolidated Alphabetic Phase
By the time students enter the consolidated alphabetic phase, word recognition has moved from “a highly demanding, intentional process requiring constant, laborious symbol-sound translation to a less demanding, direct process which incorporates the automatic recognition of letters and immediate identification of specific words” (Cunningham et al., 2011, p. 260). Readers in the consolidated alphabetic phase are reading large amounts of text independently, and they now process words in larger chunks. Ehri (2005) explains, “As a result of practice reading many words, the reader processes increasingly larger units as these units recur, from features to letters to spelling patterns to whole words, referred to as unitization” (p. 151). For example, consolidated alphabetic phase readers recognize the unit –ing and read it as a whole, rather than as individual sounds. Ehri (2005) additionally points out:
Knowing larger blends contributes to the learning of sight words by reducing the memory load. For example, connections to learn the word interesting are much easier to form if the four syllabic spellings, IN, TER, EST, ING, are known as units than if the word is analyzed as 10 graphophonemic units. (p. 150)
Also, Ehri and Wilce (1983) find that readers in the consolidated phase could read words as rapidly as they could name numbers, indicating that words were stored in memory and accessed as whole units, rather than sequences of letters or syllables.
As students engage in unitization, they also begin to learn that different word parts carry meaning. They can use these morphemes to determine the meanings of unfamiliar words, which students can now read but may not possess in their oral vocabularies. For example, a student might encounter the word reworked for the first time in text. By studying the morphemes in the word—re meaning “to do again,” work meaning “an effortful activity,” and ed meaning “in the past”—the student can reason that it means that someone worked on something again in the past. According to Purcell-Gates and colleagues (2016), students who know more about morphemes and are more aware of them in text exhibit stronger reading comprehension than students without such knowledge and awareness.
Prosody
As we mentioned previously, fluency comprises word recognition (accuracy + automaticity) and prosody; prosody centers on the rhythmic and tonal features of speech and involves three major elements (Kuhn & Schwanenflugel, 2017; Rasinski et al., 2011).
1. Stress: The prominence the speaker places on particular words and syllables
2. Intonation: The rise and fall of vocal pitch
3. Duration: The length of time the speaker employs in pronouncing a word or part of a word and patterns of pausing between words, phrases, and sentences
Research indicates that there is a relationship between prosody and comprehension. Melanie R. Kuhn and Paula J. Schwanenflugel (2017) find that “as children develop good reading prosody, they also develop better reading comprehension skills” (p. 320). Rebekah G. Benjamin and Paula J. Schwanenflugel (2010) find that good readers actually make greater prosodic distinctions as texts become more complex and difficult. James V. Hoffman (2017) cites extensive research indicating that prosody assists the reader in constructing meaning from a text (Allington, 1983; Rasinski, Blachowicz, & Lems, 2006; Rasinski & Hoffman, 2005; Schrieber, 1980, 1987).
There are at least three possible reasons for the relationship between prosody and comprehension. First, Andreas Lind, Lars Hall, Björn Breidegard, Christian Balkenius, and Petter Johansson (2014) suggest that the auditory feedback from their own voices helps readers clarify and specify the information they read. Second, Lyn Frazier, Katy Carlson, and Charles Clifton Jr. (2006) suggest that prosody helps to preserve information in working memory, giving the brain more time to make connections between this information and prior knowledge. Finally, Kuhn and Schwanenflugel (2017) hypothesize, “Good readers might link ideas in working memory using a prosodic packaging that is more optimal for comprehension” (p. 320). Although research has not yet completely explained the relationship between prosody and comprehension, it does indicate that prosody plays a mediating role between automatic word recognition and comprehension.
Unconstrained Skills: Comprehension and Vocabulary
Comprehension and vocabulary, as unconstrained skills, develop continually over long periods of time and have the potential for unlimited growth. Regarding comprehension, Duke and Carlisle (2011) write:
Comprehension is a quintessential growth construct. As adults, we might still be developing our ability to comprehend some kinds of text (e.g., the IRS manual) and some content (e.g., studies in neuropsychology), and we might be refining the practices we use to comprehend text (e.g., searching text ever more effectively). (p. 200)
Unlike constrained skills, which develop along a fairly predictable progression, unconstrained skills develop more organically. Again, Duke and Carlisle (2011) explain:
While it is clear that comprehension develops, it is also clear that there is not a single path to comprehension development. This is largely because there are myriad reader factors, text factors, and context factors that all impact reading comprehension…. Comprehension is affected by individual differences in students’ capabilities and experiences as they interact with the quality of the opportunities they have at home and school to develop language and literacy…. There is no single set of stages or linear trajectory on which readers can be placed. (p. 215)
Vocabulary functions similarly. For example, it would be impossible to articulate a progression of words that all students learn in a fixed order (or even phases of word learning that students advance through). Therefore, in this section, rather than presenting developmental progressions, we first define vocabulary and comprehension and then present research and instructional considerations for both areas.
Vocabulary
As we explained previously,
