Article
Learning to Read: What We Know and What We Need to Understand Better
Charles Hulme,
Margaret J. Snowling,
Corresponding Author
Charles Hulme
University College London
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Charles Hulme, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, Room 210, Chandler House, 2 Wakefield Street, London WC1N 1Pf, UK; e-mail: [email protected].Search for more papers by this authorCharles Hulme,
Margaret J. Snowling,
Corresponding Author
Charles Hulme
University College London
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Charles Hulme, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, Room 210, Chandler House, 2 Wakefield Street, London WC1N 1Pf, UK; e-mail: [email protected].Search for more papers by this authorCharles Hulme, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London; Margaret J. Snowling, St. John's College.
Abstract
The authors review current knowledge about the cognitive processes underlying the early stages of word reading development. Recent findings in a variety of alphabetic languages converge on the conclusion that there are 3 “cognitive foundations” for learning to read: letter–sound knowledge, phonemic awareness, and rapid automatized naming skills. Deficits in each of these skills appear causally related to problems in learning to read, and deficits in letter–sound knowledge and phonemic awareness appear to be remediable by suitable teaching. The authors argue that this evidence has important practical implications for early education and for the diagnosis and treatment of children with reading difficulties.
References
- Bond, G. L., & Dijkstra, R. (1967). The cooperative research program in first-grade reading. Reading Research Quarterly, 2, 5–42.
- Bowey, J. A. (2005). Predicting individual differences in learning to read. In M. J. Snowling & C. Hulme (Eds.), The science of reading: A handbook (pp. 155–172). Oxford, England: Blackwell.
- Bowyer-Crane, C., Snowling, M. J., Duff, F. J., Fieldsend, E., Carroll, J. M., Miles, J., et al. (2008). Improving early language and literacy skills: Differential effects of an oral language versus a phonology with reading intervention. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 49, 422–432. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2007.01849.x
- Byrne, B., Coventry, W. L., Olson, R. K., Samuelsson, S., Corley, R., Willcutt, E. G., et al. (2009). Genetic and environmental influences on aspects of literacy and language in early childhood: Continuity and change from preschool to Grade 2. Journal of Neurolinguistics, 22, 219–236. doi:10.1016/j.jneuroling.2008.09.003
- Byrne, B., & Fielding-Barnsley, R. (1989). Phonemic awareness and letter knowledge in the child's acquisitions of the alphabetic principle. Journal of Educational Psychology, 80, 313–321. doi:10.1037/0022-0663.81.3.313
10.1037/0022‐0663.81.3.313 Google Scholar
- Caravolas, M., Lervåg, A., Mousikou, P., Efrim, C., Litavský, M., Onochie-Quintanilla, E., et al. (2012). Common patterns of prediction of literacy development in different alphabetic orthographies. Psychological Science, 23, 678–686.
- Hulme, C., Bowyer-Crane, C., Carroll, J., Duff, F. J., & Snowling, M. J. (2012). The causal role of phoneme awareness and letter-sound knowledge in learning to read: Combining intervention studies with mediation analyses. Psychological Science, 23, 572–577.
- Hulme, C., Goetz, K., Gooch, D., Adams, J., & Snowling, M. (2007). Paired-associate learning, phoneme awareness and learning to read. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 96, 150–166.
- Hulme, C., & Snowling, M. (2009). Developmental disorders of language, learning and cognition. Chichester, England: Wiley-Blackwell.
- Hulme, C., & Snowling, M. J. (2011). Children's reading comprehension difficulties: Nature, causes and treatments. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 20, 139–142. doi:10.1177/0963721411408673
- Kirby, J. R., Desrochers, A., Roth, L., & Lai, S. S. V. (2008). Longitudinal predictors of word reading development. Canadian Psychology, 49, 103–110.
- Kirby, J. R., Georgiou, G. K., Martinussen, R., & Parrila, R. (2010). Naming speed and reading: From prediction to instruction. Reading Research Quarterly, 45, 341–362.
- Lervåg, A., Bråten, I., & Hulme, C. (2009). The cognitive and linguistic foundations of early reading development: A Norwegian latent variable longitudinal study. Developmental Psychology, 45, 764. doi:10.1037/a0014132
- Lervåg, A., & Hulme, C. (2009). Rapid naming (RAN) taps a basic constraint on the development of reading fluency. Psychological Science, 20, 1040–1048.
- Mayringer, H., & Wimmer, H. (2000). Pseudoname learning by German-speaking children with dyslexia: Evidence for a phonological learning deficit. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 75, 116–133.
- Melby-Lervag, M., Lyster, S., & Hulme, C. (2012) Phonological skills and their role in learning to read: A meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin, 138, 322–352. doi:10.1037/a0026744
- Messbauer, V. C. S., & de Jong, P. F. (2003). Word, nonword and visual paired-associate learning in Dutch dyslexic children. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 84, 77–96.
- Morton, J., & Frith, U. (1995). Causal modelling: A structural approach to developmental psychopathology. In D. Cicchetti & D. J. Cohen (Eds.), Manual of developmental psychopathology (pp. 357–390). New York: Wiley.
- Muter, V., Hulme, C., Snowling, M. J., & Stevenson, J. (2004). Phonemes, rimes and language skills as foundations of early reading development: Evidence from a longitudinal study. Developmental Psychology, 40, 663–681.
- National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. (2000). Report of the National Reading Panel. Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction: Reports of the subgroups (NIH Publication No. 00-4754). Washington, DC: Author.
- National Institute for Literacy. (2008). Developing early literacy: A scientific analysis of early literacy development and implications for intervention. NIFL gov: http://www.nifl.gov/publications/pdf/NELPReport09.pdf Retrieved May 1, 2012, from http://www.nichd.nih.gov/publications/nrp/report.cfm
- Pennington, B. F., & Olson, R. K. (2005). Genetics of dyslexia. In M. J. Snowling & C. Hulme (Eds.), The science of reading: A handbook (pp. 453–472). Oxford, England: Blackwell.
- Plomin, R., & Kovas, Y. (2005). Generalist genes and learning disabilities. Psychological Bulletin, 131, 592–617.
- Rose, J. (2009). Identifying and teaching children and young people with dyslexia and literacy difficulties. Retrieved July 5, 2009, from http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/wholeschool/sen/
- Sénéchal, M., & LeFevre, J. (2002). Parental involvement in the development of children's reading skill: A 5-year longitudinal study. Child Development, 73, 445–460.
- Seymour, P. H. K. (2005). Early reading development in European orthographies. In M. J. Snowling & C. Hulme (Eds.), The science of reading: A handbook (pp. 296–315). Oxford, England: Blackwell.
10.1002/9780470757642.ch16 Google Scholar
- Share, D. L. (1995). Phonological recoding and self-teaching: Sine qua non of reading acquisition. Cognition, 55, 151–218. doi:10.1016/0010-0277(94)00645-2
- Snowling, M. J., Muter, V., & Carroll, J. M. (2007). Children at family risk of dyslexia: A follow-up in adolescence. Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry, 48, 609–618.
- Wimmer, H., Mayringer, H., & Landerl, K. (2000). The double-deficit hypothesis and difficulties in learning to read a regular orthography. Journal of Educational Psychology, 92, 668–680. doi:10.1207/s1532799xssr0204_2
- Wolf, M., & Bowers, P. (1999). The double-deficit hypothesis for the developmental dyslexias. Journal of Educational Psychology, 91, 415–438.
- Ziegler, J. C., Bertrand, D., Tóth, D., Csépe, V., Reis, A., Faísca, L., et al. (2010). Orthographic depth and its impact on universal predictors of reading. Psychological Science, 21, 551–559.
