The 'simple view of reading'

The Rose Report makes a number of recommendations for the teaching of early reading and for replacing the 'Searchlights' model, used in the original literacy framework. It makes clear that there are two dimensions to reading - 'word recognition' and 'language comprehension'. These two dimensions are represented in a new conceptual framework - the 'simple view of reading' (see The new conceptual framework for teaching reading: the simple view of reading - overview for literacy leaders and managers in schools and early years settings) - as word recognition processes and language comprehension processes.

The processes by which children comprehend spoken language are the same as those by which they comprehend the words on the page; the difference being that the first relies upon hearing the words and the second upon seeing the words in written form. Obviously, in order to comprehend written texts children must first learn to recognise, that is decode, the words on the page.

The report notes that when children begin to learn to read they have already made considerable progress in their language development. Unlike early language acquisition, the subsequent, time-limited task that is word reading is 'generally achieved as a result of direct instruction'.

High-quality phonic teaching, therefore, secures the crucial skills of word recognition that, once mastered, enable children to read fluently and automatically thus freeing them to concentrate on the meaning of the text. In other words, the learning of phonic skills for reading is a time-limited process whereas 'developing the abilities necessary to understanding and appreciating written texts in different content areas and literary genres continues throughout the lifespan'.

The 'simple view of reading' shows that both dimensions are necessary to achieve fluent reading. However, the balance between word recognition and language comprehension shifts as children acquire secure and automatic decoding skills and progress from 'learning to read' to 'reading to learn' for purpose and pleasure. The ultimate goal of learning to read is comprehension.

To achieve this, practitioners and teachers need to be clear about which activities are designed to teach children to acquire word recognition skills, and which will help children develop high-level comprehension skills.