Learning to Read Words

Book chapter

Castles, Anne and Nation, Kate. (2022). Learning to Read Words. In The Science of Reading : A Handbook pp. 148-164 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119705116.ch7
AuthorsCastles, Anne and Nation, Kate
Abstract

In this chapter, the authors review what is known about how children learn to read words, surveying well-established findings and exploring new directions in this rapidly evolving field. They begin by considering what skills and knowledge children need to acquire if they are to become expert word readers: What, precisely, is the learning challenge? The knowledge about printed words, or orthographic knowledge, that children need to acquire to become skilled at word reading can be divided into two broad categories: sublexical knowledge about the orthographic subunits that make up words, and lexical knowledge about the precise orthographic form of individual words. Distinguishing between the sublexical and lexical domains, the authors examine key processes in word reading development from children's initial learning about letters and letter-sound mappings through to their acquisition of an expert system that recognizes words rapidly via access to rich, high-quality lexical representations.

Keywordsexpert word readers; letter-sound mappings; lexical knowledge; orthographic knowledge; sublexical knowledge; word reading development
Page range148-164
Year01 Jan 2022
Book titleThe Science of Reading : A Handbook
PublisherJohn Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Place of publicationUnited States
Edition2
ISBN9781119705130
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119705116.ch7
Web address (URL)https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781119705116.ch7
Open accessPublished as non-open access
Research or scholarlyResearch
Publisher's version
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All rights reserved
File Access Level
Controlled
Output statusPublished
Publication dates
Print25 May 2022
Publication process dates
AcceptedMay 2022
Deposited12 Feb 2025
Additional information

© 2022 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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