A recent article in this journal claims that the simple view of reading represents a long-outdated account of what underlies the ability to read. Its authors argue that if teachers are to be better informed about what is known about reading then the simple view must be replaced by a more current model, one that captures the substantial progress…

To learn to read, the brain must repurpose neural systems for oral language and visual processing to mediate written language. We begin with a description of computational models for how alphabetic written language is processed. Next, we explain the roles of a dorsal sublexical system in the brain that relates print and speech, a ventral lexical…

Concept of word in print is the development of an understanding of how monosyllabic and multisyllabic words operate in print. Young children show evidence of this understanding when they are able to repeat a line of text while accurately pointing to each word as it is said. A small but robust line of work has examined the knowledge, skills, and…

Continues discussion of Ronald Carter's Rauding Theory. (AA)

Offers and applies a set of design criteria to characterize ten alternative models of reading or understanding. (MKM)

Reviews prominent reading theories in light of their accounts of how automatic and control processes combine to produce successful text comprehension, and the trade-offs between the two. Presents the Compensatory-Encoding Model of reading, which explicates how, when, and why automatic and control processes interact. Notes important educational…

Hypothesizes that cloze easiness is a measure of information and tests this theory against a reanalysis of earlier data on cloze test performance. (AA)

Reviews the main features of the model, the steps that led to its development, and appropriate approaches to evaluating its adequacy. (AA)

Describes and discusses a wide variety of theories and models of reading acquisition. (Author)

Supports Frederiksen's (1975) model of the structure of text and of memory through a study of the effects of manipulation of four aspects of text structure with community college and Ivy League subjects. (AA)

Investigates the influence of sentence context on the processing of concrete and abstract words. Results indicate that abstract words take longer than concrete to comprehend and to judge their meaningfulness when they occur in a neutral context. Concludes that this evidence supports the context availability model. (RS)

Examines and rejects two traditional assumptions about fluent reading: that identification of letters is necessary to identify words; and that identification of words is necessary to comprehend. Proposes that identification and comprehension are two separate tasks and that a reader comprehends because he reads for meaning in the first place. (MB)

Examines relationships between readers' implicit models of reading processes and reader engagement. Notes that a factor analysis produced factors corresponding to a transmission model or to a transactional model. Finds that endorsing a transactional model was related to higher recall of expository text, and that individuals high on the…

Investigates differences in reading acquisition processes between Dutch and Turkish children learning to read Dutch. Finds that both groups rely on comparable reading strategies. Presents a structural model to examine interactions between the various reading processes in Dutch. Suggests that children learning to read in a second language should…