Reading and child development: Research findings: Glossary, further reading and references

Want to know what some of the more technical terms mean, or...

Want to know what some of the more technical terms mean, or where to read more about these studies and subjects?

By: Professor David Messer (The Open University, Faculty of Education and Language Studies, Centre for Childhood, Development and Learning)

Duration: 5 mins
Published on: Tuesday 22nd February 2011
Introductory Level
Posted under: Educational Practice

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Terms used by researchers when discussing literacy

decoding: the process of translating writing into words that can be spoken aloud; researchers may also use the term to refer to a child’s accuracy in reading words aloud (see definition of reading accuracy below)
reading accuracy: the accuracy of reading is often used to assess children’s decoding abilities; this usually involves seeing how well a child can translate written words into spoken words
reading: this term is used in different ways by different authors, sometimes just to refer to the process of decoding, and sometimes to refer to both decoding and reading comprehension
reading comprehension: the understanding of written text
phonological ability: the ability to identify the speech sounds that make up a word
nonword reading: the ability to read a word that is not present in the child’s language (e.g. ‘lam’); this gives a good indication of children’s ability to decode letters into sounds
literacy: decoding, reading comprehension and spelling
rhyme skills: the ability to identify the ending of words; often children are asked which one of three words has a different ending (e.g. cat, bat, sun)
alliteration skills: the ability to identify the beginning sound of a word; often children are asked which one of three words has a different beginning sound.

Note: both rhyme and alliteration skills are aspects of phonological awareness.

Copyrighted imageCredit: Nikolai Sorokin | Dreamstime.com

Further reading and references

Barrett, M. (ed.) (1999) The Development of Language Hove: Psychology Press
Bishop, D. (1997) Uncommon Understanding Hove: Psychology Press
Dockrell, J. and Messer, D. J. (1999) Language Disabilities in Children London: Cassell
Messer, D. (1999) The development of communication and language In Messer, D. and Millar, S. (eds) Exploring Developmental Psychology London: Arnold
Nicolson, R. (1999) Reading skill and dyslexia In Messer, D. and Millar, S. (eds) Exploring Developmental Psychology London: Arnold
Snowling, M. (2000) Dyslexia Oxford: Blackwell.