ABSTRACT

As skilled readers, our purposes for reading include gaining knowledge and understanding through texts, interpreting and critically evaluating perspectives put forth in texts, and many other aspects of reading comprehension and reading enjoyment. It is within the context of becoming a skilled reader that the current chapter examines individual differences in word recognition. Expert readers recognize words quickly and effortlessly, freeing cognitive resources for the higher-level goals of reading (Perfetti, 2007). The critical role of word recognition in higher-level cognitive aspects of reading has been well established. Individual differences in word recognition are the strongest predictor of reading comprehension in grades 1–3 (e.g., Vellutino, Tunmer, Jaccard, & Chen, 2007; National Reading Panel, 2000), and account for variance in comprehension throughout later schooling (e.g., Cunningham & Stanovich, 1998; Scarborough, Ehri, Olson, & Fowler, 1998). In the English language, there are substantial individual differences in children’s achievement of both word recognition accuracy and speed (Jenkins, Fuchs, van den Broek, Espin, & Deno, 2003), each of which contribute to reading fluency and comprehension (Jenkins et al., 2003; Torgesen, 2006).