ABSTRACT

How do children learn to read? Two general views have emerged in the literature. One view places almost exclusive emphasis on the role of implicit processes, whereas the second view proposes a two-stage conceptualization of beginning reading in which implicit processes are associated with the first stage and explicit processes with the second. The chapter is divided into three sections. The first section describes these two views and briefly summarizes the theoretical arguments and empirical evidence in support of each. The second section discusses the key distinguishing feature of the second view, the development of explicit awareness and knowledge of the systematic correspondences between graphemes and phonemes, an ability referred to as phonological recoding skill. The third section summarizes research on the two cognitive prerequisite skills that are thought to be necessary for acquiring phonological recoding skill, phonological awareness, and syntactic awareness, both of which involve explicit processes.