ABSTRACT
Reading comprehension depends on listening comprehension and print word recognition. Listening comprehension emerges naturally from exposure to language and use of language in natural settings; this pre-literate Linguistic Infrastructure is a rich resource when children learn to read. Each pre-literate code becomes an elaborate code when a visual image of the spelling is added. Children’s print word recognition develops through direct instruction in graphemes, spellings, and vocabulary, and incidental learning. The network of elaborate codes is the literate Linguistic Infrastructure. Some learner variables have to do with the phonological loop in working memory. This chapter discusses word formation processes, ambiguity, metaphor, polysemy, homonymy, opaque parts of speech, collocations, and other lexical variables that affect L1 and L2 readers of English. Some learner variables have to do with the phonological loop in working memory.
