ABSTRACT
Interactions between the maturation and experience of the pupil, together with the quality of the teaching receives, constitute the main determinants of reading progress. These circumstances make very hazardous any attempt to relate curriculum phases to age levels of the pupils. The initial sight vocabulary established by any pupil will reflect his needs, his experience, his level of language development and the style and content of the teaching he has received. For many pupils the vocabulary will grow easily and naturally out of pre-reading activities, especially if these have been skilfully selected, presented and developed. As the sight-reading vocabulary develops, the pupil's interest should be maintained by his keeping a personal record of words he can read, matching words from his reading vocabulary, and classifying words by perceptual features or meanings. The best safeguard against this is the achievement of independence in reading which, as mentioned earlier, remains a continuous objective throughout all curriculum phases and levels of achievement.
