Comprehension

In 1986, Philip B. Gough and William E. Turner developed the Simple View of Reading model. The simple view of reading states:

Decoding x Language Comprehension = Reading Comprehension.

The goal of reading is to garner meaning from the text. According to Gough and Turner, two things must happen: a student must be able to decode (read) words and comprehend their meanings. One without the other will not result in reading comprehension.

To understand the simple view of reading model, values between 0 and 1 are assigned to both the decoding factor and the language comprehension factor. A value of 0 shows that a student is unable to decode or understand words. A value of 1 indicates that the student can decode or understand words. Let’s see how this equation plays out using several scenarios.

Scenario 1: If a child is not able to decode (read) words and is assigned a value of 0, but has vocabulary knowledge and is assigned a 1, then the equation reads:

‍ D (0) x LC (1) = RC (0)

Scenario 2: If a child can decode (read) words and is assigned a value of 1, but has limited vocabulary knowledge and is assigned a 0, then the equation reads:

‍‍ D (1) x LC (0) = RC (0)

With either scenario, the result is the same: reading comprehension is 0.

Scenario 3: If a child is partially able to decode (read) words and is assigned a value of 1/2, and has some vocabulary understanding and is assigned a value of 1/2, then the equation reads:

‍‍ D (1/2) x LC (1/2) = RC (1/4)

In this scenario, reading comprehension is only 1/4.

Sadly, today, we have too many children whose reading comprehension is impacted by the inability to decode (read) words. However, once we teach a child to read words, we need to check whether they understand their meanings. For children in third grade who are reading at a first-grade level, there is a chance they have missed the meanings of the words they have encountered. Often, a good teacher or tutor has to do double duty, teaching kids to decode and, at the same time, teach vocabulary. We can never assume a child knows the meaning of a word. We have to ask the question.

Since Gough and Turner introduced the simple view of reading, additional research says there is more to the story.

In 2001, Dr. Hollis Scarborough developed a more advanced model of the simple view of reading, now known as Scarborough’s Reading Rope. It takes into account additional skills that factor into reading comprehension, including phonological awareness and sight recognition as part of the decoding factor and background knowledge, vocabulary, language structures, verbal reasoning, and literacy knowledge as part of the language comprehension factor. Looking at Scarborough’s Reading Rope, one can see that learning to read is not a simple concept.

Additionally, Nell K. Duke and Kelly B. Cartwright examine the evidence and conclude that reading difficulties do not always fit neatly into the domains of decoding and language comprehension. In fact, Duke and Cartwright advocate that decoding and language comprehension have overlapping elements in each of these categories. The researchers believe that other factors also affect reading and have developed the Active View of Reading, which has been widely accepted along with the simple view of reading and Scarborough’s reading rope.

The work of Scarborough, Duke, and Cartwright shows that reading is anything but simple. While many factors contribute to a child’s reading comprehension, it is important to address these factors, beginning with phonological and phonemic awareness, then adding decoding, while being ever mindful that building vocabulary and background knowledge is also essential.

A child will never develop a love of reading until they are allowed to connect with the text in a meaningful and purposeful way. Until a child can read, we must read to them so they can experience the power of the written word.