Language Development And Learning to Read: The Scientific Study of How Language Development Affects Reading Skill

Research on reading has tried, and failed, to account for wide disparities in readingskill even among children taught by the same method. Why do some children learn to read easily andquickly while others, in the same classroom and taught by the same teacher, don't learn to read atall? In Language Development and Learning to Read, Diane McGuinness examines scientific researchthat might explain these disparities. She focuses on reading predictors, analyzing the effectindividual differences in specific perceptual, linguistic, and cognitive skills may have on achild's ability to read. Because of the serious methodological problems she finds in the existingresearch on reading, many of the studies McGuinness cites come from other fields -- developmentalpsychology, psycholinguistics, and the speech and hearing sciences -- and provide a new perspectiveon which language functions matter most for reading and academic success.McGuinness first examinesthe phonological development theory -- the theory that phonological awareness follows adevelopmental path from words to syllables to phonemes -- which has dominated reading research forthirty years, and finds that research evidence from other disciplines does not support the theory.McGuinness then looks at longitudinal studies on the development of general language function, andfinds a "tantalizing connection" between core language functions and reading success. Finally, sheanalyzes mainstream reading research, which links reading ability to specific language skills, andthe often flawed methodology used in these studies. McGuinness's analysis shows the urgent need fora shift in our thinking about how to achieve reading success.

Diane McGuinness is a reading consultant and Emeritus Professor of Psychology at the University of South Florida. She is the author of Why Our Children Can't Read and What We Can Do about It, Early Reading Instruction (MIT Press, 2004), and other books on reading and learning.