AUTOMATIC ACCESS TO WORD SOUNDS AND MEANING IN DECODING WRITTEN TEXT

Abstract

Acquisition of efficient reading skills depends on developing reading‐related skills to a high level of proficiency. Making skills associated with reading “automatic” is a key factor in efficient reading. Automaticity is a process of developing expertise that permits the individual learner to eventually perform the necessary subtasks with a minimum of conscious effort and conscious control. In reading, fluency requires the ability to perform the task of decoding the written word automatically, while concentrating on the meaning of the text. Most reading experts agree that automaticity of reading subskills is necessary for fluent reading. The question of how automatization develops is debated here. The traditional view of automaticity development in reading contends that automaticity develops as a result of limited attentional capacity and describes how automatized behaviors differ from nonautomatized behaviors (LaBerge & Samuels, 1974). However, the traditional view does not adequately describe the process of automaticity development in reading. Alternative views of automaticity, such as Logan's (1988a, 1988b) view of memory retrieval and encoding of instances of stimuli, are compared with the traditional view and their application in reading acquisition and reading behavior is discussed.