Reading is biologically determined, like speech. It is the result of a complex learning process. The first signs of language may have appeared with Homo Erectus around 1.9 million years ago. However, the first written records date back to around four thousand years before Jesus Christ.
The brain has had almost two million years to develop the neural network specialized in language production and comprehension, but only a few thousand to develop the neural network for reading. Therefore, reading depends on the parallel activation of different neural networks involved in different cognitive functions. Let’s see how this is done.
Two cognitive functions: language and visual system
Two of the cognitive functions that come together in reading are especially important: language and the visual system, which are related to the perception of shapes. Regarding language, at birth, our brain is already prepared to process any sound related to human speech. After a few months of life, it specializes in those sounds that are most familiar to it. Then a very complex learning process begins.
At 5-6 years of age, this process culminates with a detailed representation of how language sounds (phonology), a broad vocabulary, a mastery of the main grammatical structures, and how these convey meaning.
At the same time, the visual system specialized in the perception of complex shapes, such as letters in their different formats, develops. This means that the period between 5 and 6 years of age is a particularly sensitive period for learning to read. It is the key moment for the early detection of reading difficulties.
From identifying letters to reading words and phrases
Reading is a process by which certain signs are given a sound and a label (i.e. their name: the letter “be”, sign “b”, sound /b/). Combined, they express a meaning. These signs can be identified in isolation, one by one (e.g. /l/, /a/), or in combination with each other (e.g. /la/).
The beginning of reading learning usually begins at 3 years of age in early childhood education. Children are taught to identify letters individually, by their sounds and by their labels. The process gradually becomes automated. Thus, identification is done by comparing the letters with their representation in memory. By the end of early childhood education, many children already have good reading mechanics. They can read single words or even short sentences, with a good understanding of what they read.
What processes are involved in reading mechanics?
Initially, each letter read represents a single sound. The shape of the written letter must match the learned shape, which is initially only one, for example, a capital letter. Progressively, the identification process is extended to different types of letters.
Practice makes reading progressively more fluid and accurate. Students can identify words as a whole; that is, the whole word ‘hello’, at a glance, without having to decipher it letter by letter: /h/-/o/-/l/-/a/).
When this happens, the brain releases resources of attention, memory, and perception. And then these resources are directed towards reading comprehension, to interpret and give meaning to what is read.
All the vocabulary that a child acquires throughout language development, and how it is used, is the basis of reading comprehension. Thus, while reading words, phrases, and texts, this information is linked to the information already stored in the areas of language comprehension (oral) to give meaning to what is read.
From learning to read to reading to learn
The fact that learning to read is such a complex process leads us to think of a way to assess whether it is carried out normally or whether there is some difficulty. This is a very important fact, since, although the process begins with learning to read, it ends with reading to learn.
In this sense, early detection is key to identifying the presence of difficulties in this process. Currently, there are sufficiently sensitive tools to detect them in early childhood and primary education classrooms.
For example, the Grapho-Game, Detective, and Neurekalab applications. These scientifically validated applications measure phonological awareness, reading mechanics, and comprehension, as well as verbal memory. They classify students based on reading speed and accuracy, the degree of understanding of what they read, the ability to recognize and manipulate phonemes, and the capacity of their verbal memory. If it is detected that the learning process is slower than expected, the first measures can be taken to facilitate reading learning.
Sergi Grau Carrión, Professor and researcher of Digital Technologies, University of Vic – Central University of Catalonia, and Josep M Serra Grabulosa, Senior Lecturer, Psychobiology area, University of Barcelona
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