Part 1 of a two-part series on the Simple View of Reading

When we think about helping children learn to read, it’s easy to focus only on outcomes – how many books they finish, how well they can read aloud in front of others, or how soon they become “independent” readers. But before we can talk about progress, it’s important to understand what reading actually involves.

That’s where the Simple View of Reading comes in.

Originally proposed by researchers Philip Gough and William Tunmer in 1986, the Simple View of Reading is the model that underpins the National Curriculum in England today. It breaks reading down into two core components:

1. Decoding (or word reading) – the ability to identify and pronounce words using knowledge of letters and sounds.
2. Language comprehension – the ability to understand what those words and sentences actually mean, in context.

Children need to be proficient in both of these areas to become confident, capable readers. Without decoding, they can’t read the words; without comprehension, the words have no meaning. You can think of it as a simple equation:

Reading = Decoding × Comprehension

If either skill is missing (or weak), reading breaks down.

In this two-part blog series, we’ll explore both elements of the Simple View of Reading and how reading aloud can support children’s development in each. Today, we start with decoding – also known as word reading.

Understanding Decoding (Word Reading)
Before jumping into the benefits of reading aloud, let’s take a moment to understand what decoding actually means. In simple terms, decoding refers to a child’s ability to read unfamiliar words by sounding out letters and blending those sounds together – either silently or aloud. To do this successfully, children must be explicitly taught how letters (or ‘graphemes’) correspond to particular sounds (‘phonemes’).

With enough practice, children begin to recognise and decode familiar words automatically, without needing to sound them out each time. But getting to that point takes both structured phonics instruction and regular practice.

How Reading Aloud Supports Decoding Skills: The Synthetic Phonics Programme
When children first learn to read in Key Stage 1, they are taught how to decode words through a synthetic phonics programme. (‘Synthetic’ in this context means to combine – synthesising letter sounds into words.) This involves learning the phonemes that match each grapheme and how these can be blended to form words.

Phonics instruction has been hugely successful: 89% of pupils met the expected standard in the Phonics Screening Check by the end of KS1 in 2023. However, while reading aloud can’t replace phonics teaching, it can play a significant supporting role. Reading aloud:

• Exposes children to phonics in varied contexts.
• Reinforces sound-letter recall through repetition.
• Encourages children to produce sounds themselves – not just hear them.

This active vocalisation helps strengthen the brain’s connection between letters and sounds, which is vital when children come across new or unfamiliar words. Importantly, this benefit extends to children with learning difficulties like dyslexia. Studies show that reading aloud – through articulation and prosody – makes reading a multi-sensory task. Hearing themselves read allows dyslexic students to self-correct in a way that doesn’t typically happen during silent reading.

So, when reading aloud is combined with a phonics programme – and the chosen texts match the child’s current phonic knowledge – it can significantly boost progress, especially ahead of the Phonics Screening Check in Year 1 or 2.

From Decoding to Fluency
Once decoding becomes more automatic, children begin to develop reading fluency – often described as the bridge between decoding and comprehension. A fluent reader can read accurately, at an appropriate pace, and with expression (prosody). Reading aloud is one of the most effective ways to build fluency. It helps children:

• Hear and adjust their reading speed to avoid stumbling or skipping.
• Engage with punctuation (e.g., pausing at full stops).
• Practise using stress and intonation, making reading more expressive and engaging.

According to the Standards and Testing Agency, around 90 words per minute is a key fluency benchmark by the end of KS1 – and reading aloud can help children reach that goal.

As children become more fluent, they also tend to enjoy reading more – and children who enjoy reading are more likely to read frequently. It’s a virtuous cycle.

Beyond Reading: Oracy and Confidence
Reading aloud doesn’t just support decoding and fluency – it also develops oracy skills, defined as “the development and application of a set of skills associated with effective spoken communication.” These skills are not only vital for success in school, but they are increasingly valued in the workplace too.

Reading aloud gives children the chance to practise spoken communication alongside their reading skills – a benefit that silent reading simply doesn’t offer. For teachers, it’s also a practical way to encourage oracy practice outside the classroom, particularly for children from language-poor households or with lower language skills. Teachers have consistently identified pupils with English as an additional language (73%), disadvantaged pupils (71%), and pupils with low attainment (68%) as the groups who would benefit most from increased speaking activities. Reading aloud offers a simple but effective intervention.

And finally, there’s confidence. For many children, speaking or reading in front of others can be daunting – especially if they struggle with reading. A drop in reading confidence has been noted in recent years, falling to just 45% in 2021. Reading aloud in a safe, private space – whether at home or in a supportive classroom setting – gives children a chance to build confidence in their own time. Over time, this can reduce anxiety, boost self-esteem, and prepare them to participate more actively in school oracy-based activities.

In Summary
While a strong phonics programme lays the foundation for decoding, reading aloud brings that learning to life – helping to embed phonics knowledge, build fluency, strengthen oracy, and boost confidence. It turns reading into a multi-sensory, engaging, and empowering experience.

In next week’s blog, we’ll explore how reading aloud can also support the other half of the Simple View of Reading: language comprehension. Stay tuned.

From deciphering classroom instructions to navigating the complexities of future careers, reading permeates every aspect of our lives. For children, mastering this fundamental skill is not just about academic success; it’s the key that unlocks their educational journey and shapes their future possibilities. Therefore, nurturing and diligently monitoring the development of strong reading skills in their early years is of paramount importance.

The Profound Benefits (and Costs) of Reading Proficiency

Why is Good Reading So Important?
Our ability to read acts as a constant companion, influencing everything from a child’s access to education to an adult’s achievements in the professional world and their capacity to navigate daily life. Ensuring children develop robust reading skills during their formative educational years is not merely beneficial – it’s crucial.

Accessing the Whole Curriculum:
Developing strong literacy through reading is fundamental for children to become proficient communicators, both in writing and speech. These foundational skills are not limited to excelling in English lessons; they are the bedrock upon which success is built across the entire curriculum, from early learning stages right through to advanced qualifications like GCSEs and A-Levels. Children who struggle with reading risk being left behind in all subjects.

The Reading Framework underscores this, setting the ambitious goal that “by the end of year 6 pupils’ reading and writing should be sufficiently fluent and effortless for them to manage the general demands of the curriculum in year 7, across all subjects and not just in English”.

The undeniable importance of reading in “unlocking the curriculum” is reflected in the Department for Education’s (DfE) proposed levelling-up missions:

1. To have 90% of year 6 pupils achieving the expected standard in reading, writing, and maths by 2030.
2. To increase the average national GCSE grade in both English and Maths to 5 by 2030.

In 2023, only 60% and 45.3% of pupils met these targets respectively [3, 7]. Achieving these goals, however, is projected to yield significant whole-economy benefits, estimated at £31.1bn – £59.6bn for the KS2 target and £34.3bn for the GCSE target for a single cohort in 2030.

Supporting Adults in Their Careers and Everyday Life:
The significance of reading confidence and ability extends far beyond a child’s school years. It is vital that as many young people as possible leave education at 18 with the reading skills necessary to navigate their daily lives effectively and to open up a wide array of future career paths, including access to further education and professional training.

Adults with poor literacy skills, particularly in reading, face a higher risk of unemployment. A 2021 government report highlighting the need for further education reforms emphasised the urgency of addressing current skills shortages – equipping employers with competent staff and enabling adults to secure and advance in their careers. Alarmingly, a 2017 survey revealed that approximately one-third of businesses were dissatisfied with the basic literacy skills of their young applicants.

Beyond employability, poor reading skills can also significantly impact earning potential and career progression. Studies indicate that an average worker with weak literacy skills earns around £1,500 less per year than someone with basic literacy.

The Power of Reading Aloud in Developing Strong Reading Skills
So, we understand why strong reading skills are crucial. But how can we effectively cultivate these skills in children? One powerful tool is the simple yet highly effective practice of reading aloud.

What Exactly is Reading?
To understand how reading aloud helps, it’s important to define what reading entails. The national curriculum aligns with the “Simple View of Reading,” a model proposed by Philip Gough and William Tunmer in 1986. This model breaks down reading into two key components: decoding (word reading) and language comprehension.

• Decoding (word reading) involves:
  • Reading unfamiliar words by sounding out the individual letters and blending those sounds together, either silently or verbally. This process relies on explicit phonics instruction, where children learn the relationship between sounds (‘phonemes’) and the letters or groups of letters that represent them (‘graphemes’).
  • With sufficient practice and exposure to phonics in various linguistic contexts, proficient readers develop the ability to recognize familiar words accurately and automatically, without consciously sounding them out.
• Language comprehension refers to:
  • The ability to understand the meaning of individual words, sentences, and the broader context of what is being read or heard.
  • Essentially, it’s the process of deriving meaning from written or spoken language.

For children to become successful readers, they need to develop proficiency in both decoding and language comprehension. However, as the reading framework highlights, “once pupils can decode accurately and speedily, reading a lot is the principal way they develop as readers.”

How Reading Aloud Fosters Decoding and Language Comprehension Skills
Reading aloud offers a multitude of benefits that directly contribute to the development of both decoding and language comprehension skills. Let’s explore some key ways it achieves this:

How Reading Aloud Supports Decoding Skills:

• Phonics and Word Recognition: While explicit phonics instruction in Key Stage 1 is foundational (evident in the significant improvement in word recognition following the introduction of phonics screening checks, with 89% of pupils meeting the expected standard by the end of KS1 in 2023), reading aloud reinforces these skills. By vocalizing words, children encounter phonemes in diverse contexts, strengthening their recall of letter-sound relationships. The act of producing the sounds themselves, rather than just visualizing them during silent reading, aids in internalizing these mappings, particularly when encountering unfamiliar words.
• Fluency Development: Fluency acts as a crucial link between decoding and comprehension. A fluent reader reads accurately, at an appropriate pace, and with correct intonation (prosody). The Standards and Testing Agency (STA) suggests a reading speed of around 90 words per minute as a good fluency benchmark for KS1 pupils. Reading aloud actively helps children:
  • Regulate their reading speed to avoid hesitant stumbling.
  • Engage more consciously with punctuation to achieve natural-sounding speech.
  • Practice applying stress and intonation, making the reading process more engaging and meaningful. Greater fluency also enhances reading enjoyment, naturally encouraging children to read more frequently.
• Oracy and Speaking Skills: Reading aloud simultaneously strengthens oracy skills – the ability to express oneself clearly through spoken language. Surveys indicate that pupils who would benefit most from increased speaking activities include those with English as an Additional Language (EAL) (73%), disadvantaged pupils (71%), and pupils with low attainment (68%). Reading aloud provides a valuable platform to develop these skills, particularly for children from language-poor environments with fewer opportunities for rich conversations.
• Building Confidence: Confidence can be a significant barrier to engaging in reading and public speaking. In 2021, only 45% of children reported feeling confident in their reading, a notable decrease from 53% in 2016. Reading aloud, especially in a supportive and private setting, allows children to build confidence independently before potentially reading in front of their peers.

How Reading Aloud Supports Language Comprehension:

• Closing the Vocabulary Gap: Before children learn to read independently, their vocabulary develops primarily through speaking and listening. However, children from language-poor households often hear significantly fewer words than their peers, leading to a substantial “word gap” that can reach tens of millions of words by the time they start school. For instance, studies show that children from literacy-rich households who are read to regularly will have heard approximately 1,483,300 words by age five, compared to just 63,750 words for those read to only a few times a week. Reading aloud can help bridge this gap by exposing children to a wider range of vocabulary and reinforcing new words through the act of speaking them.
• Improved Retention and Recall: Reading comprehension relies heavily on the ability to retain and recall information. Research consistently demonstrates that children remember words and information more effectively when they read aloud compared to reading silently. One study found that children recognized 87% of words read aloud versus 70% of words read silently. This phenomenon is attributed to the “production effect” – the combination of the motor activity involved in speaking words and the auditory input of hearing them spoken, which strengthens memory encoding. The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) recommends oral reading as a strategy for enhancing comprehension, and studies suggest that oral language training leads to significant improvements in reading comprehension.

Key Takeaways: The Distinct Advantages of Reading Aloud
While both reading aloud and silent reading contribute to building “reading miles,” which the reading framework emphasizes as crucial for developing reading skills, reading aloud offers unique and significant advantages:

• Supports phonics progress: Reinforces phonics knowledge through active speech production.
• Develops fluency: Helps children read more naturally with appropriate pacing, stress, and intonation.
• Improves oracy skills: Enhances spoken language abilities, particularly beneficial for disadvantaged pupils.
• Builds confidence: Reduces anxiety associated with public reading and speaking.
• Enhances retention and recall: The “production effect” leads to better memory of words and information.

Given these compelling benefits, reading aloud deserves a more prominent role in national reading strategies. An increased emphasis on incorporating reading aloud within educational frameworks and curricula could significantly boost children’s reading proficiency, confidence, and overall language development.

Ultimately unlocking brighter futures for them all.