Theories of Learning to Read

My aim in this chapter is to outline an agenda for theories of learning to read rather than to present one of my own or review existing ones. I hope to do so in a way that identifies empirical questions on which data are sparse and that also makes clear how to identify the necessary components in an optimal instruction program. Something of a case study will be made of a particular aspect of learning to read: how children take their first steps in mastering decoding. This question furnishes a useful ground for most of the conceptual and methodological points I wish to make. In addition, the level of success that children have very early in reading development continues to characterize their later progress (Bryne, Fielding-Barnsley, & Ashley, 2000; Juel, 1988). First steps matter, apparently. Before turning to the main subject matter of the chapter, there are two background issues I wish to discuss: the prospect of a broadly applicable theory of learning and the matter of motivation.