Reading is an integral part of human development. It is the basic step towards learning by processing texts and deducing meaning from it. However, the ability to read is not inborn, human beings need to undergo several stages in order to master the art of reading for knowledge and for pleasure. The progression from one stage of reading to another is dependent on the pace of an individual to acquire the capability to read. Age is not really a major factor in determining the reading development of a person but it is more of the mastery of each stages that enables a person to move from one level to another (Spring-ford.
net, “Stages of Reading Development”).
Based on the research of Dr. Jeanne Chall, there are six (6) stages of reading development namely: (1) “prereading stage”, (2) initial reading, (3) confirmation and fluency, (4) reading for learning “the new”, (5) multiple viewpoints, and (6) construction and reconstruction”(Chall, 1983, p. 1).
The earliest stage starts from pre-school that continues on until college (Chall, 1983, p. 1).
It is during the infant phase in which people initially experience “oral language development.
” When a reader can already identify the alphabet and the sounds corresponding to the letters, this indicates the secondary stage in reading development. Then followed by the third stage which is more on the development of articulation and “decoding skills. ” The fourth stage is defined as the level wherein readers are exposed to many texts and meanings but at the same time they have become an expert in comprehending vast vocabularies and subject matters. In the secondary and tertiary academic level, comprehension of a text and different points of view depends on the critical analysis of the reader which characterizes the fifth stage.
The Essay on Reading Development
... until university age. The stages of reading development explains how students’ progress as readers. Chall’s proposed scheme for reading stages includes six stages with the purpose of ... received, the reader may temporarily drop to a lower level. For example, a child who has learned to decode familiar text (Stage 2) will ...
More so, it is at this stage that they have developed fully their “cognitive and language” proficiency. The last stage is considered as the most productive because readers are exposed to a number of facts and data wherein they generate their own understanding about the information based on their own “synthesis and analysis” (Chall, 1983, p. 1).
References Chall, J. (1983).
Reading development. McGraw-Hill. Spring-ford. net. Stages of reading development. Retrieved April 16, 2008, from
