https://pamelasnow.blogspot.com/2019/02 ... still.htmlThe Simple View of Reading: Still Conclusive After 33 years
by Stephen Parker
I have a lot of empathy with Stephen's suggestion below - as a teacher-trainer, I have to make the distinction to people about the LC Language Comprehension referring to 'spoken' language as compared to 'reading comprehension'. This slight shift the equation is very sensible:
Gough and Tunmer's original equation is:Since Gough and Tunmer referred to two distinct types of “comprehension” in their model, it will likely avoid some confusion if we take the liberty to rename two of the variables in the Simple View this way:
RC = D x LC
Reading Comprehension is the product of Decoding and Language Comprehension.
Serious educationalists need to understand about the model of the Simple View of Reading, and I recommend that they read Stephen's full post!Whole Language, in 1986, was nearly universally accepted by the educational establishment and by reading teachers everywhere.
All the more surprising, therefore, that in that same year, Philip Gough and William Tunmer proposed their Simple View of Reading. Surprising because their model placed “decoding” front and center, right along with “language comprehension,” as the two independent factors necessary for a child to read. The model succinctly states:
R = D x C
where R stands for “reading comprehension,” D for “decoding.” and C for “language (listening) comprehension.”
To understand this model today, 33 years after it was proposed, it’s important to know how Gough and Tunmer understood their three variables. It’s also important to recognize that the numerical values assigned to the variables D and C are multiplied, not added.
Language comprehension (C) involves not only hearing words spoken by another, but also understanding what was just spoken. Reading comprehension (R), which comes later developmentally, is exactly what everyone means when they speak about reading something: not only producing the words (mentally or aloud), but also understanding what was just read.