Book Description

The report describes an auding/reading model that accounts for the development of receptive oracy and literacy skills. The model presents a classification scheme for the development of reading and auding skills which considers basic adaptive processes, languaging precursors, and languaging processes. Four hypotheses consistent with the model were derived: (1) the ability to comprehend language by auding will surpass ability to comprehend language by reading during early school years, until reading skill is acquired--following which time the ability to comprehend by auding and reading will become equal; (2) performance on measures of ability to comprehend language by auding will be predictive of performance on measures of ability to comprehend language by reading, after reading skill is acquired; (3) performance on measures of reading rate and auding rate will be comparable, after reading decoding skill has been developed; and (4) training in comprehending by auding will transfer to reading, after reading skill is acquired. An extensive literature review of empirical data bearing on the model supported each of the four hypotheses. (Modified author abstract).