Bridging the Divide: Connecting Word Recognition and Language Comprehension in Early Literacy

Abstract

Literacy development is inherently complex, as it requires simultaneous growth in word recognition and language comprehension. These demands intensify across the grades, particularly in second and third grade, as students are increasingly expected to make meaning from text. This brief focuses on how reading foundational skills instruction in K–2 classrooms can more intentionally connect word recognition and language comprehension through two particular bridging processes – reading fluency and vocabulary development (Duke & Cartwright, 2021). Findings are based on a study of literacy instruction and supports in four urban districts that use core foundational skills curriculum including Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA) Skills, University of Florida Literacy Institute (UFLI) Foundations, and Wilson Fundations.

Study findings show that teachers in these districts were consistently using the foundational skills curriculum; their lesson purposes supported evidence-based foundational skills instruction; and they were providing clear, explicit instruction—all necessary components of strong foundational skills instruction. However, the lessons rarely included substantial opportunities to build reading fluency or vocabulary development. In only one-fifth of lessons did students have the opportunity to apply their foundational skills beyond single words to phrases, sentences, or paragraphs, and in over half of observed lessons, word meaning was mentioned once or not at all. In other words, the bridging processes of reading fluency and vocabulary development were not central to foundational skills instruction.

This brief describes what we learned about the instructional strengths and gaps related to bridging processes and shares practical steps districts can take to more intentionally connect word recognition and language comprehension in foundational skills instruction.