Children's reading development: Identifying underlying mechanisms.

学习阅读是一项极其复杂的认知任务，涉及基本的学习、记忆和语言过程。阅读也是一项非常重要的技能。它支持在学校的学术学习，并在成年后成功过渡到就业和社会。然而，阅读水平存在巨大的个体差异，许多人成年后仍在努力学习这一基本技能（经合组织，2016）。我的长期NSERC资助的研究计划的愿景是确定机制，设置儿童的轨道上熟练的阅读，使这一科学知识可以转化为方法，帮助儿童获得阅读技能，他们需要充分参与社会作为成年人。 在这个为期5年的研究计划中，我将确定孩子们如何建立他们需要的大型和强大的心理词库，以便有效地阅读。这些表示需要包括每个单词的声音，拼写和含义。例如，孩子们需要将awry等新词的拼写与其含义联系起来，以便在他们的阅读中发挥作用。我的研究认为，阅读本身是儿童接触新单词的主要方式。平均而言，儿童书籍中每1000个单词中包含约30个罕见单词，远远超过对儿童所说的语言。这意味着孩子们可以通过阅读学习很多新单词，无论是当别人给他们读的时候，还是当孩子们自己读的时候。对这两种情况的研究（即，共享和独立的阅读）分别发生，在科学知识方面留下了巨大的空白。在一系列的研究中，我将确定孩子们在这些不同的语境中对单词的拼写和含义有何了解。 在一项顶点研究中，我将评估儿童的单词学习如何决定他们学习阅读的进展。这将直接影响理论。阅读发展模型预测了一段时间内的进展，需要在纵向设计中进行测试;这些需要测试效果的方向。我的团队将进行这项急需的研究，将学习跨背景和时间段联系起来。这将提供数据，以确定早期学习的哪些方面使儿童在阅读发展方面取得长足进步，确定熟练阅读发展的基础机制。 我的研究计划将创建一个集成和全面的知识，将建立研究岛屿之间的桥梁。这一雄心勃勃的研究结果将通过充分整合儿童在不同背景和发展阶段的学习来实现突破性的进步。从长远来看，这项研究将创造令人难以置信的社会价值，通过创建优化教学所需的证据基础，使所有儿童都能获得强大的阅读技能，他们需要充分参与社会作为成年人。

Learning to read is an incredibly complex cognitive task, drawing on fundamental learning, memory and language processes. Reading is also an incredibly important skill. It supports academic learning in the school years, and successful transition into employment and society in adulthood. And yet, there are vast individual differences in reading levels, with many individuals continuing to struggle with this essential skill as adults (OECD, 2016). My vision for my long-standing NSERC-funded research program is to identify mechanisms that set children on trajectories towards skilled reading-so that this scientific knowledge can be translated into approaches that help children acquire the reading skills they need to fully engage in society as adults.    In this 5-year program of research, I will determine how children set up the large and strong mental word bank they need in order to read efficiently. These representations need to include each word's sound, spelling and meaning. As an example, children need to have the spelling for a new word like awry connected to its meaning for it to be useful in their reading. My research takes on the fact that reading itself is the primary means through which children encounter new words. On average, children's books contain ~30 rare words in every 1000 words, far more than in the language spoken to children. This means that children can learn a lot of new words through reading, both when others read to them and when children read on their own. Research on these two contexts (i.e., shared and independent reading) has occurred separately, leaving large gaps in scientific  knowledge. In a series of studies, I will determine what children learn about the spellings and meanings of words in these different contexts.    In a capstone study, I will evaluate how children's learning of words determines their progress in learning to read. This will directly inform theories. Models of reading development make predictions about progress over time that need to be tested in a longitudinal design; these are needed to test the direction of effects. My team will conduct this much-needed study linking learning across contexts and time periods. This will provide the data to determine which aspects of early learning enable children to make strong strides in reading development, identifying mechanisms that underlie the development of skilled reading.    My research program will create an integrated and comprehensive set of knowledge that will build bridges between islands of research. Findings from this ambitious set of studies will enable ground-breaking advances by fully incorporating children's learning across contexts and developmental periods. In the long-term, this research will create incredible societal value by creating the evidence base needed to optimize instruction, so that all children can achieve the strong reading skills they need to fully participate in society as adults.