Building Literacy Knowledge for Education Professionals: Overview: Reading: Word Recognition

"A hallmark of skilled reading is [automatic] word identification." (NAEYC, 1998).

Word recognition refers to the ability of students to develop automaticity when reading isolated words. 'Automaticity' is the accuracy and speed with which students are able to accomplish this task. Automatic word recognition is important because:

How well students recognize known words and are able to decode or figure out unfamiliar words can affect how fluently a student reads, and fluency is a building block of comprehension.. It's important to remember that constructing meaning is the goal of any literacy experience (Cooper, 2000).
Developing strong word recognition skills is also critical for students who, for whatever reason, did not develop strong phonological awareness in early childhood, as they may need to rely more heavily on their vocabulary and less on decoding skills.
In order to recognize words automatically, students needs strong skills in decoding and a developed sight word vocabulary. This section on word recognition includes general information about how to help students develop these skills.