Gough and Tunmer (1986) identified the two most important areas that result in reading comprehension in their Simple View of Reading Model: the ability to decode the words and comprehend the language of the text. Decoding or word recognition refers to the accuracy and automaticity with which the words are read and is the foundation for reading comprehension. Language Comprehension is the ability to understand spoken language through the use of various linguistic processes (Moats & Tolman, 2019).

Both decoding and language comprehension abilities are necessary for reading and both must be strong. Strength in one area cannot compensate for a deficit in the other area.