Chall's Stages of Reading Development

5.23.19

According to Jeanne S. Chall, there are six stages of reading development (Stages 0-5). Children as young as six months enter the Stage 0 of reading development by listening to others read stories aloud and being given the opportunity to become familiar with print and writing tools. By the end of this pre-reading or “Pseudo Reading” stage, children pretend to read, retell stories previously read to them, and learn to print their own name. From ages six to seven children are usually in Stage 1, “Initial Reading and Decoding”. 1st and 2nd graders learn the relationship between speech and text, and receive direct instruction in “sounding out” single syllable words. By the end of this stage, students are able to read texts containing phonically regular and high frequency words. During Stage 2, “Confirmation and Fluency” students receive instruction in more advanced decoding skills and are provided with materials that promote fluent reading. Such instruction allows children to read simple, familiar stories with increasing fluency. From 4th grade to the start of high school, students are often in Stage 3, “Reading for the New.” For the first time students read with the purpose of gaining new information. Intermediate and Junior High teachers often empower “Reading for the New” by providing students with textbooks, reference works, trade books, newspapers and magazines. In the final three years of high school, students are expected to read both expository and narrative texts from varying viewpoints. Stage 4 is “Multiple Viewpoints”. It is especially important that children in this phase receive exposure to the sciences, humanities, and high-quality literature. Finally, young and old adults in Stage 5, “Construction and Reconstruction,” read for personal and professional purposes.

It is interesting to note the evolution of the effectiveness of listening comprehension versus reading comprehension. Babies and young children understand stories and thousands of words, but before age six few can read at all. During stages 1 and 2, children learn to read about 600 and 3000 words respectively, but understand several thousand more spoken words. For those strong readers, reading and listening comprehension are nearly equivalent at the start of high school. In Stage 4, reading comprehension usually passes listening comprehension for difficult content and readability. For poor readers however, listening comprehension may remain equivalent to reading comprehension a while longer. By Stage 5, reading is more efficient than listening.