This chapter address three pivotal studies in the research on word recognition among early readers. First, Keith Stanovich (1980) presented an interactive-compensatory model which explained individual differences among readers: Contrary to conventional wisdom, skilled readers relied less on context to identify words, and more on bottom-up orthographic processing. His model posed a significant challenge to the theories of Smith (1971, 1973, 1979) and Goodman (1976), which described reading as a "psycholinguistic guessing game" and provided a strong argument for helping readers develop early fluency. Second, Marilyn Jaeger Adams' (1990) book, Beginning Reading, confirmed the critical role of phonics instruction in beginning reading, but went beyond this to call for a balanced approach to reading instruction, in which students learned to decode, but also learned to understand the broader purposes of reading - and developed the motivation to want to read. Finally, David Share (1995)'s piece described the self-teaching hypothesis, in which beginning readers mastered orthographic patterns through a series of successful encounters with them in text. Given the self-teaching process, young readers benefited from occasional encounters with unfamiliar patterns. Taken together, the three pivotal studies highlight the importance of ensuring multiple opportunities to develop word recognition skills as the foundation for fluent, comprehensive reading.
