The child's route into reading and what can go wrong

Two strands of linguistic development critically important for successful reading acquisition are outlined. One of these ontogenetic roots concerns phonological development and projects onto word decoding. The other root concerns the development of vocabulary and syntax projecting onto reading comprehension. Language development starts very early in infancy when the child learns to categorize the speech sounds according to the pattern typical of the mother tongue. Equipped with these sound categories the child is ready to learn to understand and to use new words. The precise phonological representation of words will facilitate the important development of phonological awareness. The paper reviews some longitudinal research and training studies indicating the causal direction of the relation between phonological awareness and reading. Preventive implications are pointed out. The preventive power of the second strand of development is discussed with reference to vocabulary exposure in different social environments and to informal early literacy socialization. In particular, the benefits of the prototypical situation of reading aloud to children are discussed. Finally, the complexity of the causal relationships between different aspects of early language development and later reading is pointed out.