Die verband tussen leesbegrip en woordherkenning by primereskoolleerlinge

English: Language consists of spoken or auditive language and visual or written language. The auditive language form can be subdivided further into receptive and expressive components. Reading and written language represent the visual language form. This study focused particularly on reading skill. Reading skill is very important for effective functioning at school. The reading process consists of different phases through which each person goes in order to become an efficient reader. During reading, words must first be recognised (word recognition) and then integrated with the comprehension thereof. Reading comprehension is thus brought about if words are recognised and placed in context. However, word recognition does not necessarily result in reading comprehension. The various techniques for word recognition, vocabulary of recognisable words, concepts, word meanings and reading comprehension are abilities that are not acquired separately. Constant interaction between these skills is necessary in order to ultimately master the reading process and prevent learning problems. It is evident from the previous paragraph that word recognition skill and reading comprehension skill are closely linked. In view of this, the connection between word recognition and reading comprehension was investigated. The ESSI reading and spelling test was used to test the word recognition of the pupils, and the diagnostic reading test was used to test reading comprehension. Both these tests are reliable and valid measuring instruments. The results of this study imply that there is a statistically significant correlation between word recognition and reading comprehension. This means that, if a pupil has poor word recognition skills, the chances are good that he/she will also not have good reading comprehension.