Word Recognition: A Task-based Definition for Testing and Teaching.
S. Vanost Wulz, John H. Hollis · The Reading Teacher · 1979
APRIME difficulty in both test ing and teaching compo nents of comprehension is that titles given to components rarely indicate actual skill being dealt with (Lennon 1962). In good part this is due to a lack of consensus on definitions. Word recognition, for example, is defined by Johnson and Kress (1974) merely as reading words aloud, whereas Arnold and Miller (1976) include meaning clues, visual analysis, structural analysis, phonics, and dictionary skills, all under rubric of word recognition. Bormuth (1974, p. 242) has stated, Probably source of this dismal situation is fact that comprehen sion is presently defined almost solely in terms of mental processes. However, comprehension cannot be said to exist apart from tasks by which it is measured. As Tuinman (1972, p. 358) states, the degree to which one comprehends must always be expressed in terms of behavior accepted as a demonstration of that comprehension. There are several advantages to defining a skill by tasks with which it is tested rather than sub