Prepare for the Reading Specialist 221 Exam. Use flashcards and multiple-choice questions with hints and explanations to enhance your readiness. Ace your test!

Multiple Choice

Which term describes the process of translating written language into verbal speech sounds?

Decoding is the process of translating written language into verbal speech sounds. It involves recognizing letter–sound relationships (grapheme–phoneme correspondences) and sounding out the word, then blending those sounds to pronounce it aloud. For example, when you see a word like “dog,” you map the letters to their sounds and blend them to say the word. This is the foundational skill that turns print into spoken language. Blending is a related step within decoding—specifically, the act of combining the individual sounds to form the spoken word—while extrinsic phonics isn’t a standard term for this process, and a cloze task measures reading comprehension by having you fill in missing words.

Decoding is the process of translating written language into verbal speech sounds. It involves recognizing letter–sound relationships (grapheme–phoneme correspondences) and sounding out the word, then blending those sounds to pronounce it aloud. For example, when you see a word like “dog,” you map the letters to their sounds and blend them to say the word. This is the foundational skill that turns print into spoken language. Blending is a related step within decoding—specifically, the act of combining the individual sounds to form the spoken word—while extrinsic phonics isn’t a standard term for this process, and a cloze task measures reading comprehension by having you fill in missing words.