According to research on language development, language comprehension becomes more important to reading success at which stage of reading acquisition?

• A. During the initial stage of phonemic awareness
• B. Only after high school
• C. Before children recognize any letters or sounds
• D. When children transition from learning to read to reading to learn

Answer: (D)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Understand the stages of reading acquisition: initially, children focus on phonemic awareness, which involves recognizing and manipulating sounds in spoken language.
2. Recognize that early reading stages emphasize decoding skills, such as letter recognition and phonics, where children learn to connect sounds to letters.
3. Identify the transition stage where children move from 'learning to read' (decoding and basic comprehension) to 'reading to learn' (using reading to acquire new information).
4. Note that at this transition stage, language comprehension becomes crucial because children must understand and interpret the meaning of texts to gain knowledge.
5. Conclude that language comprehension's importance increases significantly when children shift from decoding words to using reading as a tool for learning, which typically occurs after initial reading skills are established.