Learning to read: Evidence on the distinction between decoding and comprehension skills.

The paper focuses on the importance of distinguishing between decoding and comprehension skills in reading. This distinction can also be applied to the study of precursors of reading and of the first phases of reading acquisition. The reconsideration of a 15-year research program shows evidence and implications of such a dissociation. In particular, the paper reviews psychometric research concerning reading performance in first and second grade, research on precursors of reading, the effects of early programs devoted to develop reading abilities. Decoding and comprehension reading components appear at least partially separated, related to different underlying cognitive abilities, differently sensitive to enrichment programs.