Print Learning: A Theoretical Framework for the Role of Children's Learning about the Orthography in the Development of Reading Skill

All dominant models of reading development ascribe a central role to learning about the orthography in reading acquisition, particularly as children transition to fluent word reading (e.g., Ehri, 2014; Share, 1995). And yet, we know far less about the contributions to word reading development of children's learning about the orthographic form of language than about its phonological dimensions. Through a focused review, we put forward a new conceptualization about the role of learning about the orthography in reading development. This new theoretical framework defines a broader conceptual and developmental scope of print learning, and it predicts bidirectional relations between print learning and word reading development. This theoretical framework both encompasses and expands traditional views on the role of learning about the orthography in reading development. We hope that this framework will both unify and guide theoretical conceptualizing and empirical research.