Which stage involves recognizing words by chunks or analogies rather than decoding each letter?

Which stage involves recognizing words by chunks or analogies rather than decoding each letter?

• A. full alphabetic coding
• B. consolidated word recognition
• C. prephonemic spelling
• D. early letter-name spelling

Answer: (B)

In this stage, readers recognize words by chunks, patterns, and analogies to words they already know instead of sounding out each letter individually. They store common letter patterns and whole word units in memory, so familiar words and word parts can be pulled up instantly as they read. This makes reading faster and more automatic because decoding one letter at a time isn’t the main strategy anymore; instead, larger units guide recognition. Earlier stages focus more on learning letter sounds and blending, or on scribbly, letter-name spellings, so they don’t emphasize chunk-based word recognition as this stage does.

In this stage, readers recognize words by chunks, patterns, and analogies to words they already know instead of sounding out each letter individually. They store common letter patterns and whole word units in memory, so familiar words and word parts can be pulled up instantly as they read. This makes reading faster and more automatic because decoding one letter at a time isn’t the main strategy anymore; instead, larger units guide recognition. Earlier stages focus more on learning letter sounds and blending, or on scribbly, letter-name spellings, so they don’t emphasize chunk-based word recognition as this stage does.