Traditionally, listening had always been considered a skill that was mastered before learning to read. When children consistently listened to the same pronounciation of letters, words, and sentences, they were expected to identify them later and make meaning. For example, when children listen to a story more than once, they are assumed to understand the meaning of it. Therefore, listening was thought to be a skill that naturally developed when spoken or read to. Reading was believed to develop afterwards. Since listening skills were considered to be mastered at a very early age, all the attention was given to the development of reading. The relationship was that of a sequential one, listening followed by reading, with more effort put into the development of the latter.
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Nowadays, questions about the relationship between listening and reading comprehension has led to different conclusions. One view is that both skills should be given equal attention. Neville discovered that poor listening means poor reading and good listening means good reading. Thus, more attention has been given to the development of listening skills.
Chall's (1983) also recognised that listening is a major factor in reading development. In her stages of development: 0 to 3A, listening comprehension is more effective than reading comprehension and reading skills can only be attained through the development of listening.
Therefore, listening cannot be fully mastered early on, before reading. The development of listening skills continues much later in life, contrary to the past accepted wisdom of its early development. .
Reading: .
Reading comprehension is divided into oral and silent reading. Silent reading is preferred over oral reading as a person's reading skills develop. In general, silent reading is better for investigating meaning and oral reading for studying word-identification skills and fluency.
Children whose oral reading is superior to their silent reading abilities are usually comparatively good in word recognition.