In reading, automaticity is the ability to rapidly, effortlessly and accurately recognise or decode words. ‘Expert’ readers are able to decode words with minimal attention to the activity of decoding. There are few words they must sound out or closely examine, and they can instead accurately recognise words on sight.

What is decoding approach?

Decoding is the ability to apply your knowledge of letter-sound relationships, including knowledge of letter patterns, to correctly pronounce written words. Understanding these relationships gives children the ability to recognize familiar words quickly and to figure out words they haven’t seen before.

What is the theory of automaticity in reading?

When applied to reading, automaticity is the ability to look at words and read them aloud without thinking, as we are about to look at in greater depth. All readers start off in the same position: by knowing nothing, or at least very little about letters, words and sentence structure.