Knowing the demands

In a literate society, most people begin interacting with print at an early age and on a constant basis.

Understanding the concepts about print makes the mechanics of reading predictable rather than random. Learners need to know these mechanics (such as which way to follow the print, where a word starts and ends) in order to read.

Once learners have grasped the concepts about print, they can focus on the aspects of texts that carry the meaning, using their knowledge of decoding, vocabulary and comprehension to understand the text.

Knowledge of these conventions or norms is also important in the production of words (writing) as the identifiable building blocks of text (see also ‘Letter formation’).