Once they are able to master such sounds, associate them with visual symbols, and tease them out and recombine them to form words, they have overcome the decoding barrier. They need to become adept with syntax or word order, so that they can derive meaning from complex sentences in texts. In third and fourth grade, the language sophistication of reading a book is generally less sophisticated than the language of everyday conversation. In fourth grade such language reaches a higher level, but much of what a child reads confirms what he or she already knew. Even mathematics requires considerable language sophistication, as children need to be able to process verbal explanations of difficult mathematical procedures.
Language also becomes an increasing challenge as students undertake the solution of word problems.
The turbulent flow of language demands clearly takes its toll on children who are verbally vulnerable. Affected students may eventually acquire good decoding skills for reading, but they may encounter difficulty with reading comprehension and, in particular, with the ability to summarize, apply, or remember what they have read. As language demands intensify, they may falter in following directions and assimilating verbal explanations. In the earliest grades, the ability to form one to one associations in memory is critical. First and second graders must associate groups of letters with English language sounds.