Nearly all reading problems are due to recognizing words or comprehending language (Daneman, 1991). The idea that reading consists of only two components, word recognition and language comprehension, has been called the ‘simple view of reading’ (Gough & Tunmer, 1986; Hoover & Gough, 1990). The simple view of reading does not hold that word recognition or language comprehension are simple themselves. Nor is the simple view model concerned with the determinants of individual differences in these abilities. The claim of this model is that only word recognition and language comprehension are necessary for reading success, neither being sufficient by itself.