When a student's reading task becomes automatic, it is classified as what?

When a student's reading task becomes automatic, it is classified as a skill. Skills are defined as the abilities acquired through practice that allow individuals to perform tasks easily and efficiently. In reading, once a student has practiced and internalized the processes of decoding, fluency, and comprehension to the point where these tasks can be executed without conscious effort, reading becomes an automatic skill.

This automaticity enhances reading fluency, enabling the reader to focus on understanding the text rather than struggling with the mechanics of reading. The transition from effortful reading to automatic reading signifies mastery and supports the development of higher-level comprehension and critical thinking about the material being read.

In contrast, strategies, techniques, and concepts do not refer to the automatic execution of tasks. Strategies involve intentional methods to approach learning, such as specific ways to tackle comprehension questions. Techniques are often tools or approaches that can enhance performance but do not imply the same level of automaticity. Concepts relate to ideas or principles underlying a subject matter but do not encompass the application of reading skills in an automatic format. Hence, the classification of an automatic reading task as a skill is fitting and aligns with its definition in the context of literacy development.