Introduction

This chapter is the outcome of my work as a foreign language teacher. Teaching English as a foreign language gives us a unique opportunity to experience once more, although in a different way, our own learning – the journey to the mastery of a foreign language that we began a long time ago and in which we are still participating. Being a teacher also encourages us to observe our students’ learning and explore issues related to foreign language learning.

The chapter focuses on the role of phonology in word recognition in reading. The choice of the topic was deliberate. It was my intention to discuss the issue that would be of interest to the addressee of the book in which this discussion was to be published. I begin with a few reflections concerning my interests in the issue discussed in this chapter. In the next part I explain theoretical perspectives which serve as a framework for the discussion about phonology. This leads to looking at phonological operations in word recognition in L1 and L2/FL reading as well as the role of phonological processing in fluent reading, as presented by the Carver rauding theory (1992).

A Few-Words about My Interests in Reading

As far as I remember, I have been always interested in reading, partly because I simply like reading. I recall my secondary school literature classes and discussions that aimed to answer the “old” question: what did the author of the text want to say?