During which phase do students start reading for learning rather than learning to read?

The phase when students begin to read for learning rather than merely learning to read is often referred to as "Read for Learning." This phase represents a significant shift in a student's reading development. At this stage, students have generally acquired the basic skills of decoding words and are now using reading as a tool to acquire new knowledge, understand concepts, and engage with complex texts. The focus moves from the mechanics of reading—such as decoding and pronunciation—to comprehension and analysis of information.

In this phase, students utilize their reading skills to explore different subjects and deepen their understanding of various topics, which is essential for academic success. By engaging with texts in a more meaningful way, they actively construct knowledge and become critical thinkers, which is a fundamental goal of reading education.

Other phases, such as the fluency stage, pre-communicative stage, and semi-phonetic stage, focus more on the foundational aspects of reading, such as building fluency, mastering the alphabetic principle, and understanding broader phonetic concepts, rather than applying reading for the purpose of learning.