The Language Literacy Network (Wasowicz, 2021; 2024) showcases the critical components of literacy and illustrates how spoken and written language processes integrate to support proficient reading and writing. Grounded in over 30 years of neural-imaging and behavioral research, the Language Literacy Network highlights the complex interaction of language processes involved in discourse-level reading comprehension, expressive writing, word-level decoding, encoding, and the automatic recognition and production of written words. It emphasizes the inseparable link between spoken and written language and the reciprocal relationship between reading and writing, particularly in the transfer of skills between decoding and spelling.
The Language Literacy Network infographic (Wasowicz, 2021; 2024) builds on the scholarly foundation of the Reading Rope, originally hand-drawn in 1992 and later published in 2001. Like the Reading Rope, the Language Literacy Network is grounded in a fundamental body of research that has remained robust over time. However, the Language Literacy Network advances this understanding by incorporating research from the past 30 years, expanding on, and in some cases modifying, the insights Dr. Hollis Scarborough first outlined in her “literature review” Reading Rope to reflect current research findings. Learn More.
The Language Literacy Network is featured in Seamer, J. (2025). Making stronger learning gains with integrated reading and writing instruction. Learning Disabilities Australia Bulletin, 57(1). https://ldaustralia.org/publication_category/lda-bulletin/
The Language Literacy Network has been adopted by the Illinois State Board of Education as part of its Comprehensive Literacy Plan.
The Language Literacy Network
Cite as follows: Wasowicz, J. (2024). The Language Literacy Network. SPELL-Links | Language Literacy Link’d, LLC,
www.spell-links.com.
Red linguistica de alfabetizacion
Cite as follows: Wasowicz, J. (2024). The Language Literacy Network translated into Spanish. SPELL-Links | Language Literacy Link’d, LLC,
www.spell-links.com.
Get the Language Literacy Network infographics and more! Join Dr. Jan Wasowicz, author of the Language Literacy Network, for an in-depth, guided exploration of its interconnected components and how it compares to—and differs from—the Reading Rope. Discover practical implications of the Language Literacy Network, including the advantages of a speech-to-print approach to literacy and why effective instruction must address both reading and spelling of words. Leave with a clearer understanding, practical insights, and a framework you can immediately apply to your instruction. Two recorded webinars plus standard size and poster-sized PDFs of the Language Literacy Network infographic (in English and in Spanish) are included!
The Language Literacy Network was originally published on the SPELLTalk listserv in 2021. Minor updates were made in 2024.
Please cite the original version as follows:
Wasowicz, J. (2021, December 9). Re: The Language Literacy Network: Move over Reading Rope, make room for your better half…! [Electronic mailing list message]. SPELLTalk Listserv.