three-cueing systems

The three-cueing system is a reading strategy that encourages learners to use three types of clues—visual (looking at the word’s shape and spelling), contextual (understanding the meaning from the sentence or story), and phonetic (sounding out words based on letter sounds)—to recognize and decode words. Although it aims to support reading development, critics argue that over-reliance on these cues can hinder the development of fluent, automatic word recognition. Effective reading instruction balances cueing strategies with phonics and comprehension skills to help learners become confident and independent readers.