Hetty Roessingh does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond ...

Brain words are neural representations of spelling in the reading brain’s word form area. Metaphorically, the word form area is the dictionary in the brain critical for proficient reading and writing.

While the world celebrated International Literacy Day, South Africa faced a harsh reality: 81% of Grade 4 learners reportedly can decode words but cannot read for meaning, according to PIRLS 2021.