S10 E7: Syntax and comprehension, with Julie Van Dyke, Ph.D.

Dec 17, 2025

In this conversation, Julie Van Dyke, Ph.D., a research scientist at the University of Connecticut and Yale, delves into the often-ignored importance of syntax in reading comprehension. She explains how syntax influences our understanding of language and why systematic instruction could be a game-changer in literacy education. Julie outlines the brain's statistical learning of syntax and discusses the critical differences between oral and written language. She advocates for explicit syntax teaching as a key method to enhance fluency and comprehension, especially for students with language disorders.

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ANECDOTE

Personal Motivation From Her Daughter's Challenges

Julie A. Van Dyke's daughter has dyslexia and other language challenges, which shaped her focus on literacy research.
That lived experience influenced her drive to connect language science with classroom practice.

INSIGHT

Comprehension Is Real-Time Word Gluing

Comprehension is a fast, moment-by-moment process of gluing words together as you read.
Julie A. Van Dyke explains this process is guided chiefly by syntactic knowledge within ~100 milliseconds.

INSIGHT

Syntax Emerges From Statistical Patterns

Babies and adults learn syntax by tracking statistical regularities in language input.
Van Dyke says those patterns build into syntactic rules like 'determiner followed by noun.'

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In this episode of Science of Reading: The Podcast, Susan Lambert is joined by research scientist and professor Julie Van Dyke, Ph.D., who explains why syntax instruction may be the missing piece in our mission to improve comprehension outcomes for all students. Together, Julie and Susan discuss why syntax is the part of the language system that matters for comprehension, how the same systematicity and rule governance that you find in teaching phonics also exists in syntax, and how explicit syntax instruction could be the next breakthrough in evidence-based literacy education.

Show notes:

Register to join our Science of Comprehension Symposium: amplify.com/comprehensionsymposium
Submit your questions on comprehension!
Connect with Julie Van Dyke on LinkedIn.
Learn more about Julie Van Dyke's research on her website.
Watch an interview about Syntax Comes First: Understanding How Syntax Is the Backbone of Comprehension
Watch Dr. Van Dyke's webinar: Finding the Missing Link in Reading Comprehension.
Access recent Perspectives issues via the IDA.
Listen to Season 2 of Amplify's Beyond My Years podcast.
Join our community Facebook group.
Connect with Susan Lambert.

Quotes:

"In English, syntax is word order. Syntax is the relationship between the entities in a sentence." —Julie Van Dyke, Ph.D.

"If you want to increase comprehension, you need to be explicit in syntax because that's the part of the language system that matters for comprehension." —Julie Van Dyke, Ph.D.

"Comprehension is the glue between the words. It's the process of gluing the words together, each word as you go." —Julie Van Dyke, Ph.D.

Episode Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction: Syntax and comprehension with Julie Van Dyke, Ph.D.
06:00 Nervousness around syntax instruction
11:00 Comprehension is the glue between words
15:00 The difference between grammar and syntax
19:00 How the brain learns language and how syntax is related to that learning
24:00 Oral language is much less complicated than written language
30:00 Explaining regressions
33:00 The need to be explicit in syntax instruction
36:00 How we develop fluency as syntax
44:00 Closing thoughts: Syntax can move the needle on the nation's report card

*Timestamps are approximate, rounded to nearest minute