What does the term "decoding" refer to in reading?

The term "decoding" in reading specifically refers to the process of breaking down words into their phonetic components to read them accurately. This involves recognizing the relationship between letters or letter combinations and their corresponding sounds, allowing readers to sound out words. Decoding is a fundamental skill in early literacy development, as it enables individuals to tackle unfamiliar words and pronounce them correctly, which is essential for fluent reading. While understanding meaning, writing based on meanings, and summarizing main ideas are all important aspects of reading comprehension, they do not specifically pertain to the act of decoding words. Thus, the selected answer accurately captures the essence of what decoding involves.