THE INITIAL PHASE IS TO SEEK THE SYNTACTIC PATTERNS MOST COMMONLY USED IN THE SUBJECTS' VERBAL COMMUNICATION. THESE COMMON PATTERNS ARE REFERRED TO AS STRUCTURAL VOCABULARY. ONCE LEARNED, THESE WORDS PROVIDE SYNTACTIC SUPPORT TO AID THE STUDENT IN THE RECOGNITION OF OTHER WORDS WITHIN SENTENCE ORDER. ADULTS NEED IMMEDIATE CONFIRMATION OF THEIR PROGRESS, AND EVIDENCE OF USEFUL "PAYOFF" IN THEIR LEARNING EFFORTS. THEREFORE, THE INITIAL APPROACH STRESSES READING OF MEANINGFUL LANGUAGE UNITS. FROM THE PRESENTATION OF MANY EXAMPLES OF SIGHT-SOUND CORRESPONDENCES, THE STUDENT IS ABLE TO CONNECT THE CUES WITH NEW WORDS. ADDITIONAL WORDS ARE ADDED TO THE NOUNS INTRODUCED, SUCH AS "THE" AND "IS" AND VARIOUS ADJECTIVES. THE SENTENCES ARE REARRANGED INTO QUESTIONS TO WEAN THE STUDENT GRADUALLY FROM DEPENDENCE ON THE PICTURE. THE PICTURES ARE THEN USED AS GENERAL CUES TO THE MATERIAL BEING READ. DEVELOPMENTAL TESTING HAS SHOWN THAT ACTION VERBS IN ADDITION TO STATE-OF-BEING VERBS CONNECTED WITH INTERESTING PICTURES, ARE NEEDED TO MAINTAIN STUDENT INTERESTS AND MOTIVATION. THE PRESENT VERSION DOES NOT INTRODUCE WRITING SKILLS, BUT LATER UNITS ARE PLANNED THAT WILL INTRODUCE WRITING IN CONJUNCTION WITH NUMBER SKILLS. IN ORDER TO PRESENT THE PROGRAMED MATERIAL, A SYSTEM WAS DEVELOPED WHICH UTILIZES A LITERATE BUT UNTRAINED HELPER WHO READS DIRECTIONS AND GIVE AUDITORY CLUES. AS THE PROGRAM PROGRESSES, THE NEED FOR THE HELPER DECREASES. SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS, SUCH AS A STORY BOOK USING THE VOCABULARY DEVELOPED IN THE FIRST 12 LESSONS, ARE USED TO REVIEW THE BASIC MATERIAL.