This paper presents a new theory and model of the teaching of decoding, reading and writing. The first part of the paper reviews a selection of influential models of learning to read and write that to varying degrees have been used as the basis for approaches to teaching, including the "Simple View of Reading." As well as noting some…

This is the second in series of studies designed to test direct and conditional effects of embedded cognitive practice in phonics instruction. Students identified in winter of kindergarten with minimal alphabet knowledge were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: explicit phonics (Plain) (n = 28) or explicit phonics with embedded cognitive…

The development of beginning decoding and encoding skills is influenced by linguistic skills as well as executive functions (EFs). These higher-level cognitive processes include working memory, inhibition, and cognitive flexibility, and individual differences in these EFs have been shown to contribute to early academic learning. The present study…

This paper explores the question of whether the ability to spell depends mainly on visual perception and visual imagery, or on other equally important auditory, cognitive, and motor processes. The writer examines the evidence suggesting that accurate spelling draws on a combination of visual processing, visual memory, phonological awareness,…

Recent neurological breakthroughs in our understanding of the Critical Period Hypothesis and prosody may suggest strategies on how phonics instruction could improve L2 language learning and in particular phoneme/grapheme decoding. We therefore conducted a randomised controlled-trial on the application of prosody and phonics techniques, to improve…

Systematically observing instruction for students with learning disabilities (LD) provides information regarding the quality of school-based interventions, allocation of instructional time, and other implementation variables associated with student outcomes. In this synthesis, observation studies of reading and mathematics instruction from 2000 to…

Bruner's constructs of learning, specifically the structure of learning, spiral curriculum, and discovery learning, in conjunction with the Cognitive Load Theory, are used to evaluate the Picture Word Inductive Model (PWIM), an inquiry-oriented inductive language arts strategy designed to teach K-6 children phonics and spelling. The PWIM reflects…

In this article, the authors state that increases in technological capabilities are enabling more students to complete schoolwork in online learning environments--in addition to and sometimes instead of traditional classrooms. Teachers, parents, and learning coaches who are working with students using these online environments need to know about…

This article discusses how amusing mistakes can make for serious language instruction. The notion that close analysis of language errors can yield insight into how one thinks and learns seems fundamentally obvious. Yet until relatively recently, language errors were primarily treated as indicators of learner deficiency rather than opportunities to…

A phonics lesson with a learning disabled adult is analyzed to illustrate the author's contention that learning and learning dysfunctions cannot be explained primarily in cognitive terms which seek to reduce complex social-psychological interactions to narrow mental explanations. (CL)

Describes experiments that examined the effects of orthographic similarity on lexical decisions and compared decision times to words when they are preceded by unrelated words. Results indicate that lexical decisions about spoken words were shown to be influenced by the spelling of an immediately preceding item. (SED)

Students aged 10-12, with and without learning disabilities, acquired knowledge implicitly about pseudoword pronunciation governed by one of two phonics rules. They were then asked to verbalize explicitly about the acquired knowledge. Students did not differ significantly in implicit knowledge capabilities, but student with and without learning…

This study evaluated an alternative method of identifying early reading difficulty. From a sample of 1st and 2nd grade children, 47 were identified as dually discrepant in reading and compared with 28 children identified as low achieving. Single point measures of fluency and phonological awareness were not sensitive indicators of problems,…

Reports on a study that investigated the ability of second grade students to listen to, infer, and produce the correct pronuciations of high-frequency words in a story-like context. (FL)

Studied was the development of a variety of grammatical-sensitivity and phonological skills in normally achieving, reading-disabled, arithmetic-disabled, and attention deficit disordered children 7 to 14 years old. (PCB)