Examines various explanations for the lack of reading problems in Japan, including the nature of the Japanese written language, the interest of Japanese parents in teaching young children to read, the different perceptual processes involved in reading Japanese, and the quantity of Japanese publications suitable for preschool children. (FL)

Parents are urged to provide a superior education for their preschool children by encouraging the development of the first language in the home and by teaching the young child to read in at least one of his languages before going to school. (PMJ)

Discusses advantages--and a few disadvantages--of using social sight words (such as "sale,""stop," and "exit") in introducing young children to reading; suggests learning activities involving such words. (GT)

Investigated the relationship between oral language and early reading development by administering to 39 children a broad range of oral language, background, and reading ability measures in kindergarten and first and second grade. Overall, semantic abilities, not phonological awareness, predicted second grade reading comprehension. Phonological…

Lists 10 practical suggestions and literature sources for parents to use with their children, including creating a "reading and writing corner," playing word games such as "pictodictionary," taking children to the library, and using magazines and newspapers as sources of learning material. Lists newsletters, brochures, and…

Makes use of natural language of the beginning reader to teach a unit on dinosaurs. Outlines steps in the approach, strategies to heighten awareness and application, questions for encouraging further study, and a webbing technique. (RT)

Reports a longitudinal case study of preschoolers' unprompted questions during story reading with their parents. Reports that children ask more questions about pictures and story meaning than about word meaning and graphic forms. Concludes that home reading may affect comprehension more than print awareness. (RS/JAD)

Describes two models of childrens' literacy acquisition developed by research psychologists. Argues that these models make practical sense by embodying within them the notion that children use a combination of top-down and bottom-up processes to solve the problems of how to read. (RS)

Examines beginning readers' story dictation processes and products over a 16-month period. Investigates level of story structure, conventional expressions, internal responses, spatial-temporal setting, verb tenses, variety of tenses, connectives, anaphora, and dictation process adapting to a scribe. Finds overall development in ability to…

Traces the history of the early reading movement in Italy and relates the experiences of parent-guided reading with preschool children and teacher-guided reading with kindergarten children. Recent studies on early reading and research in the area of early bilingual reading is discussed. (CFM)

Verbal precocity at 20 months of age did not predict children's later precocious reading. Frequency of story reading in the home at 24 months predicted children's language ability at 2.5 and 4.5 years and, along with literacy instruction, predicted knowledge of print conventions at 4.5. (BC)

Examines four college students' descriptions of their early reading experiences and their texts composed in class, to reveal notable parallels between their reading histories and their present writing performances. (SR)

This study compared intellectually superior students (ages 8-9) identified as accelerated readers (n=11) or nonreaders (n=8) at the age of 4 and provided similar types of elementary school basal reading instruction. Accelerated readers scored higher than nonreaders on measures of word attack and dictation, with no differences on word recognition…

The present study examined which measures best identify English-speaking French immersion (FI) students at risk of future reading difficulties in French and English. Using reading scores taken in both languages at the end of Grade 1 and beginning of Grade 2, typical and poor reader groups were identified. Measures taken at the beginning of Grade 1…

There is now a considerable body of research into issues of gender representation in children's literature. This is no doubt partly due to the perceived importance of such representation for children's social and psychological development. In this paper I analyse gender representation in one stage of a reading scheme which is currently popular in…