Discusses the positive effects that can be gained from using the initial teaching alphabet in beginning reading instruction. (RB)

THE NATURE, FUNCTIONS, AND TRANSITIONAL STAGE OF THE INITIAL TEACHING ALPHABET (I.T.A.) IN BEGINNING READING IN THE UNITED STATES ARE DISCUSSED. THE MEDIUM, I.T.A., WAS ORIGINALLY CONCEIVED AS A TRANSITIONAL ALPHABET, OF WHICH SPELLING IS AN INTEGRAL PART. THE MEDIUM IS DESIGNED TO RATIONALIZE THE DECODING PROCESS AND AT THE SAME TIME PROVIDE A…

A case against using traditional orthography (T.O.) as a learning medium and in favor of using the Initial Teaching Alphabet (i.t.a.) is presented. The following points were noted: (1) Most children are taught to read as we and our ancestors before us were by an alphabet which is at least 1,000 years old and took its form from the convenience and…

The advantages of teaching beginning reading with the use of the Initial Teaching Alphabet (i.t.a.) and some of the questions which are raised pertaining to its use are discussed. The difficulties which many children experience in learning to read with traditional orthography (T.O.) are pointed out. These include the variety of patterns for any…

The British experiment with the Initial Teaching Alphabet was in its third year at the time of this report on the effectiveness of i.t.a. as a beginning reading program. Two groups of students were compared; one that started learning to read with i.t.a. and one that started with t.o. (traditional orthography). Reading and spelling tests were…

This paper considers the Initial Teaching Alphabet (ITA), long out of use in the United States. It was developed by Sir James Pittman in England in 1959 as a plan of reading instruction with a simplified phoneme-grapheme correspondence that stressed consistency between symbol and sound. The paper lists the advantages and disadvantages of the ITA…

In assessing the effectiveness of the initial teaching alphabet, a survey included the professional opinions of British teachers who have used i.t.a. and a searching critical analysis of the published experimental research on i.t.a. (Author/RK)

The purpose of this project was to test the effectiveness of i.t.a. in teaching reading to first grade students in the Portland Public Schools. Some of the elements of the experimental design included the following: one experimental--i.t.a.--and one control--traditional orthography (TO)--class was formed in each of ten schools; teachers and…

To investigate the effect of the Initial Teaching Alphabet (ITA) on spelling proficiency, a study was devised whereby seventh grade students who had been taught reading in the first and second grade using ITA were compared with students who had been taught in the traditional manner. Each group of students was tested on the spelling sections of two…