A study examined th phonics instruction that five basal reader series provide from kindergarten through grade six. The five basal programs (designated as Series A through E) that were examined are both similar and dissimilar in the recommendations they make for phonics. One series covers as many as 129 letter-sound correspondences; another covers…

A study examined the importance of two phonological encoding procedures (addressed phonology and assembled phonology) in children who are learning to read and how the relative importance of these two procedures might change over the age range from six to eight. Subjects, 72 fifth, fourth, and third grade students from two inner London (England)…

The reading research and relevant literature examined in this paper focus on the role that "orthographic regularity" plays in word recognition. Orthographic regularities are those features of printed English words that reduce the uncertainty of what letters might be present. The paper considers three theses: rapid word recognition, which…

Students enrolled in six developmental reading classes offered during a 16-week semester or a 6-week summer session at El Camino College (California) were pre-tested with the California Phonics Survey (form 1) to determine their phonic abilities. Students enrolled in eight concurrent developmental writing classes were similarly tested. Those from…

Examines the Decoding Skills Test (DST), a criterion referenced, diagnostic instrument designed to identify deficiencies in word decoding. (JC)

Focuses on seven errors made by teachers of remedial reading in elementary, middle, and junior high school programs. Suggests corrections and acknowledges teachers who treat reading as a skill that can be learned and refined through reading. (JK)

This thesis examined variations in the word decoding skills of children with reading disabilities. These variations were related to possible cognitive, developmental, and environmental causes of reading disability. Possible implications for educational interventions were also analyzed in the five studies. The thesis critically examines the…

Reviews the relationship between phonological awareness and early reading. Follow-up data from a group of 38 first-grade children who had low letter-sound knowledge in kindergarten found that those who received phonological awareness intervention in kindergarten performed better than their first-grade peers on word recognition and reading decoding…

Argues there is ample evidence of the prime significance and hierarchical character of the print medium, and of an absolute need for individual letter recognition from the outset of instruction. Discusses the role of the alphabet and its relationship to its precursor speech sounds for the developing learner. (RS)

Looks at how "scientifically based" literacy research promoting the direct, explicit, and systematic use of phonics and related word skills in beginning reading instruction is having a massive effect on policy and practice. Examines what this research claims to have found and what it actually shows. Discusses how it harms research,…

A growing research base on adolescent literacy supports an emphasis on direct instruction in the reading and writing skills needed to perform these more complex literacy tasks. However, many middle and high school teachers have little or no preparation for teaching these skills within their content-area disciplines and have few resources upon…

Including revisions and updates in all areas, this book functions as a pre-service and in-service teacher self-instructional manual in word recognition skills. The first part of the book discusses the controversy concerning early phonics instruction versus use of the whole language approach, and then discusses consonants, vowels, reading…

A study evaluated the phonics performance of skilled adult readers using the D. Durkin phonics test, which was also used in 1984 to measure the phonics ability of children. The test, which was given to 25 college juniors and seniors, consisted of 29 regularly spelled pseudo or nonsense words to be pronounced aloud by the subjects. Results…

Investigating how good and poor readers process words, a study examined the spelling and reading processes of 80 middle-class first grade students from three schools in Houston, Texas, 40 who were receiving whole word instruction, and 40 receiving phonics instruction. Based on scores from the Gates-McGinitie Reading Test, Basic R (administered in…

To teach language processing is to teach students how to clarify information in material they are reading or discussing so that they are able to understand, evaluate, learn, store, recall, and use it. The first section of this guide, which is based on the use of the Formula Phonics method, discusses the teaching of language processing in terms of…