The aim of this study was to understand the relationship between children's knowledge of letter-sound rules ("grapheme-phoneme knowledge") and their ability to identify separate graphemes (e.g., SH, OI) that comprise words ("grapheme parsing"). We used a single-case study approach with children with phonological dyslexia who…

In three experiments, we examined whether similar principles apply to written and spoken production. Using a blocked cyclic written picture naming paradigm, we replicated the semantic interference effects previously reported in spoken production (Experiment 1). Using a written spelling-to-dictation blocked cyclic naming task, we also demonstrated…

The author reviews theory and research by Ehri and her colleagues to document how a scientific approach has been applied over the years to conduct controlled studies whose findings reveal how beginners learn to read words in and out of text. Words may be read by decoding letters into blended sounds or by predicting words from context, but the way…

The French orthographic code is complex, and its acquisition is laborious (Catach, 2008; Fayol & Jaffré, 2008). Three hypotheses attempt to explain orthographic knowledge acquisition (OKA). For some, exposure to the code leads to OKA through a self-learning process (Share, 2004). For others, OKA benefits from graphophonological processes…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of explicit Direct Instruction to teach letter sound correspondence to students with developmental disabilities. Additionally, this study sought to provide a basis for further research for a population of students with low incidence disabilities who are oftentimes overlooked in the field of…

Purpose: The purposes of this alphabet knowledge (AK) tutorial are to provide (a) a description of its developmental sequence, (b) evidence-based assessment considerations, (c) evidence-based intervention guidance, and (d) a discussion of three service delivery models that speech-language pathologists (SLPs) can use when providing intervention…

We investigated how university students select between alternative spellings of phonemes in written production by asking them to spell nonwords whose final consonants have extended spellings (e.g., ‹ff› for /f/) and simpler spellings (e.g., ‹f› for /f/). Participants' choices of spellings for the final consonant were influenced by whether they…

This study examined the response of two students in the Southwestern United States with autism spectrum disorder and IQ in the intellectual disability range to a comprehensive, text-based reading intervention. The intervention, "Friends on the Block," includes multiple strands of literacy providing explicit instruction in phonics,…

A hallmark of skilled reading is recognizing written words automatically from memory by sight. How beginning readers attain this skill is explained. They must acquire foundational knowledge, including phonemic segmentation, grapheme-phoneme knowledge, decoding, and spelling skills. When these skills are applied, spellings of words become bonded to…

Reading difficulties during childhood often continue during adulthood and result in adverse effects (e.g., unemployment, poverty). A common method to teach early literacy skills is via multisensory instructional programs, which use combinations of mnemonic devices, such as visual, auditory, tactile, and kinesthetic movements. The current…

Sound based sentence method has been used since the 2005-2006 academic year in Turkey. However, criticism of these methods has brought the search for new methods to the agenda. One of these methods is sentence-based sound teaching method, which can be evaluated under the title of mixed methods specific to Turkish language. In the sentence-based…

Two groups of freshman students, enrolled in a Vocabulary I and Reading I courses, participated in the study. Before instruction, both groups took a recognition (vocabulary) and a production (oral reading) pre-test. Comparisons of the pre-test scores showed no significant differences between the experimental and control group in decoding skills…

Students who fail to acquire foundational literacy skills during preschool are more likely to read below grade level average in elementary school and are at a heightened risk for future school failure, poverty, early mortality, and crime. The purpose of this study was to compare the effects and maintenance of and preference for paired kinesthetic…

There is a widespread consensus in the research community that reading instruction in English should first focus on teaching letter (grapheme) to sound (phoneme) correspondences rather than adopt meaning-based reading approaches such as whole language instruction. That is, initial reading instruction should emphasize systematic phonics. In this…

Early identification of learning difficulties is a critical component of the Response to Intervention (RtI) model. In kindergarten, the screening of foundational reading skills can provide a data-based guideline for identifying students requiring a more intensive response-based intervention before starting elementary school. This study examines…