The educational and linguistic rationales for designing an adult English-as-a-Second-Language literacy program based on phonics are discussed, with specific reference to an Ibibio adult literacy program in Nigeria. An introductory section gives an overview of Nigerian policy and practice concerning literacy education. Next, the phonics approach to…

This handbook is intended to introduce tutors to literacy work with students for whom English is a second language (ESL). The first part deals with the following aspects of literacy and speakers of English as a second language: the role of literacy in second language work, some factors that affect learning, steps in negotiating a curriculum,…

Because of concern about the harmful effects of placing children in low reading groups, this study tested the following "sacred cows" in reading: (1) the use of informal reading inventories for grouping children in reading instruction, (2) the homogeneous grouping practices currently utilized in most classrooms in the United States, (3)…

The development of strong reading competencies in educationally at-risk preschoolers in the Early Childhood Day Care Center (University of Alabama) was established through intensive training with a synthetic phonics approach. Subjects' reading performance was assessed on the basis of criterion-referenced tests and standardized reading tests,…

A naturalistic study of two bilingual first grade classrooms was conducted to gain an increased understanding of the cultural literacy instruction beliefs in society and to better understand the process by which literacy instruction beliefs influence the classroom. One Anglo and one Hispanic teacher working in different midwestern school systems…

Intended for use by adult basic education (ABE) instructors who are organizing or reorganizing their reading programs for individualized instruction, this guide outlines the ABE Reading Sequential Competency System (SCS). The main benefits of this particular system for reading are that it delineates a sequence of reading skills, allows the…

The Auditory Discrimination in Depth (A.D.D.) Program suggests that there is a direct relationship between auditory discrimination or auditory perceptual ability and the development of competency in language and literacy skills. (Auditory perceptual ability is defined as the ability to discriminate individual phonemes and to track their changing…

This study describes a program designed to improve student reading fluency. The targeted population consisted of first and third grade students in a growing urban community in the Midwest. Evidence for the existence of the problem included standardized test scores and independent computer reports that measured academic achievement, phonic…

This guide shows parents how to combine story reading, phonics, and writing to help their children develop into skilled and motivated readers. The guide discusses how to prepare children for reading success; how to use children's literature to promote learning and enjoyment; why combining book experiences and phonics is better than using either…

Published originally in 1952, the bulletin "How Children Learn to Read" was the first in a series designed to illustrate the philosophy and principles set forth in The Place of Subjects in the Curriculum, Bulletin 1949, No. 12. It was planned to describe as simply as possible, especially for inexperienced teachers and for parents, the process of…

This "Research" section contains three articles. "Pedagogy" discusses the need for explicit phonics instruction combined with whole language as the most effective way to teach beginning readers. "Practice" describes a first-grade whole language reading class which incorporates phonics. "Findings" reviews briefly three studies on mixed-age…

Describes the following teaching ideas: note writing; books supplementing a unit on measuring; parents' activities calendars; quick phonics inventory; map reading; language experience chart stories; predicting activities with titles; summer mail for learning disabled students; role playing; teaching guides for novels; sentence transformation; and…

Describes how science activities are integrated with reading and writing activities to teach reading to inner-city first graders in Portland, Oregon. Both explicit phonics and whole-language instruction are used, along with pocket charts, poetry, small-group instruction, leveled books, running records, jump-rope rhymes, and story writing. (SAS)

This book presents state-of-the-science research on the components of successful literacy learning and how to target them in contemporary classrooms. The volume builds on and extends the work of Steven Stahl, whose pioneering contributions encompassed the key areas of phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, comprehension, and assessment.…

This curriculum guide offers suggestions for reading improvement for grades K-12. Following an introduction and statement of philosophy, a section on the theoretical and research basis of the program outlines recommendations from the National Academy of Education's Commission on Education and Public Policy's "Becoming a Nation of…