This study sought to investigate the level of knowledge of language constructs in a cohort of Australian teachers and to examine their self-rated ability and confidence in that knowledge. Seventy-eight teachers from schools across the Australian state of Victoria completed a questionnaire which included items from existing measures, as well as…

Vocabulary knowledge is an important predictor of literacy and broader academic outcomes, and children's literature is a rich source of sophisticated vocabulary. This study investigated the effect of providing instruction in word meanings as an adjunct to story-book read-aloud sessions in Grade One classrooms. The main intervention programme ran…

Teaching literacy requires accurate and current knowledge in the field (Commonwealth of Australia, 2005). There have been persistent inquiries into what constitutes specialist knowledge and skills for teaching students to be literate. Preservice teacher education is fundamental to literacy development, which includes the approaches universities…

Reports the findings of a study that sought (1) to confirm for Australian children the pattern of print concept acquisition noted in North America and New Zealand and (2) to determine whether children of varying reading proficiency can be differentiated in terms of their print concepts. (FL)

This paper discusses the teaching of reading and writing, especially in the early years. The paper argues that if educators cut through the detail of much convergent and some discrepant research findings it is possible to uncover an integrated picture of how children's reading and writing skills develop, and how this development can be promoted.…

Australia and New Zealand have a literacy rate of 99% (Human Development Index). Each country has a national curriculum where early literacy is the main emphasis. The author visited public schools in Australia and New Zealand to observe teaching methods utilized in teaching reading and writing. Some impressions were noted while observing in these…

Sometimes the first step towards making a new (mathematics) game is discovering an unexpected possibility in some hitherto unplayed-with piece of equipment. At other times the first step is inventing new equipment. But rarely is any "new" idea for a game wholly original, either as a way of playing a game, or in its equipment. As…

This pilot study investigated the efficacy of "Phonics Alive 2: The Sound Blender", a computer-based phonological skills training program, delivered with both at-home and at-school components over a 10-week period, as a potential treatment of phonological dyslexia. Participants were 20 dyslexic primary students with an average delay of…

Increasingly, reading proficiency is being measured in terms of outcomes based data. This drive for accountability supports the growth of National Profiles, Literacy Benchmarks, and statewide assessments such as the Diagnostic Net, which record the numbers of students who fail to make the grade. In the face of widespread concerns about perceived…

A study found that all regular and reading recovery students (n=150) participating in a code-oriented program, Schoolwide Early Learning and Literacy (SWELL), significantly outperformed counterparts (n=163) on tests measuring pseudoword decoding, reading connected text, invented spelling, and a standardized reading measure at the end of Year 1.…

Examines the use of repeated readings--children "reading along" with an adult--as a method of improving reading skills. Asserts that repeated readings by children with the voice support of a teacher/parent is an effective way to facilitate reading development. (MM)

Evaluates the intelligibility of computer speech (Supertalker, Codec) by having 47 Australian children, ages six-seven, identify speech sounds in isolation, as initial sound in words, and as final sounds in words. Since Codec more closely approximates normal speech, it is recommended for computer-assisted instruction with beginning readers.…

In the state of Victoria, Australia, a rigorous program to eradicate failure in early literacy is based on expectations of success for all students, detailed records of student needs and progress, extensive teacher training and ongoing support, individualized instruction and active intervention for students who are not making progress, and links…

This research draws upon both a preliminary study conducted over a 3-year period, in which a group of 15 children was tracked through the first 3 years of school, as well as works-in-progress. The particular concern of this research is the accessibility of the complex organization of reading instruction to young readers, realized by explicit and…

This study examined, through classroom observations and teacher surveys, the instructional beliefs and practices in reading of second- and third-grade teachers in selected schools in the United States and Australia. Australian participants consisted of 16 second-grade and 11 third-grade teachers in New South Wales; American participants were 17…