The research reported here was designed to examine a number of factors that findings from verbal learning studies indicate should affect the recall and transfer of word identification materials. Sight word and phonics-based or rule-based learning were investigated in 112 kindergarteners who were identified as nonreaders. Groups were trained on…

An intense debate exists around the most beneficial and successful method for teaching young children how to read. On the one side is sight-reading or the look-say method which promotes learning to read by immediate recognition of words learned through "memorization." In contrast to the sight method, the phonics method aims at teaching…

Presents a study where 12 poor readers of first grade were randomly assigned to one of two daily tutoring conditions designed to teach children to read regularly spelled short words by either blending sounds to form words, or cumulative introduction of whole words. Finds no initial difference, but finds different results in delayed posttest one…

The reading profession's current emphasis on whole language may have helped to raise the recurring debate between meaning-based (whole language) and phonics-based (code emphasis) approaches to teaching reading. As some researchers have linked whole language with whole word, phonics advocates have come forth with renewed vigor to offer a series of…

Examines effectiveness of three different reading interventions in reading disabled second and third graders. Compares growth in phonological and orthographic processing and word reading. Finds the most significant mediator of intervention effects was initial differences in phonological and orthographic processing skills. Concludes that synthetic…

This study examined the differences in total number of eye movements, direction of the reading scan, and total scanning time of good and poor second-grade readers who were being taught reading by either the phonics or sight-recognition method. (HOD)

Reports on an investigation of the effects of teaching first grade children two sets of six words by phonics and sight word methods in three instructional conditions with either a selection or production response. (MKM)

Comparison of 80 beginning first graders, half receiving phonics instruction and half receiving whole word instruction, found, for both groups, those above grade level in reading excelled in phonological recoding and application of grapheme-phoneme correspondence rules while those below grade level applied visual-orthographic knowledge more than…

Experiments investigated the learning effects of two strategies (whole-word and segmented feedback) in beginning readers. Results from both experiments indicate whole-word sound feedback is more helpful than segmented feedback. (SM)

Investigates strategies beginners use to learn to read words in a relatively regular writing system, Brazilian Portuguese. Finds strategies used depend on the method of instruction (phonics or whole-word), similar to what happens for children learning to read English. Suggests any differences between children learning to read more or less…

A study was conducted to test the thesis that teaching word recognition skills in a manner compatible with the learner's auditory or visual modality preference would facilitate beginning reading instruction. A group of 62 students in two first grade classrooms was studied; one class stressed the presentation of words as whole units, the other…

A total of 12 kindergarten children participated in a study to determine whether children with auditory learning disability would achieve significantly better scores in reading when taught by the sight method as compared with the phonetic method of instruction and whether such children would exhibit significantly better self-concepts when placed…

This study compared the effectiveness of reading instruction at the onset-rime level, phoneme level, and whole word level with 48 first graders. Both phoneme and onset-rime groups were significantly more accurate than whole word groups, and there was a tendency for the onset-rime group to outperform all other groups. (Author/DB)

To whet the curiosity and interest of teachers who may be frustrated with the reading vocabulary achievement of pupils, an informal study compared Piaget's cognitive development theory, recent brain research, and the reading process, and examined how the theory and research apply to reading instruction. The Gestalt Process Approach to teaching…