A brief history and futuristic projection of children's readers. (Author)

Discusses what studies of i.t.a. throughout the past eleven years have revealed for teachers and researchers in the field of reading. (TO)

This pamphlet deals with the principle of systematizing traditional orthography (TO) to produce initial teaching media and the application of that principle in Initial Teaching Alphabet (i.t.a.). Part 1 discusses: three causes of failure in literacy, the need for systematizing TO for the better learning of literacy, TO research with infants,…

From among the papers the author has presented at various conferences and the articles she has written for different journals, nine were selected to form this book. They are all concerned with beginning reading, and each forms a chapter of the book. Chapter one, "Approaches to Beginning Reading in Great Britain," discusses background…

Teachers, principals, and other administrators who are considering the adoption of i.t.a. for language arts in the primary grades need objective information about its advantages and its disadvantages. The purpose of this paper is to provide a list of the disadvantages which may be inherent in the adoption of i.t.a. The disadvantages of i.t.a. may…

This is a booklet in the Project IDEALS series which deals with the teaching of reading skills. It generally describes what reading is and what the basic principles of a reading program are. Various methods and approaches to teaching reading are listed; they are the language experience approach, phonic methods, the linguistics approach, programmed…

While it is appreciated that research on many of the details of early language learning is still required, one of the main themes of this paper is that solutions to the major problems of beginning reading are already known. In general, there has been a sufficiency of research, and what is now needed is action to implement the results already…

To test the effects of teaching inner-city black children to read in kindergarten and first grade through the initial teaching alphabet, i.t.a. and traditional orthography (TO) groups were compared on their comprehension of single words, short sentences, and related skills. At the first grade level, reading, writing, and oral language skills were…

Selected research studies dealing with linguistics and reading are reviewed under the following headings: (1) claims by linguists, (2) research on phoneme-grapheme correspondences, (3) research comparing linguistic approaches with basal reader approaches, (4) modified alphabets, and (5) syntax studies. It is concluded that the missing dimension in…

Recent approaches and techniques of teaching reading are surveyed in this monograph in a series of the United Kingdom Reading Association. Books, kits, programed learning packages, and reading hardware such as tapes, typewriters, and films are described and evaluated for their usefulness to the classroom teacher. Four major philosophies of reading…

The conclusions and recommendations drawn from a 7-year study of the Initial Teaching Alphabet (i/t/a) made by the Reading Research Unit of London University are reported. The British research showed conclusively that traditional orthography (TO) is a major handicap for teachers and students of reading. Students taught with i/t/a made…

Twelve recent developments concerning i.t.a. were discussed. They include the following: the recent publication of reports about i.t.a.; the debate in the House of Commons on the Schools Council Report and the distribution of copies of the Hansard reprint of the debate; sizable new financial aid; new members joining the i.t.a. Foundation; recent…

A series of lessons designed to explain what the Initial Teaching Alphabet (i.t.a.) is and to prepare prospective teachers of i.t.a. materials and methods as thoroughly as possible is presented. The eight lessons of the course, for each of which a separate booklet is provided, include the following: (1) The difficulties of traditional orthography…