We tested the theoretically driven hypotheses that children's orthographic and semantic learning are associated with their word reading and reading comprehension skills, even when orthographic and semantic knowledge are taken into account. A sample of 139 English-speaking Grade 3 children completed a learning task in which they read stories about…

This study tests the recognition of errors in context and whether the presence of errors affects the reader's perception of the writer's ethos. In an experimental, posttest only design, participants were randomly assigned a memo to read in an online survey: one version with errors and one version without. Of the six intentional errors in version…

Adult Basic Education programs are under pressure to develop and deliver instruction that promotes rapid and sustained literacy development. We describe a novel approach to a literacy intervention that focuses on morphemes, which are the smallest meaningful units contained in words. We argue that if you teach learners that big words are comprised…

This study assessed the effect of metacognitive instruction on the spelling and word reading of Hebrew-speaking children with specific language impairment (SLI). Participants were 67 kindergarteners with SLI in a supported learning context. Children were classified into three spelling instruction groups: (a) metalinguistic instruction (ML), (b) ML…

The direct, retention, and transfer effects of repeated word and pseudoword reading were studied in a pretest, training, posttest, retention design. First graders (48 good readers, 47 poor readers) read 25 CVC words and 25 CVC pseudowords in ten repeated word reading sessions, preceded and followed by a transfer task with a different set of items.…

A quasi-experimental study examined effects of a 10-week word structure intervention with fourth-grade students. During daily 10-15-minute practice periods, students worked individually with mobile apps focused on specific aspects of word identification. Pre- and post-treatment assessments showed no differences in rate and accuracy of oral reading…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a multilinguistic intervention to improve reading and spelling in primary grade students who struggle with literacy. Twenty second-grade students with spelling deficits were randomly assigned to receive a multilinguistic intervention with a phonological and orthographic awareness…

The ability to flexibly approach the pronunciation of unknown words, or set "for variability", has been shown to contribute to word recognition skills. However, this is the first study that has attempted to teach students strategies for increasing their set for variability. Beginning readers (N = 15) were instructed to correct oral…

This research investigated the immediate and long-term effects of a Tier 2 intervention for beginning readers identified as having a high probability of reading failure using a randomized control trial. First-grade participants (n = 123) were randomly assigned either to a 25-session intervention targeting key reading components, including…

The purpose of this study was to explore the effectiveness of an Orton-Gillingham-based reading instruction system, the Barton Reading and Spelling System (BRSS; Barton 2000), that was used as a supplemental reading instruction program for increasing the lower-level reading skills of a group of adolescents with persistent reading problems. Nine…

The purpose of this paper is to share the effectiveness of the word study program "Words Their Way" (Bear et. al., 2008) to improve spelling retention of first graders in a regular education classroom in the Spring of 2012. After implementing a traditional spelling program and seeing students continuously spell previous spelling words…

A quasi-experimental action research with a pretest-posttest same subject design was implemented to determine if there is a different effect of the flash card method and the multisensory approach on kindergarteners' achievement in sight word recognition, and which method is more effective if there is any difference. Instrumentation for pretest and…

This article reports the results from a randomized control field trial that investigated the impact of an enhanced decoding and spelling curriculum on the development of adult basic education (ABE) learners' reading skills. Sixteen ABE programs that offered class-based instruction to Low-Intermediate-level learners were randomly assigned to either…

Preschool-aged children (n = 58) were randomly assigned to receive small group instruction in letter names and/or sounds or numbers (treated control). Alphabet instruction followed one of two approaches currently utilized in early childhood classrooms: combined letter name and sound instruction or letter sound only instruction. Thirty-four 15…

A large gap is evident between the reading and related skills performance of Aboriginal students compared with that of their non-indigenous peers and this gap increases over the primary years of schooling. In this study, 34 students attended a tutorial centre in Sydney for older low-progress readers in Years 5 and 6, for two school terms. All…