Details study of 45 phonics generalizations written from a spelling perspective, 43 of which met a 75 percent or greater reliability usage level. Discusses a rationale for findings, which differ from past usage studies; instructional implications of the analysis; the movement toward word study; and the importance of teacher knowledge about the…

This study examined the learning of teacher candidates taking a language arts course in a special-educator preparation program and that of the second graders they tutored in a supervised field component of the course. Teacher candidates' knowledge of literacy instruction was assessed using five knowledge tasks; children were assessed on several…

The effect of irregular English orthography (spelling) on foundation literacy, and in particular on alphabetic decoding, is discussed within the context of the orthographic depth hypothesis. A method for circumventing the retarding effects of traditional English orthography, based on the support provided for Chinese pupils learning their…

The teaching of spelling is outlined and discussed in this pamphlet. Three major steps are described: the prewriting stage, teaching the principle of alphabetic writing--the understanding that spelling requires the sequencing of sounds within a word, and teaching the spelling patterns of written English. The pamphlet concludes that two current…

For 60 years, confusion and misinformation have reigned supreme whenever the subject of teaching phonics comes up for discussion. The paper considers various phonics programs, both old and new, and appraises their effectiveness. It also discusses works on phonetics by some well-known researchers and experts in reading, among them Frank Smith,…

The author feels it is psychologically beneficial to permit ghetto children to spell phonetically before teaching them to use standard spellings. (AF)

This booklet presents a simplified and improved method of writing or spelling English, which simply uses the standard 26-letter alphabet to spell words the way they are pronounced. The booklet criticizes the conventional English spelling system as unnecessarily difficult, inconsistent, and illogical and suggests that easy-to-learn "Basic…

Examines research on phoneme-grapheme correspondences in relation to the validity of certain phonic generalizations and concludes with implications for reading and spelling instruction. (JM)

Presents case that English is not as unsystematic as it appears nor is it a severe obstacle to learning for both native and nonnative speakers by describing the ideographic, syllabic, and alphabetic writing systems. Suggests teachers need a greater awareness of the nature of the English writing system and how to teach it. (BK)

Discusses the pros and cons of phonics for spelling. (MP)

Suggests a spelling riddle activity that can stimulate students' awareness of the complexities of English while providing practice in dictionary skills, phonics, and vocabulary development. Presents several examples. (MS)

Describes "Word Building," a system for teaching phonics based on students' natural tendency to seek out pronounceable word parts. Describes how one spelling pattern might be taught in a typical lesson. (SR)

States that in the 1970s, sight words existed in a "topsy-turvy world" in which the variety of definitions was confusing. Suggests that readers recognize sight words as single, holistic units without segmenting and attending to letters one at a time, and without sounding out and blending letters sequentially. Explains the connection…

A total of 46 children in Grades 2 and 3 with low word-level skills were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 groups that received supplemental phonics-based reading instruction. One group received intervention October through March (21.5 hours), and one group served as a control from October through March and later received intervention March through May…