Letter learning is nuanced, complex, and essential to the development of an effective literacy processing system. Forming and naming letters, rapidly differentiating between visually similar letters, and recognizing their sound correspondences are foundational to becoming a reader and writer. Indeed, control over letters affects monitoring,…

The Initial Teaching Alphabet (i.t.a.) was designed by Sir James Pitman as a reading teaching medium from which immediate and efficient transition may be made to the alphabet of regular English. Questions and answers covered in this booklet provide information concerning its history, effectiveness, methods of use, teaching areas, and relationship…

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…

This study investigated (1) whether symbol-symbol correspondences are learned better when imbedded in whole words or when presented individually and (2) the effect of these two instructional methods on transfer from an experimental transitional writing system (TWS) to traditional orthography (TO). Thirty-five undergraduates were randomly assigned…

BRITISH EXPERIMENTAL USAGE OF INITIAL TEACHING ALPHABET (ITA) MATERIALS AND PROCEDURES FOR INSTRUCTION OF READING DISABILITY CASES WAS STUDIED TO DETERMINE IF ITA METHODS AND MATERIALS COULD BE SIMILARLY USED IN A SAN JOSE READING CLINIC. THE INVESTIGATOR MADE OBSERVATIONS IN ENGLAND OF QUALITY, FORMAT, CONCEPTS, AND USE OF LANGUAGE IN THE ITA…

This book suggests that first graders could express themselves on paper more easily and naturally if they were taught the Initial Teaching Alphabet (i.t.a.). The chapters take up (1) the neglect of writing skills in a reading-oriented nation, (2) a comparison of the writing performance of students who learned the i.t.a. with that of students who…