The Decoding Skills Test (DST) was developed to provide a detailed measurement of decoding skills which could be used in research on developmental dyslexia. Another purpose of the test is to provide a diagnostic-prescriptive instrument to be used in the evaluation of, and program planning for, children needing remedial reading. The test is…

The literature dealing with the identification process in beginning reading is surveyed. The first major section presents a review of the basal, Language Experience Approach, Phonic Word Method, linguistic, and i/t/a programs. Questions are raised about the empirical investigation of the subject matter and the instructional procedures used in…

Reversals in poor and normal second-grade readers were studied in relation to their whole phonological error pattern in reading real words and nonsense syllables. Error categories included sequence and orientation reversals, other consonants, vowels, and total error. Reversals occurred in quantity only in poor readers, with large individual…

Concludes that there may be differential effectiveness of method of reading instruction according to sex, with females finding letter training simpler than word training and males finding the reverse. (FL)

Highly skilled and less skilled readers read words and numbers aloud as rapidly as possible. Less skilled readers were slower and less accurate on both tasks showing that the need to encode and process order information may be related to reading disabilities. This hypothesis was tested by using paired-associate learning. (Author/RD)

Reviews the relationship between phonological awareness and early reading. Follow-up data from a group of 38 first-grade children who had low letter-sound knowledge in kindergarten found that those who received phonological awareness intervention in kindergarten performed better than their first-grade peers on word recognition and reading decoding…

Reports on a study of the relationship of both phonemic and musical sound discrimination to reading ability among 18 British first graders. Finds that discrimination of musical sounds is related to music performance but that the influential factor is a specific awareness of pitch changes. (CFR)

Study examined transfer of learners' first language (L1) orthographic processing strategies to second language processing. Two groups learning Japanese, differing by L1 writing system (phonographic vs. morphographic), were tested on ability to represent novel kanji characters in short-term memory. Results indicate learners with a morphographic L1…

Analyzes word recognition instruction in four first-grade classrooms. Finds that: differential instruction may be helpful in first grade; children who enter first grade with low literacy benefit from early and heavy exposure to phonics; and a structured phonics curriculum that includes both onsets and rimes and sounding and blending phonemes…

This report, the summary of a series of conferences on reading research, identifies two main theories about the nature of reading: (1) reading as translation, wherein printed symbols are translated into an approximation of oral language, so that the capabilities for understanding speech can be applied to written language, and (2) reading as an…

The present study employed discrete trial procedures to compare the performance of skilled and less-skilled third and sixth grade readers (N=37) on picture, letter and word naming tasks. It was assumed that if lack of proficiency in reading skill is due to a general name-retrieval deficit, then the skilled readers would be able to name each…

The purpose of this study was to investigate to what extent the knowledge of letter names, letter sounds, or the combination of both facilitates the acquisition of word recognition ability. Forty-eight first graders were pretested and posttested on their knowledge of letter names and sounds, and measures of auditory and visual discrimination…

Three experiments use a tachistoscopic word recognition task to investigate how skilled readers covert visual input into a speech-related or phonological code during reading. (Author/NCR)

Examines the word-reading strategies of a sample of second- and third-grade students in normal classrooms, focusing on the students' relative reliance on decoding versus sight-word associations. Suggests that lack of efficient decoding skills will begin to take a toll on reading comprehension by grade 3. (SR)

A study investigated whether changing the letter composition of the Denckla and Rudel rapid automatized naming (RAN) task influenced task performance and the RAN word identification skill relationships in 383 first graders. Substituting a letter that was visually similar to other letters had the greatest influence on RAN speed and accuracy…