This article discusses the current contradictory policies surrounding the push for phonics instruction in Texas schools. Focusing on this current iteration of the reading wars, this article seeks to help teachers develop a historical context for reading instruction, review existing research on learning to read, and turn that knowledge into…

The present exploratory study examined the effect of the implementation of a reading fluency instruction protocol on the reading performance of early first grade students in an urban school. Previous research has tended to examine the effects of fluency instruction after students have achieved some degree of competency in word recognition, usually…

A meta-analysis was conducted to investigate phonology's role in d/Deaf and hard of hearing (d/Dhh) children's development of reading, and their ability to access spoken-language phonology. A systematic search of databases and journals identified 27 studies, 7 of which met the inclusion criteria. The included studies, experimental or…

Two experiments explored rates for introducing grapheme-phoneme correspondences (GPCs) and the types of correspondences taught for optimal alphabet and early literacy skills learning. In both studies, children entered with minimal alphabet knowledge and were randomly assigned within classrooms to one of two treatments delivered individually over…

Although the use of social networks, especially Facebook, has become a common practice among educational communities in Egypt, studies have yet to explore the online practices of in-service (language) teachers as part of Continuing Professional Development (hereafter CPD). Therefore, this study investigated English language teachers' informal…

Learning to read is an expectation rather than an exception in society today. Despite this, some children experience reading difficulties. The purpose of this article is to review recent and seminal research on reading difficulties through the lenses of three perspectives: cognitive, social and cultural and interactive. The three perspectives are…

Recently, there has been debate surrounding the potential implementation of the Phonics Screening Check (PSC) in Australian primary schools. The present study sought to investigate the child- and task-related factors influencing the PSC performances of Year 1 Australian students, who had received almost two years of systematic synthetic phonics…

The Ofsted report entitled Bold Beginnings: the Reception curriculum in a sample of good and outstanding primary schools is part of a research programme aimed at reviewing the primary curriculum and its implementation. Although the report highlights the 'uniqueness' of the Reception year, it also undermines the principles of Early Years Foundation…

The twenty-first century Reading War is, in fact, nothing new, but some of the details are unique to our current culture driven by social media. This volume seeks to examine the current Reading War in the context of the historical recurrence of public and political debates around student reading abilities and achievement. Grounded in a media…

Although language has long been regarded as a primarily arbitrary system, "sound symbolism," or non-arbitrary correspondences between the sound of a word and its meaning, also exists in natural language. Previous research suggests that listeners are sensitive to sound symbolism. However, little is known about the specificity of these…

Complexity of the various needs that come with English language learners (ELLs) beyond language learning (such as learning gaps, social and cultural differences, etc.) and increased numbers of English language learners in Canadian schools have led educational stakeholders to seek ways to promote reading improvement. While literature points out the…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of using the iPad as compared to traditional paper curriculum to teach phonics to young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) ages five to six years old. The study also evaluated whether the iPad can increase academic engagement and decrease challenging behavior while completing literacy…

Purpose: Reading and writing are language-based skills, and effective literacy instruction/intervention practices should include an explicit linguistic focus. A multilinguistic structured literacy approach that integrates morphological awareness is proven beneficial to improve reading and writing for students with language literacy deficits. The…

Foreign language (FL) reading is a persistent problem among many learners. This preliminary study investigates FL reading anxiety among students learning English as a foreign language (EFL) at the tertiary level, employing Saito et al.'s (1999) Foreign Language Reading Anxiety Scale (FLRAS) and a background information questionnaire. A total of…

Current conversations about children's literacy have focused on the need for more phonics and decoding instruction and have sidelined the importance of children's language development, argues George Hruby. Language development involves more than the ability to decode written language. The ability to understand the meaning of those words is also…