This collection of 29 succinct information articles discusses issues relating to language arts, including whole language, phonics, student evaluation, spelling, and censorship. Some of the authors contributing to the collection are Ken Goodman, Yetta Goodman, Jerome Harste, Patrick Shannon, and Constance Weaver. Titles of articles are:…

A study examined two 1989 basal reading series' (published by McGraw Hill and Holt) readiness/priming sequences in order to ascertain the theoretical bases of each and then compared the findings with those of an earlier study. All pages of the readiness/priming sequence student texts and workbooks of both basal reading series were analyzed using…

This transcript of and guide to a two-cassette course designed to assist Indian immigrants in erasure of their foreign accents can be used for either individual or group study. Narrative and taped demonstrations of American English that pinpoint typical phonological barriers and pronunciation difficulties are outlined. The author's own system of…

This transcript of and guide to a two-cassette course designed to assist Iranian immigrant speakers of Farsi in erasure of their foreign accents can be used for either individual or group study. Narrative and taped demonstrations of American English that pinpoint typical phonological barriers and pronunciation difficulties are outlined. The…

A study examined the usefulness of two rules of syllabification: (1) if the first vowel or vowel digraph in a word is followed by two consonants that are not parts of a consonant digraph, the first syllable ends with the first of the two consonants, such as, nor-mal; and (2) if the first vowel or vowel digraph in a word is followed by a single…

A study evaluated the phonics performance of skilled adult readers using the D. Durkin phonics test, which was also used in 1984 to measure the phonics ability of children. The test, which was given to 25 college juniors and seniors, consisted of 29 regularly spelled pseudo or nonsense words to be pronounced aloud by the subjects. Results…

Investigating how good and poor readers process words, a study examined the spelling and reading processes of 80 middle-class first grade students from three schools in Houston, Texas, 40 who were receiving whole word instruction, and 40 receiving phonics instruction. Based on scores from the Gates-McGinitie Reading Test, Basic R (administered in…

Part of the first book series of "Ch'al," the word workbook written in the Navajo language provides supplementary activities to the reading program. Illustrations are in reference to the 11 sound/symbol associations in the Navajo language introduced in the reader-workbook. Illustrated objects are captioned in the Navajo language using…

The student's reader-workbook accompanies the teacher's guide to "Nashdoi." Organized in the same format as the "Ch'al" and "Chaa" books, "Nashdoi" builds on the vocabulary introduced in those first two readers in the series. The reader-workbook introduces the consonant "x," 14 new vowel environments, 6 new diphthong environments, and 102 new…

A study was conducted to determine if verbs were learned as easily as other words by primary school children. One hundred eight kindergarten children were divided into high, medium, and low I.Q. ranges and each range group was further divided--one group for each of three testing methods at each intelligence level. A list of words including 25…

The report drawn from the first annual conference that was designed to provide professional dialogue for those interested in the improvement of college reading programs, this volume contains seven papers that deal with the following topics: the role of literary criticism and rhetoric in developing new models of reading comprehension, a pilot…

PHONICS INSTRUCTION IS A BASIC SUBJECT IN THE PRIMARY SCHOOL CURRICULUM. THE HARVARD-BOSTON SUMMER PROGRAM BEGINS WITH A DIAGNOSTIC TEST TO DETERMINE JUST WHAT SKILLS SHOULD BE TAUGHT. THE PROGRAM IS BASED ON THE CONCEPT THAT PHONICS IS THE SPOKEN WORD, THUS IT IS SUGGESTED THAT A LITERARY APPROACH BE USED IN WHICH THERE ARE A VARIETY OF WRITING…

THE FIRST YEAR OF A 3-YEAR PROJECT ENTITLED "COMPARING READING APPROACHES IN FIRST GRADE TEACHING WITH DISADVANTAGED CHILDREN" (CRAFT) IS REPORTED. CRAFT COMPARES A SKILLS-CENTERED APPROACH WITH A LANGUAGE-EXPERIENCE APPROACH TO TEACHING READING. VARIATIONS OF THE SKILLS-CENTERED APPROACH ARE THE BASAL READER METHOD AND THE PHONOVISUAL…

THE VIEW THAT READING IS A ROTE, AUTOMATIC, CONDITIONED, NONMEANINGFUL PROCESS WHICH PRECEDES (THUS IS SEPARABLE FROM) COMPREHENSION IS CORROBORATED IN A TWO-PART INVESTIGATION. IN PART I, EVIDENCE IS PRESENTED TO SUPPORT THE POSITION THAT READING IS A NONMEANINGFUL PROCESS. IN PART II, A STUDY OF THE EFFICACY OF AN AUDITORY APPROACH TO…

A CONFERENCE WAS HELD TO IMPROVE AND EXPAND A FUSED CURRICULUM IN BEGINNING READING. THE CURRICULUM HAD BEEN DEVELOPED AND TENTATIVELY EVALUATED AS PART OF "PROJECT LITERACY," A BASIC RESEARCH AND CURRICULUM-DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM IN AREAS OF EDUCATION RELEVANT TO THE ACQUISITION OF LITERACY SKILLS. THE FOCUS OF THE CURRICULUM WAS ON A…