This study investigated the ability of second-grade children to employ initial and final consonant substitution as a technique in word identification. An instrument of 44 one-syllable simulated words and a measurement to ascertain consonant phoneme knowledge were used to study 90 second-grade pupils, approximately equal in general characteristics. The children were asked to recall a known word visually similar to an unknown word, except for an initial or final consonant, and to pronounce the unknown word by association with the known one. Significant relationships were found in the following cases: (1) between the student's abilities to recall a known word visually similar to the simulated word and to correctly identify the simulated word by means of single consonant substitution, (2) between the abilities to substitute initial consonants and to substitute final consonants, and (3) between reading achievement and ability to employ consonant substitution to identify simulated words. It was concluded that second-grade children can effectively employ single consonant substitution to identify unknown one-syllable words. (LH)