An ongoing debate in phonology concerns the extent to which the phonological typology is shaped by synchronic learning biases. The two best-studied types of synchronic bias are complexity bias, a bias against formally complex patterns, and substantive bias, a bias against phonetically unnatural patterns. While most previous work has focused on…

Over the years, persistently low achievement levels have led scholars to question whether reading skill development is different for deaf readers. Research findings suggest that in order for deaf students to become proficient readers, they must master the same fundamental abilities that are well established for hearing learners, regardless of the…

Many out-of-school time (OST) sites are incorporating literacy time in their programming to capitalize on the benefits associated with literacy instruction. Afterschool is a perfect opportunity to foster a love of reading in children. Expanded learning in afterschool programs can make a difference in both short-term and long-term academic…

This study addressed two areas of inquiry: 1) the influence of enlisting three underlying cognitive learning processes (CLPs) in alphabet learning, and 2) order effects for letter name and letter sound instruction. Alphabet instruction was designed to enlist Paired Associate Learning (PAL) only, PAL plus Orthographic Learning (OL), or PAL plus…

Using the artificial language paradigm, we studied the acquisition of morphophonemic alternations with exceptions by 160 German adult learners. We tested the acquisition of two types of alternations in two regularity conditions while additionally varying length of training. In the first alternation, a vowel harmony, backness of the stem vowel…

In many U.S. states, legislation seeks to define effective instruction for beginning readers, creating an urgent need to turn to scholars who are knowledgeable about ongoing reading research. This mixed-methods study considers the extent to which recognized literacy experts agreed with recommendations about instruction that were included on a…

Rhymes and poems can be a natural starting point for young children as they experience the world and learn to understand spoken, written, and visual languages. Poetry contains highly patterned, predictable language that has unique potential to promote memorable and pleasurable experiences in preschool, kindergarten, and primary classrooms. As…

This study examined the effects of a 10 week invented writing program with five-year-old preschoolers (mean age 5.7 years) on their immediate post intervention literacy skills and also the facilitative effects of the intervention on the subsequent learning to read during the first 6 months of schooling. The study included 105 children (54 girls)…

Knowledge of letter-sound correspondences underpins successful reading acquisition, and yet little is known about how young children acquire this knowledge and what prior information they bring to the learning process. In this study, we used an experimental training design to examine whether either prior letter awareness or prior phonemic…

Two studies were conducted to evaluate the extent to which visual discrimination (VisD) skills play a role in developing letter identification abilities, which are essential in learning to read. Results from a correlational analysis of 73 4- and 5-year-olds revealed a significant association between VisD and letter identification abilities, which…

Increasingly, music teachers are required to assist, tutor, or teach reading skills in the music classroom. In the effort to meet such mandates, music teachers may be challenged to either relinquish valuable music instruction time or attempt to combine instructional strategies of both music and reading into singular lessons, units, and classroom…

Minimal research has been conducted on the simultaneous influence of multiple metalinguistic, linguistic, and processing skills that may impact literacy development in children who are in the process of learning to read and write. In this study, we assessed the phonemic awareness, morphological awareness, orthographic awareness, receptive…

In the wake of "No Child Left Behind Act" (U.S. Department of Education, 2006), educational reforms focused on providing students with effective systematic instruction in reading skills have become a nationwide concern. Report findings from the National Reading Panel (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 2000),…

A literate child is one who is able to read, write, speak and listen. Literacy begins at birth, and continues steadily as children develop. The explicit processes that form emergent literacy are for example, phonemic awareness, letter and word recognition, vocabulary enrichment and structural analysis. These literacy practices are well documented…

This research applies Socio-Cultural theory and Distributed Cognition/Activity theory to conceptualize the design of collaborative learning activities in large shared digital spaces. The paper begins by providing a summary of previous work in the creation of a technology platform for large shared digital spaces. It then details how Socio-Cultural…