This research examines the acquisition of letter-position processing. Study 1 investigated letter-position processing in Grades 1-6 and adult readers, using the occurrence of specific error types as the outcome measure. Between Grades 1 and 2, there was a shift from making more other-word to making more letter-position errors. This shift was a…

This paper explores the design, development and evaluation of an early childhood literacy iPad application, focusing on the English Alphabet, called "A to Z Safari" trialled in Australian classrooms. A to Z Safari was designed to assist students in the early years of schooling with learning the alphabet and building on their knowledge of…

Children (5 and 6 years old, n = 30) at familial risk of dyslexia received a home-based intervention that focused on phoneme awareness and letter knowledge in the year prior to formal reading instruction. The children were compared to a no-training at-risk control group (n = 27), which was selected a year earlier. After training, we found a small…

Sometimes the first step towards making a new (mathematics) game is discovering an unexpected possibility in some hitherto unplayed-with piece of equipment. At other times the first step is inventing new equipment. But rarely is any "new" idea for a game wholly original, either as a way of playing a game, or in its equipment. As…

Results of 6 experiments with 109 Australian preschool children favor training in phoneme identity over segmentation as a component of initial reading instruction because it is easier to implement and its relation to alphabetic insight is stronger. Implications for the initial reading curriculum are discussed. (SLD)

A program to teach young children about phonological structure was evaluated with 64 experimental group and 62 control group preschoolers in Australia. Results support the efficacy of the program and the principle that phonological awareness and letter knowledge are necessary but not sufficient for acquisition of the alphabetic principle. (SLD)