In teaching reading, educators strive to find the balance between a code-emphasis approach and a meaning-oriented literacy approach. However, little is known about how different approaches to literacy can benefit bilingual children's early reading acquisition. To investigate the novel hypothesis that children's age of first bilingual exposure can…

The purpose of this study is to investigate the efficacy of whole language instruction versus phonics instruction for improving reading fluency and spelling accuracy. The participants were the first grade students in the researcher's general education classroom of a non-Title I school. Stratified sampling was used to randomly divide…

Data from two different sites were used to examine how exposure to a highly academic curriculum is related to growth in beginning literacy and early reading skills from kindergarten through the end of third grade. In one site students in one school used the Direct Instruction (DI) program, "Reading Mastery (RM)", from kindergarten…

The purposes of this study are: (1) to investigate students' perceptions of computer-assisted whole language instruction; (2) to examine the effectiveness of whole language instruction on students' reading improvement; and (3) to determine the difference between basic-level and advanced-level students' improvement in reading skills. A total of 212…

This study compared 18 high-ability and average-ability secondary level deaf readers on 5 indicators of cognitive processes used during reading. Results indicated significant differences between groups on measures of fluency. However, intergroup similarities in processes suggest that these components do not determine reading superiority.…

Examines the relation between the development of phonological processing skills and the effectiveness of Reading Recovery (RR) in a whole language instructional context. Finds that: RR and poor reader comparison groups had deficiencies in phonological-processing skills before participation; participation in the program did not reduce these…

A study investigated the decoding automaticity of elementary students when receiving rule-based instruction (as a process of applying syllable and structural analysis rules and limited phonics), and when receiving holistic instruction in a whole language program (exercises in listening, reading and writing, integrated with classroom instruction…

Investigates the reading orientation of teachers who instruct students with special needs by using the Theoretical Orientation in Reading Profile. Finds that teachers in the study were not strongly associated with any one theoretical orientation but tended to be eclectic. Finds also that the teachers clustered primarily into two orientations:…

Examines the relationship between ability to invent spellings and ability to finger-point read memorized text in 109 kindergartners in whole-language classrooms. Finds that letter name knowledge and phonemic awareness account for ability in finger-point reading, but that invented spelling, because it requires the left-to-right alphabetic principle…

Discusses three children who successfully learned phonics in three very different instructional settings (conventional, whole language, and tutoring in a learning center). Notes that the children developed in similar ways, yet at different rates; the teachers nudged the learners toward literacy development; and writing was a part of the curriculum…

Going beyond the available research on children's spelling development and written text (reading), this year-long longitudinal study examined the relationship between spelling and reading in order to determine whether kindergarten children's ideas about spelling develop simultaneously with reading or whether one precedes the other. Monthly, for 8…

An action research study implemented a program for improving the reading ability of first-grade students who enter school with low reading readiness skills. The targeted population came from a mid-size, middle-class town in northern Illinois that has experienced recent growth and socioeconomic changes. The problem was evidenced by teacher…

A study examined strategies for embedding literacy skills within a whole language program. A questionnaire was given to full-time whole language elementary school teachers who taught in kindergarten through second-grade classrooms. All the participants teach in suburban school districts in the Bay Area including San Francisco, Marin, Sonoma, and…

A study examined the theoretical orientation of infant school and infant department teachers in England. The Theoretical Orientation to Reading Profile (TORP) was used to determine the teacher's orientation to reading instruction. TORP applies a Likert scale response system to a series of statements about how reading should be taught. Subjects…

Trains 94 first graders using a structured phonological reading method emphasizing English phonology and phoneme/grapheme correspondence. Compares to a control group who received a whole-language-plus-phonics approach. Notes that children in all groups improved their phonological awareness by the same amount. Concludes that phonological awareness…