Background: This study presents the findings of the first administration of a revised "Teachers' Sense of Efficacy for Literacy Instruction" ("TSELI") scale that reflects the changing landscape of 21st-century literacy instruction. Items include such aspects as reading, writing, viewing, listening, communicating using visual,…

This study examined the relations among features of the classroom physical literacy environment (book materials, literacy area and writing materials) and psychological literacy environment (instructional support), and preschool children's gains in two areas of emergent literacy over an academic year. Results showed that features of the physical…

The current work examines children's sensitivity to rime unit spelling-sound correspondences within the context of early word reading as a way of assessing word-specific influences on early word-reading strategies. Sixty 6-7-year-olds participated in an experimental reading task that comprised word items that shared either frequent or infrequent…

The purpose of this study was twofold: (a) to examine the effect of task-focused behaviour on reading fluency, spelling and comprehension; and (b) to examine the role of the different literacy skills in subsequent task-focused behaviour. Two hundred and seven Finnish-speaking children were followed from preschool until their fourth year at school…

The paper reports the results of a randomised control trial investigating the use of computer-aided instruction (CAI) for practising phonological awareness skills with beginning readers. Two intervention groups followed the same phonological awareness programme: one group undertook practice exercises using a computer and the other group undertook…

Interventions combining phonically based reading instruction with phonological training are generally effective for children with reading (decoding) difficulties. However, a minority of children respond poorly to such interventions. This study explored the characteristics of children who showed poor response to reading intervention and aimed to…

The introduction of text conventions, such as word separation, the separation of letter and background and the lower-case letter are appraised with respect to their contribution to literacy instruction. The change in the visual appearance of the graphic word over time led to the assignment of secondary status to spelling and low appreciation of…

Reports on a case study of face-to-face interaction around and about texts between a second grade dyad in a dual-immersion (English/Portuguese) programme. Reveals multiple pedagogical scaffolds, few of which were unexpected. Concludes that Buddy Reading encouraged the peer readers to acknowledge and draw upon each other's expertise, as they…

Aims to build upon the existing home literacy practices of a group of three- and four-year-old children living in the United Kingdom. Develops literacy materials and resources which could be borrowed from nursery and used within the home to promote children's literacy development. Indicates that much of children's reading was focused on popular…