Describes the difficulty in reading and writing Persian script which may contribute to illiteracy in Iran and notes the political and religious considerations which make change difficult. (MKM)

Reexamines what learning the alphabet means from the child's perspective. Draws from several case studies and other naturalistic examinations of young children as they learn to read and write to describe what young children learn about the alphabet. (MG)

Argues that it is important to consider just what the written language requires of learners so that educators may understand reading and writing disabilities and find appropriate methods of remediation. To do so, a theory of written language must be developed that regards the alphabetic systems as just one particular development among several that…

Notes that a major goal within the language arts block is learning to recognize and write the letters of the alphabet. Presents 4 reasons that have been suggested as to why early letter knowledge exerts such a strong influence over learning to read and write. Presents descriptions of 12 websites dealing with the alphabet. (SG)