Reviews the typical approach (synthetic phonics) to teaching reading in Finland. Suggests that teachers in English-speaking countries can learn from problems Finnish teachers face and vice versa. Finds that, despite a highly regular writing system, Finnish teachers find that a heavy phonics emphasis does not solve their reading instruction…

Describes LETTERLAND, a unique teaching model that blends a structured phonics approach with whole-language teaching and is widely used in British classrooms as an initial approach to literacy as well as in special needs contexts. (HTH)

Many Canadians are concerned about the quality of reading instruction in Canadian schools. Recent newspaper articles, research reviews, and newsletter articles reflect the nature of these concerns. The official instructional policy in a number of provinces as well as in a number of local school districts is based on a whole-language philosophy.…

First graders (n=5), preschoolers (n=5), special education first-graders (n=5), and adults (n=8) in Brazil received a reading program in which they learned to match printed to dictated words and to construct (copy) printed words. The students not only learned to match the training words but also learned to read them. (Contains references.)…

Three studies examined sources of learning by which children, very early in learning to read, formed correspondences between letters and phonemes when these were not explicitly taught in the whole-language instruction they received. Findings of these studies have implications for the question of how early in learning to read children are able to…

In response to a position paper that called upon the ministry of education in each Canadian province to provide a balanced selection to offerings on the province's authorized list of language arts textbooks, several ministries claimed that a balanced approach to teaching reading was being followed. A letter received from Alberta Education even…

This book examines the basic principles of the cognitive psychology of literacy and explains how insights gained from that theory can inform and improve reading, spelling, and writing instruction aimed at adults. The following are among the topics discussed in the book's eight chapters: the principles of cognitive psychology (the nervous system,…