We describe a multiple-route model of reading development in which coarse-grained orthographic processing plays a key role in optimizing access to semantics via whole-word orthographic representations. This forms part of the direct orthographic route that gradually replaces phonological recoding during the initial phases of reading acquisition.…

Ken Goodman and Frank Smith met for the first time in 1970, though they had each been studying and writing, separately, about the reading process for several years prior to that. They commemorated the occasion by collaborating on an article, On the Psycholinguistic Method of Teaching Reading which appeared soon after in The Elementary School…

This paper discusses the reading diary study--a method that involves frequent observation and detailed note-taking of the strategies employed by a child while learning to read--and the problems of data reduction, limitations of methods employed by researchers, and analysis of data. The sections include "Miscue Analysis," which can be…

This comprehensive article discusses the following aspects of reading: the reading process, approaches to beginning reading, readability formulas, rate and flexibility, comprehension and critical reading, locational skills, visually handicapped, reading diagnosis and correction, magazines, and sources of further information. Also included is a…

Examines material imported into emergent readings--material that is not contained in the original written text of a book--as evidence of the types of information emergent readers use. Pinpoints four sources of nontext importations in the emergent readings: material from illustrations, from prior read-aloud sessions, from personal experience and…

It is important in beginning reading instruction to let the child guess at unknown words, allowing the context to provide feedback. (JH)

Cognitive confusion is the common state of young persons in regard to concepts of units of writing. In the past 10 years, research has accumulated to show that all children pass through the important stage of initial cognitive confusion in learning to read. Children often confuse "writing" with "drawing,""letter" with "number," and so on.…

This study investigated how reading begins in speech. The subjects were nonreading kindergarten children divided into a control group of 20 students and an experimental group of 20 students. Both groups had an equal amount of discrimination practice upon the same sentences prior to test for word identification. The sentences for the experimental…

The cognitive clarity theory may be stated quite simply and briefly: (1) Learning to read involved applying general intellectual abilities to the task. (2) Reading is usually a silent activity, and there are very few outward signs of what the behavior involves. (3) Children do not know the basic concepts involved in thinking about the tasks of…

The purpose of this paper was to propose a theoretical description of the print reading process based on Piagetian concepts of mental functioning and to explore implications for educators which are compatible with such a theory. The methodology employed proceeds from a general explanation of mental functioning to one particular form, that of print…

The primary focus of this paper is on black children and the relationship between their productive and receptive language competencies. The solutions which have been proposed to solve the dilemma of black pupils' poor reading achievement are discussed. It is noted that none of the proposed solutions has the unqualified support provided by a mass…

Numerous controversies pertain to the psychology and pedagogy of reading. Among the more important controversies are questions pertaining to the existence of a hierarchy of reading subskills and the advisability of using a subskill approach. Several influential writers have warned that when the process of learning to read is fractionated into…

The cognitive clarity theory focuses on the learning-to-read process rather than on the reading process of the mature reader. The cognitive clarity theory already seems to show some power in explaining some puzzling findings in reading research. Some examples of these paradoxes are: earlier letter-name knowledge is highly correlated with later…

The aim of this study was to test a hypothesis derived from the Cognitive Clarity Theory which compares Indian and non-Indian children in two localities of British Columbia. It was hypothesized that, in comparison with Indian children, the non-Indian children would show significantly superior performance on objective tests of cognitive clarity in…