To examine whether enantiomorphy (i.e., the ability to discriminate lateral mirror images) is influenced by the acquisition of a written system that incorporates mirrored letters (e.g., b and d), unschooled illiterate adults were compared with people reading the Latin alphabet, namely, both schooled literate adults and unschooled adults…

Longitudinal structural equation modeling was used to evaluate longitudinal relationships across adjacent grade levels 1 to 7 for levels of language in writing (Model 1, subword letter writing, word spelling, and text composing) or writing and reading (Model 2, subword letter writing and word spelling and reading; Model 3, word spelling and…

A series of lessons designed to explain what the Initial Teaching Alphabet (i.t.a.) is and to prepare prospective teachers of i.t.a. materials and methods as thoroughly as possible is presented. The eight lessons of the course, for each of which a separate booklet is provided, include the following: (1) The difficulties of traditional orthography…

Describes Dr. John Henry Martin's theory of how children can learn to write phonetically before learning to read and how this theory developed into a computer-based teaching system called "Writing to Read." A program evaluation by Martin and IBM is discussed, and a source is given for further information. (MBR)

The conclusions and recommendations drawn from a 7-year study of the Initial Teaching Alphabet (i/t/a) made by the Reading Research Unit of London University are reported. The British research showed conclusively that traditional orthography (TO) is a major handicap for teachers and students of reading. Students taught with i/t/a made…

Collection and evaluation, using both measurement and judgment techniques, of the available evidence relating to the use of i/t/a as a means of beginning reading with children between the ages of 5 and 7 were presented. The specific terms of reference were threefold: (1) to evaluate published research material on i/t/a from both Great Britain and…

To determine if children who have been taught to read using the i.t.a. would write stories with a vocabulary more nearly approaching the variety and extent of their oral vocabulary than would children who had been taught traditional orthography (T.O.), comparisons were made between 82 experimental (i.t.a.) and 80 control (T.O.) subjects matched on…

An overall view of the Initial Teaching Alphabet (i.t.a.) and its use with various groups of people are presented. The first part contains five addresses in which the historical background for i.t.a. is reviewed and insight into the man who invented it is given. Part 2 presents research reports of prefirst-grade and first-grade beginning reading…