The primary purpose of this paper on reading instruction is to inform teachers and parents of the superiority of phonics or code-based approaches over the whole-word method (still the dominant method in the United States). The first section deals with the nature of reading skills, the second section covers the history and present status of the…

The Initial Teaching Alphabet (i.t.a.), devised by Sir James Pitman as a simplified alphabet for beginning readers, consists of 44 characters plus a set of rules for standard spellings of English words using these characters. The characters and rules are designed to ensure easy transition from i.t.a. to traditional orthography (T.O.). In September…

This nontechnical guide for parents and teachers examines learning to read from infants' babbling to the fluent reading of children reading independently for pleasure. Chapter 1, "Baby Speaks," describes language development in infancy. Chapter 2, "Our Alphabet: Language by Ear and by Eye," presents the alphabetic system and…

These two booklets cover research in reading from 1968 through 1971. The first half of the first booklet covers the years 1968-1970 and includes summaries of general trends in reading, surveys, and research on specific dyslexia, the initial teaching alphabet and the beginning stages of learning to read, and linguistics and reading. The second…

The manuscripts resulting from the seventeen different current issues in reading that were discussed at the thirteenth Annual International Reading Association Convention in Boston in 1968 are published in this volume. The topics include reading research, content area reading, speed reading, comprehension, reading skill sequence, reading…