The present study used two letter detection tasks, the classic missing letter effect paradigm and a single word versus familiar word compound version of this paradigm, to study bottom-up and top-down processes involved in reading in normally achieving as compared to low achieving elementary school readers. The research participants were children…

This paper reviews research on children's use of contextual cues in reading, and reports on a study which explored the contextual sensitivity and word recognition behavior of 108 beginning readers from grades 1, 2, and 3. (CM)

The reading profession's current emphasis on whole language may have helped to raise the recurring debate between meaning-based (whole language) and phonics-based (code emphasis) approaches to teaching reading. As some researchers have linked whole language with whole word, phonics advocates have come forth with renewed vigor to offer a series of…

Two hundred and eight first graders were assigned to one of three treatment groups. Treatment A received initial instruction in letter names followed by sight words; treatment B received initial instruction in letter names and sounds followed by sight words; and treatment C received initial instruction in sight words followed by letter names and…

Traces the trends in reading instruction, and proposes that reading be taught according to the Quantity Reading Method in which students are given a brief course in reading skills, followed by opportunities to read widely and quantitatively. References. (VJ)

The instruction provided by two beginning reading programs (the Ginn 720 and the Palo Alto 1973 reading programs) are analyzed and compared in this paper on the basis of such factors as phoneme-grapheme correspondence and phonics instruction, sight word learning, and the development of reading comprehension. The comparison focuses primarily on the…

A study examined how word recognition automaticity develops and its relationship to the acquisition of comprehension skill. Two different methods for teaching reading were used: (1) a global method using the Houghton Mifflin basal reading program, and (2) a code method using the New Reading System, which emphasizes word decoding skills along with…

Designed to add to the existing knowledge base concerning the saliency of features used by children to identify isolated words, a study examined whether the method of instruction influences the extent to which various features are used for word identification and recall. Subjects, 117 kindergarten students from a suburban Buffalo, New York, school…

Intended for teachers and prospective teachers, the purpose of this book is to provide information about reading instruction from kindergarten through the elementary grades. Part 1 deals with "Background Information" and includes chapters on: (1) The Reading Process; (2) Silent or Oral Reading? and (3) Reading Instruction. Part 2 discusses…