Reading and spelling are essential skills for a student's educational success. The current literature on spelling instruction has examined a variety of spelling modalities, but has never directly compared written versus oral spelling. There are theoretical and empirical indications that either method may be superior to the other. Thus, study one…

The development of spelling skill is a very difficult task for students with dyslexia. Spelling in French involves the consideration of various types of knowledge, procedures and strategies. This study aims to describe the spelling strategies of 32 dyslexic students (DYS) aged from 8 to 12 years and to establish links between spelling strategies…

A few studies suggest that gifted children with dyslexia have better literacy skills than averagely intelligent children with dyslexia. This finding aligns with the hypothesis that giftedness-related factors provide compensation for poor reading. The present study investigated whether, as in the native language (NL), the level of foreign language…

The purpose of the study was to evaluate two approaches to teaching spelling and vocabulary to second through fourth graders in two different urban school systems to determine if one program revealed greater growth scores on Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) reading components. Research question1 posited: Does Word Study, a…

While the look-say versus the phonics controversy has existed for years in reading instruction, a similar debate regarding spelling instruction is only now emerging out of the literature and into the hands of the classroom teacher. "Subskill" spelling, most frequently found in current spelling programs, presumes that good spelling is achieved by…

Interchange 57 (Watson and Johnston, 1998) reported on a study of around 300 Primary 1 children in which the effectiveness of a synthetic phonics teaching program was examined. The synthetic phonics program was by far the most effective. A study described the progress the children have made from Primary 1 through to the end of Primary 5, focusing…

A review was conducted of 16 research studies evaluating the effectiveness of computer assisted instruction (CAI) in teaching reading and language arts in the elementary school. The studies were of what K. A. Hall has termed "interactive instruction," which includes drill and practice as well as tutoring. Of the studies reviewed, 13 used at least…

Noah Webster and William Holmes McGuffey, who made important contributions to reading and education, present an interesting study in comparison and contrast. Although Webster is remembered most as a lexicographer, his speller contributed greatly to the early teaching of reading in the United States. His literary activities as a patriot, a…

Examines an 11-week phoneme-awareness program in kindergarten followed by a first-grade reading program that emphasized explicit, systematic instruction in the alphabetic code. Analyzes a phonetically-based spelling program. Compares a control group in the school district's regular basal-reading program with a treatment group. Concludes that the…

A study compared the writing development and ideas about writing of students in a whole language program with students in a skills-oriented program from the time they entered kindergarten to the end of the second grade. Subjects were 22 inner city students who completed second grade out of an original kindergarten cohort of 50 minority students…

Compares evaluative assumptions built into published sets of guidelines for microcomputer software evaluation with those derived from three small United Kingdom case studies of microcomputer usage in reading/language classes. The case studies provide data on teacher and student reaction to five computer programs used by 9- to 13-year-olds. (MBR)

Examines the differences in the effectiveness of whole language and traditional instruction in end-of-the-year reading, writing, and spelling achievement for children with varying levels of incoming phonemic awareness, reading, and writing ability. Finds that neither program was more likely to close gaps between children high or low in these…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 28 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: (1) the effects of superlearning on retention/hypermnesia of rare English words in college students; (2) a Delphi study of American, British, and Canadian English…