Tests 78 children (8- to 12-year-olds) on cognitive, linguistic, academic, phonemic awareness, and memory ability. Explores the relationship between phonemic awareness, phonological memory, reading and spelling. Finds that phonemic awareness tasks are significantly correlated with reading decoding and spelling measures with slightly higher…

Investigates word and nonword reading in German- and English-speaking children. Suggests that low orthographic consistency, as in English, necessitates the use of complex and error-prone strategies in phonological recoding (translating printed words into spoken equivalents), whereas high consistency, as in German, allows phonological recoding into…

Traces research citations noted in advocacy and policy documents to their original sources to determine whether use of"decodable text" in early reading instruction is research-based. Researchers could locate no reliable, replicable research to support policy assertions that using decodable text, as defined in California and Texas policy…

Examined articulation and interarticulation (pause) times on Rapid Automatized Naming Tests for first- and second-graders. Found that pause and articulation times for RAN letters and objects were not reliably related, compared to RAN numbers articulation and pause durations. Subtest pause durations were differentially related to reading. RAN…

Analyzes research in the phonics section of the Report of the National Reading Panel to examine what the data, as opposed to the Panel's interpretation and reporting of the data, say about the role of phonics in reading instruction. Suggests the methodology of the Report is flawed, and results reported in the Summary are not supported by the…

Investigates first graders' use of analogy in word decoding. Finds students read more words correctly after exposure to analogous clue words, and a dictation task accounted for large proportion of variance on decoding of analogous words. Suggests results clarify previous research, specifically, the helpfulness of clue words in decoding by analogy…

This article presents Glass Analysis, a supplemental decoding approach carried out through brief teacher-student questioning exchanges to develop phonological awareness of word segmentation. It explains the method's rationale, preferred context, the teacher role, the teacher-student interaction, instructional effectiveness, and ways to evaluate…

Three studies compared 98 children with spina bifida myelomeningocele (SBM)--a disorder associated with high rates of math disability and spatial deficits--to 94 typically developing children on multidigit subtraction and cognitive addition tasks. Children with SBM were classified into those with reading decoding and math disability, only math…

This author, an academic achievement teacher for second and third grade reading and math at Theodore Roosevelt Elementary School in Park Ridge, Illinois, contends that since fluency is such a measurable skill, over-emphasizing decoding and de-emphasizing comprehension results in short-changing students. In this article, she shares several reading…

California and Texas mandate 75% to 80% decodable texts for first-grade reading programs, yet these percentages have no empirical base. This study examines the text selections in 6 first-grade programs from the perspective of lexical, semantic, and syntactic features. The composition of text differed across the 6 programs with respect to length,…

This study examined the influence of interactions between first graders' fall language-literacy skills (vocabulary and decoding) and classroom instructional practices on their spring decoding scores. Instructional activities were coded as teacher managed or child managed and as explicit or implicit, as well as for change in amount of time spent in…

Asserts that Martin Amis' contemporary novel, Night Train, is a remarkably effective tool for introducing postmodernist notions in general literature classrooms. Presents a definition for postmodernism and brings the reader through a detailed analysis of the language and structure of the novel. Concludes with students' reaction to the analytical…

Suggests that class discussions of George Eliot's Middlemarch should focus on students' responses to the social, moral, and psychological problems presented in the novel. Asserts that the novel teaches students important lessons about the limitations of human nature and the impact of internal and external constraints on ideals. (Contains 14…

Two tasks of word identification were proposed to children in their last year of upper preschool classes. The results show that identification is not based on an holistic processing but on an analytic one: some letters are enough, especially the first ones. Moreover, their order does not matter. During this period where reading is visuo-semantic…

Fifteen children ages 7 to 9 years who had persistent reading difficulties despite adequate instruction were provided with intensive tutorial interventions. The interventions targeted deficient phonological processing and decoding skills for 8 weeks (2 hours per day) followed by an 8-week, 1-hour-per-day intervention that focused on the…