The effects of the phonological similarity between a letter sound and the sound in a spoken word, and phonological awareness on letter-sound learning were examined. Two groups of 41 kindergartners were taught four letter sounds. First, both groups had to learn the associations between four symbols and four familiar words. Next, both groups were…

This report presents a history of the Deseret alphabet, beginning with a chapter on English orthography in general and the various attempts that have been made in orthographic reform. The second chapter examines the motives behind the creation of the Deseret alphabet, including the possibilities of a secret Mormon code, a protection from…

Article presents a study to determine whether the apparent benefits of ITA over TO were long-lasting or ephemeral. (Author)

Most early childhood teachers support breaking away from the letter-a-week method of teaching the alphabet but question how to achieve that goal. Concepts related to how young children learn the alphabetic principle are reviewed and successful strategies for teaching the principle are presented. (LB)

The "English-Hawaiian Dictionary," companion volume to the "Hawaiian-English Dictionary," compiled by the same authors in 1957, contains Hawaiian equivalents of approximately 12,500 English words. While serving as a key to the 25,00 entries in the Hawaiian-English volume, this dictionary is designed to be used independently.…

Reviews words and letter counts and discusses comprehensive count of initial and terminal letters and bigrams compiled based on the Kucera and Francis corpus of English words. Count included frequency of occurrence and versatility. Shows how such counts can be used to describe "Englishness" and made predictions as to information load of…

A major question in L2 reading research is whether L2 reading is a language or a reading problem. Existing research, mainly carried out in Western contexts, demonstrates that L2 reading is influenced by L1 reading and L2 proficiency. This study applied the L2 reading theory in a non-Western context (Eritrea, East Africa) with L1 reading acquired…

This study examined the effects of the accumulation of family risk factors on children's literacy skills, both in preschool and in first grade. Children's (N = 106) vocabulary, conventions of print, phonological awareness, knowledge of letters, reading decoding, and reading comprehension were assessed. Family risk factors, consisting of household…

This study examined the effects of using a research based print reading program modified to accommodate beginning braille readers using an alphabet or uncontracted braille reading approach with five beginning braille readers. Four of the 5 participants displayed a clear increase in their ability to read high frequency words when they began using…

This study determined the effectiveness of Kindergarten Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies (K-PALS) for students with disabilities. The researchers randomly assigned 89 kindergartners with individualized education programs (IEPs) from 47 classrooms to control (n = 9); K-PALS Level 1 (teachers received 1-day workshop; n = 19); or K-PALS Level 2…

Children (5 and 6 years old, n = 30) at familial risk of dyslexia received a home-based intervention that focused on phoneme awareness and letter knowledge in the year prior to formal reading instruction. The children were compared to a no-training at-risk control group (n = 27), which was selected a year earlier. After training, we found a small…

A previous explanation of the sex difference on so-called perceptual speed tests was in terms of a female advantage in accessing and using phonological name codes in making item comparisons. That explanation was extended to a task involving alphabetical transformations without the requirement for comparison of perceptually available items. A…

This issue of "Exploring," is devoted primarily to examination of alphabets and the languages they represent. Major articles include: "Shrinking the Alphabet" (Pat Murphy), a comparison of alphabet composition for different languages; "The Puzzle of Linear B" (Paul Doherty), a history of archaeologists' deciphering of an early form of written…

A practical orthography is presented for Kuuk Thaayorre, which is spoken by over 300 Aborigines in Australia. The phonemes in Thaayorre and the way they are symbolized in normal writing practice are presented. Frequent occurrence of six conventional digraphs for some Thaayorre consonants has given rise to complementary orthography as an initial…