The implications that cognitive approaches to the study of reading can have for the assessment of reading achievement are discussed. Research in word decoding, semantic access, sentence processing, and discourse analysis is summarized with emphasis on processing efficiency required in one area affecting performance in another area. (Author/CM)

This study compares the vowel-sound associations of normal and learning disabled children on regularly spelled (major pattern) words, irregularly spelled (minor pattern) words, and nonsense words following the same orthographic structures. The 60 subjects were matched on word recognition ability, as well as age. (Author/PN)

Establishes the importance of context to reading and proposes the use of context support methods to make learning to read easy for the learner. (JL)

Discusses a study in which learning disabled or educationally handicapped middle school students received a daily treatment of 20 minutes of phonics instruction and demonstrated gains on both the Wide Range Achievement Test and the Gray Oral Reading Test. (AEA)

First-graders taught reading by phonics or language experience approach were compared on their ability to orally decode lists of words identified as either real or nonsense words. The two groups did not differ in overall correct responses, nor were their strategies influenced by the "real/nonsense" directions. (SJL)

Investigates developmental differences in the effects of context on ongoing word recognition under conditions that placed greater demands on the readers' comprehension/memory capacity than had been the case in prior studies and examines the generality of these prior findings. (HOD)

The paper's primary purpose is to outline an experimental logic that (1) considers causally prior skills such as nonverbal IQ, vocabulary, and decoding, and (2) emphasizes the relative importance of component reading skills rather than simple differences between groups of good and poor readers. (Author/DB)

The phonics method of teaching decoding skills appeals to adult readers because of its logical application of real and apparent phoneme/symbol correspondences. Instead of memorization, a low level cognitive skill, adults are challenged to use perceptions of the correspondences gained inductively. (Author/CSS)

The purpose of this investigation was to determine if beginning readers with accelerated sight word vocabularies would identify more functional spelling patterns than beginning readers not making the same progress. (HOD)

This study evaluated the relative effectiveness of three approaches to supplemental reading instruction with 96 second graders with low reading achievement. It found that the approach combining explicit word recognition and reflective reading comprehension increased phonological decoding and had the highest effect size compared to the treated…

Assesses 291 first graders on reading, intelligence, and phonological processing at the beginning and end of the academic year to determine the accuracy of three different approaches to identification. Determines the best procedure for identifying children at risk for reading difficulties before they received formal reading instruction. Concludes…

A study involving 195 Hispanic and non-Hispanic students (grades K-2) with reading difficulties found that children who received supplemental reading instruction that taught basic decoding and comprehension skills for two years performed better on measures of word attack, word identification, oral reading fluency, vocabulary, and reading…

Blending and spelling training were compared to determine which intervention would improve the decoding skills of two first-grade boys with learning disabilities. Although neither intervention proved superior, the children met the learning criterion with both interventions and demonstrated both maintenance and generalization of their skills. (DB)

A discussion-oriented, direct approach to teaching decoding and spelling based on word origin and structure is proposed. The instruction leads students to a comparison and contrast of letter-sound correspondences, syllable patterns, and morpheme patterns in English words of Anglo-Saxon, Romance, and Greek origin. (Author/JDD)