Teaching children to read letters first is regarded by many theorists as the foundation on which the teaching of words should be based. To test this assumption, 26 nursery school children were presented four items (two letters and two words) in a paired associate learning paradigm. The subjects were randomly divided into two groups for the purpose…

The effects of four language units to teach inner-city children to read words and syllables were compared using 86 children from 4 kindergarten classes in an Oakland, California, elementary school. The language units and beginning reader approaches utilizing them were: the grapheme/phoneme (synthetic), the morpheme (similar spelling pattern), the…

Shows that mentally handicapped preschool children can learn to read words when word cards become tools for communicating their wishes. Indicates also that language skills improve and that these transfer to other situations. (FL)

Hannah is a Pacific island grade 1 teacher in a local village school. She has established a 90-minute daily literacy block in which she focuses on literacy-related activities. During these blocks, she notices many of her students having difficulty reading words she thinks they should know by sight. She wants to help her students learn frequently…

Describes two word-recognition activities and a cross-age tutoring program that have proven successful in developing poor readers' sight vocabulary. (MKM)

Discusses advantages--and a few disadvantages--of using social sight words (such as "sale,""stop," and "exit") in introducing young children to reading; suggests learning activities involving such words. (GT)

Phonics has been taught from the time of the ancient Greeks to make the written language more accessible. The first task of learning to read is learning to recognize in print the language used in speech. As a result of many studies conducted during the 1960s which demonstrated the effectiveness of phonics, its use as an instructional method…

The question of whether research supports a "phonics first" approach to teaching reading is not entirely answerable by factual evidence or statistical data: the issue is partly a matter of values and opinion. The debate is over whether phonics should be taught and tested in isolation, as a prelude to reading texts (the phonics-first…

In this study, three programs of elementary school spelling instruction were compared to determine which of the programs produced student achievement and favorable attitudes and whether the effects of the several programs differed for pupils in different I.Q. ranges. About 495 fifth grade children were randomly assigned to three treatment groups…

Analyzes transfer of language skills from Shona to English in rural primary schools in Zimbabwe to determine appropriate time for introducing reading in English. Analysis of data indicated little evidence of transfer of language skills between languages and suggests a delay in the introduction of L2 reading. (Author/LMO)

Focuses on seven errors made by teachers of remedial reading in elementary, middle, and junior high school programs. Suggests corrections and acknowledges teachers who treat reading as a skill that can be learned and refined through reading. (JK)

Examines the notion that words are sometimes perceived with greater ease than letters and that word shape sometimes plays a role in the perception of words. The data collected from 40 Israeli kindergarteners revealed that beginning readers found it easier to identify single letters than whole words, thus refuting the above notion. (Author/AS)

Discusses efforts to achieve higher rates of adult literacy and pedagogical approaches to learning to read. Describes definitions of literacy, school standards, and possible reasons for high rates of adult illiteracy. Discusses teaching methods, particularly the Nellie Thomas method, which has had success in prison literacy programs. (JB)

A musical ear is widely accepted as an essential ingredient in the education of successful music students. Most music educators believe that without a well-developed ear, it's impossible for a musician to function on a professional level as a teacher, conductor, performer, or composer. The purpose of this article is to introduce the concept of…

Any discussion of English as a Second Language (ESL) literacy should address three critical areas: who the learners are, what is to be taught, and how the literacy skills are to be taught. Three distinct groups of students can be classified as "non-literate" in their own language: pre-literates, illiterates, and semi-literates. Two approaches are…