Purpose: Shared reading provides preschool-age children with the opportunity to learn novel, low-frequency words. Abundant empirical evidence demonstrates that children can learn the meanings of such words during shared reading, referred to as "semantic learning." However, less is known about whether children learn the spellings of words…

Reading aloud to children is a ubiquitous practice in early childhood settings. While there are many recommendations for how educators should conduct these experiences, little research in the past decade has examined how read-alouds are actually accomplished. Using anthropological and sociological theories of learning, literacy and research, our…

Given the large number of students from immigrant and refugee backgrounds in Canadian schools, our study investigates to what extent an open access multilingual digital platform, Storybooks Canada (https://www.storybookscanada.ca/), might serve the interests of elementary school English language learners. Our study drew on insights from 13…

Although phonological awareness (PA) and rapid automatized naming (RAN) are confirmed as early predictors of reading in a large number of orthographies, it is as yet unclear whether the predictive patterns are universal or language specific. This was examined in a longitudinal study across Grades 1 and 2 with 1,120 children acquiring one of five…

The transition to school, marked by significant moves towards print literacy, is a crucial school-life milestone that can be both exhilarating and daunting. This case study, extracted from an international, quasi-ecological examination of thriving kindergarten children in transition to school films participants, their families, schools and…

This research evaluated possible sources of individual differences in early explicit, smaller segment phonological awareness. In particular, the unique contributions of oral vocabulary and alphabetic knowledge to phonemic awareness acquisition were examined across the first year of school. A total of 57 participants were tested in kindergarten…

Beginning readers' motivation to read and the texts they choose to read impact on their literacy achievement and willingness to engage with reading activities in the primary years of schooling. This study investigated the eBook reading experiences of eight grade 1 students. Eight students were given ten 25-minute sessions with the software…

We studied 52 parent-child dyads reading an alphabet book to examine the nature of children's miscues and parents' feedback, and whether miscues and feedback were related to each other and to preliteracy skills. Letter knowledge, phonological awareness, and expressive vocabulary were assessed in 5-year-old nonreaders who were also audiotaped…

We examined whether the effect that different non-cognitive and cognitive factors have on reading acquisition varies as a function of orthographic consistency. Canadian (n = 77) and Greek (n = 95) children attending kindergarten were examined on general cognitive ability, phonological sensitivity, and letter knowledge. The parents of the children…

AN OVERVIEW OF THE RESEARCH ON VISUAL DISCRIMINATION SHOWS A TREND FROM THE WHOLE-WORD VIEW TO A COMBINATION OF LETTER-DISCRIMINATION AND THE WHOLE-WORD METHOD. TEN STUDIES CITED IN THIS ARTICLE ATTEMPTED TO ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS--(1) WOULD NONVERBAL STIMULI FACILITATE READING PERFORMANCE, (2) DO CHILDREN FOCUS ON THE SHAPE OF THE WORD OR…

A CONFERENCE ON BEGINNING READING INSTRUCTION WAS ATTENDED BY PROFESSIONAL AUTHORITIES AND LEADERS IN THE FIELD OF READING AND RELATED DISCIPLINE AREAS. THE PURPOSE OF THE CONFERENCE WAS TO REPORT ON RESEARCH IN CANADA AND ENGLAND, AS WELL AS IN THE UNITED STATES, AND TO REVIEW A VARIETY OF PRACTICES IN ELEMENTARY READING. THE BULLETIN WAS…

Various aspects of beginning reading programs in six countries are discussed in the five articles in this booklet. In the first article, the principles and methods of instruction used in Sweden are described and trends in beginning reading instruction are noted. The importance of a verbal environment, teacher competence, and early diagnosis in…

Presents research findings about the development of metalinguistic awareness (MLA) in young children. Discusses MLA and reading readiness, and the implications for beginning reading instruction. Suggests various reading methods which allow children with both high and low levels of MLA to develop literacy. (MM)

Describes and evaluates "Breakthrough to Literacy," a beginning reading scheme based on the language experience approach and launched in Saskatoon, Canada schools in 1974. (RB)