This study investigated the effect on word recognition of supplementing a beginning reading program with instruction in distinctive features of alphabet letters. Subjects, 11 first grade students in the experimental sample and 10 first grade students in the control sample in Short Hills, New Jersey, were administered a test of word recognition (20 first grade words from the Harris-Jacobson Core List) as a pre- and posttest. The experimental group received 5 weeks of instruction (15 minutes a day, 5 days a week) in distinctive features of 23 lowercase confusable pairs of letters. Results indicated that instruction in distinctive features of alphabet letters did not improve scores on the word recognition test. (Nine tables of data are included, and 19 references are attached.) (SR)