The irregularity of English spelling rules, dialect differences, and an inability to identify sound segments within a single syllable are three important reasons teachers and students have difficulty teaching and learning reading using phonics. Within the same language, phonics rules may need to be adapted to fit the dialect of the student or of…

An intense debate exists around the most beneficial and successful method for teaching young children how to read. On the one side is sight-reading or the look-say method which promotes learning to read by immediate recognition of words learned through "memorization." In contrast to the sight method, the phonics method aims at teaching…

Debates the question of how automaticity in reading develops. Suggests that the traditional view of automaticity development (a result of limited attentional capacity) does not adequately describe the process. Discusses comparisons of alternative views of automaticity and the traditional view. (RS)

Proposes a theory to explain why writing and reading contribute to growth in each other--both are compositional in nature or require the reader/writer to arrange responses to form a coherent whole. (AEA)

Argues that Piagetian theory does not support the use of a code-breaking approach to teaching children to read prior to the advent of concrete operations. Suggests that primary instructional emphasis with these children should be placed upon the meaning-getting aspects of reading. (FL)

Discusses research that supports the view that early phonological awareness affects children's ability to exploit the alphabetic system, and so to develop a sublexical route from print to sound to meaning. Discusses implications for teachers. (RS)

States that beginning reading instruction must not be perceived as an either/or phenomenon, as either strong adherence to the code devoid of meaning, or the reverse. Teachers should teach the code and meaning at the same time. (MKM)

The article examines assessment of phonological coding skills (considered important in in acquiring early word-reading skills) in young children. Although tests of memory span for digits, words, or letters are most commonly used, a combination of tasks including naming-rate and articulation-rate tasks are suggested. (Author/DB)

Large differences exist among individuals in their ability to process speech sounds within syllables and words, and this ability is crucial for reading and spelling alphabetically beyond a very elementary level. The conception that speech is made up of segments (phonemes) is natural to those who read and spell alphabetically, but arguably: (1)…

This paper offers a rationale for integrating phonics with reading instruction for students with reading disabilities. It then suggests that direct teaching of sounds be provided by constructing "soundsheets" with rows of sound/letter combinations taken directly from the text the child will read after practicing the sounds. (JDD)

This article proposes a neurobiological account of reading and reading disability suggesting that for normally developing readers, the dorsal (tempo-parietal) circuit predominates at first, and in conjunction with premotor systems, is associated with analytic processing necessary for learning to integrate orthographic with phonological and…

Suggesting that the ability to identify words depends as much on contextual information available when one is reading for meaning as on decoding skills, this paper challenges traditional, mechanistic skills approaches to reading instruction. In addition, it contends that comprehending (relating written material to what one already knows) is a…

Elaborates the view that phonological recoding, or print-to-sound translation, is a self-teaching mechanism enabling learners to acquire the orthographic representations necessary for visual word recognition. Discusses developmental properties of phonological recoding, reviews evidence on the importance of cognitive abilities underlying the…

Maintains that practitioners have a goldmine of evidence upon which to design effective educational programs for beginning and problem readers. Outlines current knowledge of the beginning stages of reading acquisition for both normal and problem readers and relates this knowledge to current language arts curricular practices. (BS)

Submits that children recognize their first words in a different way than they later decode. Compares the hypothesis that sight words are recognized as wholes to the hypothesis that sight words are recognized as parts. Finds support for the idea that first words are recognized by "selective association." (BS)