In the early heyday of ITA education, English as a second language (ESL) educators played a key role in defining three basic learning needs for ITAs: Language, teaching, and culture. Of this model, culture is the most broadly defined and least developed component. It was predicted by some, apparently on the basis of nationality, that ITAs would…

One challenge for many international teaching assistants (ITAs) is improving their spoken English fluency after arrival in the U.S.A. It may be argued that poor fluency, with its hallmarks of slow speech rate, false starts, and particularly pauses that violate phrasal boundaries, account for the failure of many ITAs to be certified by their…

This bibliography cites periodicals, books, sections of books, and articles having to do with the initial teaching alphabet. Entries include American and European publications, most published since 1965. (CLK)

This manual, designed to follow "English Alphabet Book 1," presents an English phonetic reading program for children beginning to learn how to read. It contains an alphabet chart with pictures which symbolize words using the sounds of the respective letters. Other pages are devoted completely to the sounds of the vowels, reinforced with common…

Three main issues relating to the question of silent speech in reading are considered: (1) How do Chinese speakers process Chinese ideographs in short-term memory? (2) How is Chinese students' learning of written English affected by the transition to an alphabetic language? (3) Are the strategies for encoding written words in short-term memory…

Confirms that i.t.a. can be an effective tool with which to teach beginning reading of English to Mexican-American children. (RB)

Indicates that i.t.a. can be an effective tool in teaching bilingual Mexican-American children to read. (RB)

A two year pilot project studied difficulties of kindergarten-primary children learning to read via materials printed in the Initial Teaching Alphabet (ITA) who, because of immaturity, late development, low ability, or inability to speak English, were expected to experience reading difficulty. Of 39 children in the first year of the study, 20 used…

Lists advantages of using the initial teaching alphabet for language learning. (RK)

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the use of the initial teaching alphabet (ITA) would have a beneficial effect upon English language learning when used with adult Spanish speaking students. The study consisted of five randomly selected English as a Second Language classes in the Los Angeles City Unified School District divided…

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPTIONS OF 60 PAPERS CONCERNED WITH THE INITIAL TEACHING ALPHABET (ITA) ARE PRESENTED IN THIS REPORT, THE INITIAL SECTION OF WHICH IS DEVOTED TO A DESCRIPTION OF ITA AND A SURVEY OF ITS GENESIS AND DEVELOPMENT. SUBSEQUENT SECTIONS DEAL WITH THE ROLE OF ITA IN (1) THE DEVELOPMENT OF ENGLISH AS A UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE AND THE TEACHING…

The articles in this publication are (1) "The Children's Literary Heritage" by Dora V. Smith; (2) "Some Approaches to Teaching Standard English as a Second Language" by Charlotte K. Brooks; (3) "Detroit Great Cities School Improvement Program in Language Arts" by Clarence W. Wachner; (4) "Teaching and Testing Critical Listening in the Fifth and…

An overall view of the Initial Teaching Alphabet (i.t.a.) and its use with various groups of people are presented. The first part contains five addresses in which the historical background for i.t.a. is reviewed and insight into the man who invented it is given. Part 2 presents research reports of prefirst-grade and first-grade beginning reading…