This study takes a more holistic look at reading support, to explore what else is happening in this teaching and learning context, beyond the acquisition of a more secure knowledge of decoding skills. Children are deemed in need of a reading support intervention when their literacy skills are assessed as being significantly below the levels…

Purpose: Having a clear understanding of the types and amounts of classroom literacy learning opportunities is important for contextualizing children's early literacy performance. In this study, we examine the content, context, and management of literacy learning opportunities in a large, geographically diverse sample in the United States. We also…

In this article I focus on the use of mixed methods in designing a classroom observation instrument known as the Facilitative Orientation to Reading Teaching (FORT). The instrument was designed to capture the teaching of reading and formed part of a project that took place in 2 Kwa-Zulu Natal primary schools. Participants were 8 teachers and their…

Vocabulary teaching has traditionally focused on word meanings to aid reading comprehension, however evidence also suggests that vocabulary knowledge influences phonemic awareness and word reading. Vocabulary instruction concentrating on the sound structure of new words alongside meaning (combined sound-meaning vocabulary instruction) improves…

Some students with visual impairments have not learned to read print or braille due to a variety of factors. The inability to read proficiently affects all areas of a person's life. Thus, it is essential that teachers of students with visual impairments (hereafter called "teachers") are systematic and use research-based practices in…

Background: Despite evidence that synthetic phonics teaching has increased reading attainments, a sizable minority of children struggle to acquire phonics skills and teachers lack clear principles for deciding what types of "additional" support are most beneficial. Synthetic phonics teaches children to read using a decoding strategy to…

This study aimed to examine the validity of the "simple view of reading" (SVR) model in the diglossic Arabic language. Using a longitudinal design, we tested whether decoding and listening comprehension (LC) in kindergarten can later predict reading comprehension (RC) in the first grade and whether the contribution of LC to RC differs…

Texts classified according to guided reading levels (GRL) are ubiquitous in US beginning reading classrooms. This study examined features of texts across three grade bands (kindergarten, early first grade, final first grade) and the 10 GRLs within these bands. The 510 texts came from three programs with different functions in beginning reading…

We examined the associations between teachers' knowledge of language and literacy constructs, perceived ability to teach early literacy skills, instructional practice, and students' early reading outcomes. The results showed that teacher knowledge predicted quality of instruction, but neither quality of instruction nor teacher knowledge were…

Two methods of decoding instruction were compared. Participants were kindergartners who knew letter sounds but could not decode nonwords, M = 5.6 years. The segmented phonation treatment taught students to convert graphemes to phonemes by breaking the speech stream ("sss -- aaa -- nnn") before blending. The connected phonation treatment…

Pedagogical strategies intended for monolingual classes may not adequately address the educational needs and aspirations of culturally and linguistically diverse learners, as multilingual and bilingual learners differ from monolinguals. This article sought to understand multilingual teachers' pedagogical approaches to helping non-speakers of the…

Early writing is a critical factor in children's literacy development and academic success. This study observed and analyzed videos from twenty-eight teachers working in prekindergarten, kindergarten, and first-grade classrooms in under-resourced schools. The coding process focused on categorizing the type (language- and code-based) and demand…

This study examined how teachers in Tanzania understand and implement Phonics Instructional Approach (PIA) in the teaching of reading among early graders. Specifically, the study assessed teachers' pedagogical knowledge of the use of PIA and explored effective PIA practices used by teachers in literacy skills learning. The study employed…

Imagine reading the following text: [characters omitted]. One will not be able to comprehend this sentence unless she or he can read Korean--is able to decode characters and words in the Korean orthography and has an understanding of the Korean language. This example illustrates the absolutely necessary role of word reading in reading…

Research into reading difficulties in Russian has been taking place for about a century, since the 1920s. Early research established a line of studies on reading acquisition difficulties in the context of highly structured practices of teaching reading. These practices were propagated in the mid-late 19th century by Konstantin Ushinskii, who…