Finds no evidence to counter the assumption that reading begins with a logographic stage; teaching method had a significant impact on children's reading strategies; and several children taught using the whole word technique appeared to exhibit letter-by-letter reading. Suggests that letter-by-letter dyslexia might be an extreme form of a strategy…

Investigates the relationship between different levels of phonological awareness and literacy acquisition in Portuguese. Finds that phonemic awareness plays an important role in alphabetic literacy acquisition. Notes that both sensitivity to phonemic similarity and phonemic segmentation skills significantly predicted reading and spelling ability,…

Investigates the development and role of phonological recoding in beginning reading. Finds regular phases in phonological recoding prior to accuracy in reading simple pseudowords and a strong but changing relationship between these rudimentary skills and several reading tasks. Finds that phonological recoding and phoneme awareness are complex…

Examines material imported into emergent readings--material that is not contained in the original written text of a book--as evidence of the types of information emergent readers use. Pinpoints four sources of nontext importations in the emergent readings: material from illustrations, from prior read-aloud sessions, from personal experience and…

First and second grade teachers (n=275) were surveyed concerning their knowledge about and attitudes toward the whole-language approach to reading instruction. Findings suggest that many teachers are not persuaded that the whole-language approach to reading instruction is to be preferred over other methods such as intensive phonics instruction or…

Summarizes recent ERIC documents and journal articles relating to topics examined in this issue of the Early Childhood Research Quarterly. (BG)

Suggests ways that the classroom teacher can convey to students through learning experiences their role as readers. (RS)

Investigates whether perceptions of literacy acquisition held by parents of young children are consistent with an emergent literacy model. Finds the following: some high-literate parents held traditional assumptions about literacy; parents supported some aspects of emergent literacy much more than they did others; and some parents retained…

An inventory collected responses from 63 adult beginning readers and 41 proficient readers regarding beliefs, feelings, and behaviors about consumer, social context, work-related, at-home, and recreational reading. Many views of the two groups were similar, although beginners disliked reading complex materials and reading aloud, do not read at…

Principles to guide practice for adult beginning reading are (1) a positive rapport; (2) self-revelation; (3) a partnership approach to learning; (4) celebration of success; (5) relevant material; (6) continuous student assessment; (7) reinforcement of literacy skills; (8) mutual respect; (9) a philosophy of reading; and (10) a risk-taking…

Reviews approximately 15 years of exploration of children's emergent writing and the transition into conventional writing, covering the period from infancy through first grade. Illustrates a progression from descriptions of children's proficiencies to collaborations between classroom- and university-based educators that are aimed at increasing…

Presents strategies teachers might use to assess and promote beginning readers' phonemic awareness, a factor shown to be strongly linked to the successful acquisition of reading ability. (MG)

Reports early findings from a longitudinal study of low socioeconomic status urban African-American kindergarten/first-grade children's emergent readings of literature. Finds that these children showed similar developmental patterns to those in previous studies, but they initially declared vehemently that they could not read. (RS)

Synthesizes research on the basic processes and instructional factors that influence literacy development. Points out patterns of agreement and disagreement among literacy scholars and practitioners. Presents an agenda for reading research of the future. (RS)

This article reviews the literature on the importance of phonological awareness within the context of language/literacy learning and discusses the developmental continuum of phoneme awareness skills. Specific techniques are suggested to guide the speech-language pathologist in the assessment of phonological awareness skills. (Author/DB)