Discusses various controversial issues in reading and suggests that most methods and materials in reading instruction are appropriate and useful in specific situations. References. (VJ)

A preprint from a forthcoming pamphlet of the National Conference on Research in English. (Editor/SW)

Study results do not demonstrate that early reading is made possible by precocity in speech-sound segmentation, blending, or discrimination ability, but that the complex skill involving the manipulation of sounds in temporal order may be more closely related to early reading ability. (AEA)

Reports on a study that examined the effects of decentration training upon second-grade children's responses to reading instruction. Concludes that those who learned to decentrate did better on postinstruction comprehension tests than those who did not learn the technique. (FL)

The question of whether it is easier to learn to read through an ideographic, syllabic, or alphabetic writing system is posed. The linguistic nature of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and English are examined in relation to differences in information processing and cultural factors related to reading disability. (Author/SEW)

Suggests that the sex and socioeconomic status of first grade students have little influence on their reading attitudes. (FL)

Describes Cuba's preschool reading readiness program, which emphasizes phonemic analysis. (AEA)

In two experiments, a short-term recognition memory task that varied the number of letters distinguishing target and comparison stimuli was used to assess the ability of prereaders and beginning readers to utilize graphic information in a three-letter graphic pattern. (HOD)