Studies of preschool reading are reviewed to determine environmental factors repeatedly associated with early reading. (DD)

This study shows that illustration is effective in learning of both simple and complex stories of both long and short length thus arguing against the hypothesis that illustration adds to cognitive load. (HOD)

Two error analyses (one on consonants and one on vowels) underscore the importance of non-visual cognitive processes in reading. (RL)

First grade children were the subjects for this investigation which focused on the role of meaning in the learning of sight vocabulary. (HOD)

Lists a basic sight vocabulary of 96 irregularly spelled words which should be taught through visual memory techniques. (MKM)

Word-learning and reading-readiness tasks administered to inner-city kindergartners indicated that readiness skills included both a general skill that predicted success for both sight-word and sound-symbol methods of instruction and other specific skills which predicted success for only one method of instruction. (AA)

Suggests that the most important factor in a child's learning to read is an environment (ideally in the home, but also in the school) which fosters reading for enjoyment. (JM)

This study was undertaken to determine whether afternoon reading instruction results in greater achievement for beginning readers than does morning instruction. One hundred first grade pupils participated in the study. Implications for practice and continued research are discussed. (Author/MT)

Presents research findings about the development of metalinguistic awareness (MLA) in young children. Discusses MLA and reading readiness, and the implications for beginning reading instruction. Suggests various reading methods which allow children with both high and low levels of MLA to develop literacy. (MM)

Suggests that learning the reasons for and uses of literacy is important for beginning readers. Describes a series of activities, based on practices used in adult literacy programs, that were designed to make first graders aware of the reasons for reading and writing. (ARH)

This paper studied interactive-compensatory predictions in relation to comprehension. It was suggested that when reading predictable text, attention of both good and poor readers is available for comprehension processing but for different reasons: good readers use their context-free word recognition skills, and poor readers use repetitive sentence…

Eleven preschoolers and 19 kindergartners were tested for alphabet knowledge, metalinguistic awareness, ability to spell 10 words, and ability to read either their own or the conventional spellings of those 10 words. Findings are presented. (Author/MT)

A prereading model based on a 9-month longitudinal study of 45 deaf preschool children from state residential schools is presented. The model contends that reading can be initiated by giving deaf children opportunities to match their internalized manual language to printed words, stressing reading-related activities involving parents, teachers,…

Reports an experiment on the rapid naming of printed letter strings by third- and fifth-grade Yugoslavian children. As is consistent with previous experiments on adults, the phonologically ambiguous form of a word or pseudoword was named much more slowly than the phonologically unambiguous form. (Author/BE)