Examines if phonological processing in biscriptal Japanese orthography may accompany accurate, rapid visual recognition of single "kanji" characters according to semantic/phonetic constituent elements, and high- and low-frequency "katakana" words. Suggests that visual-phonetic recoding may be possible in accessing difficult…

Describes how Reading Recovery addresses one part of Michigan's plan--the five essential components of reading--and helps more than 700 Michigan schools address the state's literacy initiatives. Discusses the five essential components of reading: phonemic awareness; phonics; vocabulary development; fluency; and comprehension. (SG)

Reviews the conception of early literacy acquisition as a social-cognitive activity, sketches the evolution of phonemic awareness, and discusses how psychological research might contribute to understanding and applying this construct. The paper suggests the importance of synergy between previously warring factions and highlights the need for…

Defines and discusses phonemic awareness, summarizes research regarding its importance for success in reading, and reviews literature on teaching phonemic awareness. Suggests a scope and sequence for teaching phonemic awareness and describes specific activities. (Author/JDM)

Characteristics of spelling development and spelling error patterns were examined in 100 schoolchildren (ages 7 to 15) previously identified as dyslexic with specific phonological weaknesses. Comparison of subgroups indicated that better spellers are also better readers and that measures of phonemic segmenting and manipulation make independent…

Twenty-two children (ages 6-10) with Down syndrome were tested for receptive language, cognitive function, oral reading, and phonological awareness. Re-assessment 9 months later found better oral reading was associated with superior phoneme segmentation skills. Also, early segmentation ability appeared to predict later nonword reading, but not the…

Considers and discusses different ways of teaching phonemic awareness. Suggests that 5 factors should be included to have an adequate background for informed decision making about phonemic awareness instruction. Describes 10 books, guidebooks and activity books with phonemic awareness or phonological awareness in their titles. (SG)

The reliability and validity of a frequency discrimination (FD) task were tested in 16 people with specific language impairment (SLI) and 16 people with normal spoken language (controls). The FD thresholds of the 2 groups indicated that FD thresholds for 25-ms and 250-ms tones were remarkably stable across 18 months. The FD thresholds were lower…

The ability to read is essential to school-based learning and skilled responding in an information rich society. Unfortunately, many students in today's schools do not become skilled readers. Many reading researchers (Blachman 1996, 1997; Felton, 1993; Fletcher & Lyon, 1998; Torgesen, 1997) agree that the vast majority of problems experienced…

Since the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act (2001), districts, schools, and educators are pressured to collect, analyze and report data annually regarding student performance. If high-stakes assessments are to be useful tools for educators in their classrooms, the data need to be applicable in conveying meaningful instructional information…

This study examined the learning of teacher candidates taking a language arts course in a special-educator preparation program and that of the second graders they tutored in a supervised field component of the course. Teacher candidates' knowledge of literacy instruction was assessed using five knowledge tasks; children were assessed on several…

Reading First has been implemented in Nebraska since the 2004-5 academic year. In two rounds of funding and participation, schools have transformed the way they trained their teachers, measured student progress, and taught. This transformation is one of the hardest tasks in education and it has taken the considerable dedication of school personnel…

The authors studied the acquisition of nine #sC clusters in 30 Croatian-speaking phonologically disordered children, aged between 3;8-7;0 years, by analysing their renditions of target words elicited in response to visual stimuli presented on a computer screen. Results did not support the idea that a greater jump in sonority from C1 to C2 would…

A program to teach young children about phonological structure was evaluated with 64 experimental group and 62 control group preschoolers in Australia. Results support the efficacy of the program and the principle that phonological awareness and letter knowledge are necessary but not sufficient for acquisition of the alphabetic principle. (SLD)

Neurologist and middle school teacher Judy Willis connects what you do in the classroom to what happens in the brain when students learn how to read, including: (1) Why a classroom has to be safe and supportive in order to overcome barriers to reading fluency; (2) How to jumpstart students who are not well prepared for reading with activities that…