Debates the question of how automaticity in reading develops. Suggests that the traditional view of automaticity development (a result of limited attentional capacity) does not adequately describe the process. Discusses comparisons of alternative views of automaticity and the traditional view. (RS)

Forty-seven children (ages 4-6) with language handicaps were assigned to receive training in 1 of 3 categories of phonological tasks (rhyming, blending, and segmenting) or a control group. Subjects made significant progress in each experimental category but demonstrated little or no generalization within a category or between categories.…

Describes the positive experiences of veteran teachers who have switched from basal reading to the whole language approach. (PRA)

Presents 10 annotations of reports, conference papers, and research summaries published in 1988 and 1989 concerning the many roles parents play in the acquisition and development of language and literacy of their children. (RS)

Suggests a schema for school personnel interested in planning for the implementation of a Reading Recovery program. Emphasizes that Reading Recovery is a system of intervention, not a bag of tricks or quickie methods. Describes the nature of full implementation, its importance, and how to plan for it. (RS)

Discusses how the authors collaborated to develop a literacy curriculum, using environmental print, for a public school prekindergarten program for at-risk four year olds. (MG)

Considers the prospects and need for a psychologically plausible connectionist model of the development of word recognition skills. Emphasizes the importance of phonological skills as precursors and facilitators of learning to read. Argues that it may be possible to develop a connectionist model which will be more consistent with evidence from…

Suggests placing phonological awareness in the context of the problems of reading and the symptoms of reading disability. Considers how reading builds on the foundations of the child's development of primary language. Contains eight assertions about the development of reading and its difficulties. (SC)

Provides percentages of children ages 3 to 5 who were read to, told a story, or taken to the library by a parent or other family member. (Author/SLD)

Highlights two problems with examined study: (1) investigation is based on a misunderstanding of Goswami and Bryant's claims about the role of rhyme and analogy in beginning reading; and (2) methodological weaknesses, in particular unintended intra-list priming effects, limit the conclusions that can be drawn from the booklet analogy task. (Author)

Examines each of Goswami's criticisms of the methodology employed by Bowey et al. Argues none can explain the differential analogy and phonological priming effects or why, when phonological priming effects are controlled, size of the end analogy effect is no greater than that of beginning and medial vowel analogy effects. (Author)

Analyzes and compares the types and frequencies of background knowledge children use during independent emergent readings, and those children and teachers use in group-shared reading experiences that precede emergent readings. Uses this information to provide evidence for a model of reading as an activity constrained by contextual factors such as…

Examines literacy development among a group of preschool and kindergarten children through changes in the form, function, and perception of their written names. Studies 67 3-, 4-, and 5-year olds, their teachers, instructional aides, and 6 case-study parents participating in a yearlong analysis. Concludes that "name" has the…

Argues for the use of American Sign Language (ASL), rather than spoken English or Manual English, with deaf children in to build language and thinking skills and thereby mediate the meaning of English in print and facilitate literacy development. (DB)

Responds to a critique of an article on the advantage of reading instructional approaches emphasizing explicit instruction in the alphabetic principle for at-risk children. While the critique suggested it was an over-simplistic solution to a complex problem, this response suggests there are some instructional principles that can be used to enhance…