In the traditional alphabet, 26 letters represent 40 different and distinct sounds of the spoken English language in transcription. This prevents a one-to-one phoneme-grapheme correspondence since some of the written symbols represent more than one sound. These inconsistencies in the writing system, recognized as the source of difficulty in learning to read and write, have led to numerous and varying teaching methods and materials in efforts to cope with the unchanging alphabet. On the other hand, efforts have been directed toward changing the alphabet for beginning instruction by using systems with a high degree of phoneme-grapheme correspondence in the initial stages of reading and writing instruction. This review of historical research describes the early investigation of orthography as a medium of instruction and its role in the development of writing competency. (Contains a 70-item bibliography of research published between 1925 and 1969.) (NKA)