The phonological information provided by written words may be used by the reader as a convenient temporary storage medium and as a way of gaining access to the lexicon. Beginning readers should be able to exploit the sound-based patterning of the orthography in reading single words and to bypass it on occasion. Some words do not conform to English…

The extent to which cuing strategies and basic skills explanations of early reading constitute complementary approaches was examined in a study involving 94 fourth grade students. Basic skills--a unidimensional component based on measures of vocabulary development, language skills, and work-study skills--proved to be a powerful variable mediating…

A BEGINNING READING PROGRAM FOR SPANISH-SPEAKING CHILDREN IS REPORTED. A STUDY, SPONSORED BY THE SOUTHWEST REGIONAL LABORATORY FOR EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (SWRL), DEVELOPED LEARNING SEQUENCES FOR A BEGINNING READING PROGRAM FOR KINDERGARTEN CLASSROOMS WITH SPANISH-SPEAKING CHILDREN THROUGHOUT THE SOUTHWEST REGION. EACH OF 21 10-MINUTE…

THE GREATEST PROBLEM FACING EDUCATION TODAY IS THE ERADICTION OF ILLITERACY IN OUR OWN AND OTHER COUNTRIES. TEACHING READING TO ILLITERATE ADULTS IS PRIMARILY A MATTER OF ESTABLISHING THE PROPER CORRELATION BETWEEN THE ELEMENTS OF THE WRITTEN LANGUAGE, WHICH ARE UNKNOWN TO THEM, AND ELEMENTS OF THE SPOKEN LANGUAGE ALREADY IN THEIR REPERTOIRE. THE…

ADULT ILLITERACY RESULTS FROM POVERTY, AND, MANY TIMES, SUPPRESSION. ILLITERACY IS SELF-MAINTAINING BECAUSE ILLITERATES CANNOT GAIN NEW KNOWLEDGE OR FULLY PARTICIPATE IN ECONOMIC, CULTURAL OR POLITICAL LIFE OF THEIR SOCIETY. THE PROJECT WAS AN ATTEMPT TO APPLY THE PRINCIPLES OF PROGRAMED INSTRUCTION TO THE TEACHING OF READING TO ADULT ILLITERATES.…

A DESCRIPTION IS MADE OF AN ATTEMPT TO APPLY TO FIRST GRADE READING INSTRUCTION THE IDEA THAT CHILDREN CAN BENEFIT WHEN THE TEACHING OF READING IS ADAPTED TO THEIR COGNITIVE STYLE. PRETESTING WAS DONE TO DISCOVER THE STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES IN LEARNING APTITUDES, AND THE TEACHING PROCEDURE WAS MODIFIED TO EMPHASIZE COMPARATIVELY STRONG ABILITIES.…

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE TWO METHODS OF FIRST-GRADE BEGINNING READING INSTRUCTION WERE INVESTIGATED. APPROXIMATELY 920 FIRST-GRADE CHILDREN WERE DIVIDED INTO 2 GROUPS WHICH RECEIVED 1 OF THE 2 METHODS. TO DETERMINE THE EFFECTS OF CERTAIN VARIABLES ON READING ACHIEVEMENT, THE CHILDREN WERE MATCHED IN PAIRS. THE RESULTS WERE GATHERED FROM ONE GROUP…

This manual is designed to aid observers in the classroom in the use of an observation form entitled "The Student-Level Observation of Beginning Reading," which focuses on the content of instructional activities in reading at the individual student level. Instructions are provided on how to identify a set of behaviors such as direct and indirect…

This paper describes a child-centered first grade classroom where learning to read is viewed as a natural step in the language acquisition process. Discussed in detail are methods of individualizing instruction for four particular children, the use of basal readers, daily writing activities using the Language Experience Approach, and both group…

The conclusions and recommendations drawn from a 7-year study of the Initial Teaching Alphabet (i/t/a) made by the Reading Research Unit of London University are reported. The British research showed conclusively that traditional orthography (TO) is a major handicap for teachers and students of reading. Students taught with i/t/a made…

Forty first-grade classes were divided into four treatment groups to determine the effectiveness of three reading methods with low ability students. Treatment A subjects used the regular basal program. Treatment B subjects used the same basal program, with the low subgroup receiving additional instruction from remedial reading teachers. Treatment…

Pertinent findings from the combined analyses of results of the United States Office of Education First-Grade Reading Studies are presented. Suggestions for incorporating diagnostic findings into the classroom teaching of reading are presented. The first-grade studies demonstrate that the reading achievement of first- and second-grade children is…

A 2-year continuation of one of the 27 U. S. Office of Education First Grade Reading Studies is reported. Students in the linguistics approach were initially taught to read using the experimental edition of "A Basic Reading Series Developed upon Linguistic Principles" by Charles C. Fries and others. Students in the basal reader approach…

Skilled reading depends upon a multiplicity of perceptual, linguistic, and cognitive processes; inadequate development of one or more of these processes may in turn lead to reading difficulty. This report considers some of the processes that may be especially problematic for the young reader. After an overview in which skilled reading is described…

This study reveals that children from the age of four to six years are unable to segment meaningful sentences into component words. The experiment investigated three hypotheses of performance on a word-learning task for beginning readers and prereaders. Readers and prereaders were taught five words as oral responses, each word paired with a…