Alphabetic principle

Abstract: This monograph discusses research, theory, and prac- tice relevant to how children learn to read English. After an initial overview of writing systems, the discussion summarizes research from developmental psychology on children's lan- guage competency when they enter school and on the nature of early reading development. Subsequent sections review theo- ries of learning to read, the characteristics of children who do not learn to read (i.e., who have developmental dyslexia), re- search from cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience on skilled reading, and connectionist models of learning to read. The implications of the research findings for learning to read and teaching reading are discussed. Next, the primary methods used to teach reading (phonics and whole language) are summarized. The final section reviews laboratory and classroom studies on teaching reading. From these different sources of evidence, two inescapable conclusions emerge: (a) Mastering the alphabetic principle (that written symbols are associated with phonemes) is essential to becoming proficient in the skill of reading, and (b) methods that teach this principle directly are more effective than those that do not (especially for children who are at risk in some way for having difficulty learning to read). Using whole-language activities to supple- ment phonics instruction does help make reading fun and meaningful for children, but ultimately, phonics instruction is critically important because it helps beginning readers under- stand the alphabetic principle and learn new words. Thus, ele- mentary-school teachers who make the alphabetic principle explicit are most effective in helping their students become skilled, independent readers.

Abstract: Publisher Summary This chapter discusses that the varying dependence on the alphabetic principle may mean for the mental processes involved in reading and writing. Within the group of alphabetic orthographies itself, there are varying degrees of dependence on the strict alphabetic principle: the range of correspondence between grapheme and phoneme varies both in consistency and completeness. The degree of this dependence is to some extent a function of a language's characteristic phonology and morphology, just as was the choice of the kind of orthography itself. Even among the various alphabetic writing systems themselves, there are major differences in the degree to which they mirror the phonemic structure of their respective spoken languages. The reason for the differences is largely accounted for by the particular phonological and morphological characteristics of each language. For example, standard written Hebrew is an orthography in which all diacritics (or points) are omitted. These diacritics represent nearly all of the vowels and are also used to disambiguate some of the consonants.

Abstract: @contents: Selected Contents: Table of Contents Chapter 1 Learning to read in another language 1 Learning to read in the first language Learning to read in another language Principles for teaching reading Chapter 2 Learning to recognise and spell words Prerequisites for formal reading instruction Phonics and the alphabetic principle The role of phonics in a reading programme Spelling: productive phonics Learning to spell Designing a focused spelling programme Chapter 3 Intensive reading Focuses in intensive reading Features of a good reading exercise Are comprehension questions good reading exercises? Comprehension of the text The focus of comprehension questions Grammar features in the text Cohesive devices Strategy development Standardized reading procedures Handling the exercises The role of teaching exercises Chapter 4 Extensive reading Understand the goals and limitations of extensive reading Find your learners= present vocabulary level Provide plenty of interesting and appropriate reading texts Set, encourage and monitor large quantities of extensive reading Support and supplement extensive reading with language focused learning and fluency development Help learners move systematically through the graded reader levels Simplified and unsimplified texts The extensive reading programme Chapter 5 Reading faster The nature and limits of reading speed The nature of fluency development The nature of fluency development activities Increasing oral reading speed Increasing careful silent reading speed Increasing silent expeditious reading speed Frequently asked questions about reading speed Chapter 6 Assessing reading Motivating Measuring achievement Diagnosing problems Measuring reading proficiency Issues in making and using comprehension tests Chapter 7 Helping learners write Principles for teaching writing Designing tasks Experience tasks Bringing tasks within the learners' experience Making sure learners have the experience to do a task Shared tasks Guided tasks Independent tasks Using the four kinds of tasks Chapter 8 The writing process The parts of a writing programme Meaning-focused writing The parts of the writing process Considering the goals of the writer and model of the reader Gathering ideas Ideas to text Editing Reviewing Diagnosing control of the parts of the writing process Diagnosing from the written product Chapter 9 Topic types The topic type hypothesis Topic types and writing Topic types and reading Limitations of the topic type approach Chapter 10 Responding to written work Motivating Improving the quality of writing Measuring proficiency in writing Appendix 1 Spelling correspondences Appendix 2 Conjunction relationships References