MUCH OF LANGUAGE ARTS TEACHING IS BASED ON THE ASSUMPTION THAT WORDS ARE NATURAL UNITS OF LANGUAGE AND THAT PRINTED WORDS HAVE ONE-TO-ONE CORRESPONDENCES WITH WORDS IN SPEECH. THE OUTCOME OF THIS ASSUMPTION IS TO EMPHASIZE THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHILD'S SIGHT VOCABULARY AND WORD PERCEPTION, ESPECIALLY IN RELATION TO THE TEACHING OF READING. INSTEAD OF REGARDING WORDS AND MORPHEMES AS USEFUL CONSTRUCTS FOR DIVIDING LONGER UNITS OF LANGUAGE INTO SEGMENTAL UNITS, THESE LONGER UNITS ARE CONSIDERED ACCUMULATIONS OF WORDS OR MORPHEMES. EDUCATED PEOPLE USUALLY IMPOSE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF WRITTEN WORDS ON ORAL LANGUAGE, FORGETTING THAT PHONEMIC, MORPHEMIC, SYNTACTICAL, GRAPHEMIC, AND MORPHOLOGICAL STRUCTURES DO NOT HAVE PERFECT CORRESPONDENCE AMONG THEM. THE WORD IS A UNIT OF WRITTEN SYMBOLISM, BUT CHILDREN SPEAK IN LANGUAGE. A LIST OF FIVE WORDS IS NOT COMARABLE TO A FIVE-WORD SENTENCE. LESS WORD-CENTEREDNESS IN READING MATERIALS AND READING INSTRUCTION SHOULD BE ATTEMPTED, AND CHILDREN SHOULD BE HELPED TO SEE PHRASES AS SUBDIVISIONS OF SENTENCES. THIS PAPER WAS PRESENTED AT THE INTERNATIONAL READING ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE (BOSTON, APRIL 24-27, 1968). (WL)