Shows two major handicaps in the anti-phonics movement which suggest that the future of the movement is doubtful: (1) the demonstrable weakness in both the theory and method of anti-phonics; (2) the increasing confidence that publishes and editors of widely used basal readers are placing in phonics. (BF/JH)

Reviewed research on the effect of speech errors or dialect on children's spelling errors. Concluded evidence did not indicate clear relationship between speech and spelling. Speech therapy or dialect therapy not recommended as spelling technique. (ST)

Discusses the pros and cons of phonics for spelling. (MP)

Reviews research on the association between children's oral language and their writing which, taken as a whole, raises doubts as to the existence of the very close and highly positive relationship some experts say exist between these two aspects of linguistic expression. More than 50 references are cited. (BR)

Suggests that elementary school students could benefit from Readers Theatre, a dramatic procedure in which the roles are read by individual performers without conventional staging. Readers Theatre is more formal than activities such as group reading or library playreading as students practice and interpret roles. Positive educational outcomes are…

This article offers a short history of spelling reform and reviews current arguments pro and con. (SB)

This review of research on handwriting and the legibility of print suggests that: (1) teachers' handwriting is less legible today than in the past, (2) manuscript should replace cursive writing in the classroom, and (3) letter size and case, leading, line length, and spacing between letters are the critical factors for legibility. (JMB)

Disagrees with recommendations made by developmental spelling researchers who advocate radical change in spelling instruction. Discusses flaws in developmental spelling research and questions researchers' advice to classroom teachers. (DR)

Examines the proposition that low frequency monosyllabic words are more difficult to spell than high frequency monosyllabic words having the same vowel phoneme-grapheme spelling patterns. Results obtained from 1,704 second-, third-, and fourth-grade children did not support the proposition. (MP)

Author concludes that the evidence from the science of phonetics and from the experimentation with dictionary syllabication shows that dictionary forms of word division are inappropriate for use in teaching reading and spelling. (Author/RY)