A comparison was made of 10-year-old boys and girls who had learnt to read by analytic or synthetic phonics methods as part of their early literacy programmes. The boys taught by the synthetic phonics method had better word reading than the girls in their classes, and their spelling and reading comprehension was as good. In contrast, with analytic…

In the Jackson and Coltheart theory of acquisition of word reading it is claimed that, near the beginning of the partial alphabetic phase of development, children have full use of abstract letter units (ALUs). This claim and less exclusive alternatives were examined. In Experiment 1, normal progress children with on average 9 months of school…

In Experiment 1, it was found that 5-year-old new school entrants taught by a synthetic phonics method had better reading, spelling and phonemic awareness than two groups taught analytic phonics. The synthetic phonics children were the only ones that could read by analogy, and they also showed better reading of irregular words and nonwords. For…

Compares reading disabled children with two matched reading-level normal control groups on indicators of phonological processing. Finds that a nonword reading deficit was not in itself diagnostic of developmental reading disability. Discusses processes involving two sources of knowledge for phonological recoding as explanations of results on…

Examines phonological awareness at the level of phonemes and rhyme and relates this to nonword naming ability. Finds that phoneme awareness correlated significantly with poor readers' word and nonword reading ability, whereas rhyming skill did not. Concludes that phoneme awareness may be more important than rhyming skill in understanding reading…

Examines the extent to which preschool children are aware of and acquire the phonemic structure of the spoken word. Tests 4-year-old nonreaders, assessing product name reading ability, knowledge of the alphabet, rhyme skills, and explicit phonemic awareness ability. Finds subjects acquired knowledge of the alphabet before they showed explicit…