This article reviews research carried out by the Bowman Gray Learning Disabilities Project concerning the role of instruction in the acquisition of word-identification (decoding) skills in children at risk for reading disabilities. A group of 81 kindergarten children were identified as at risk for reading disabilities based on teacher assessment and weak or deficient phonological-processing skills. These children were classified as to type of phonological-processing problem (i.e., phonological awareness or retrieval of phonological information) and were randomly assigned to either a Code or Context instructional method for first and second grades. Children who received Code instruction scored higher than children receiving context instruction on a variety of reading and spelling measures at the end of first and second grades. The elements of the Code instructional program considered critical to the success of a beginning reading instruction program for children with phonological processing problems are discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Adams, M. J. (1990). Beginning to read: Thinking and learning about print. A summary.University of Illinois: Center for the Study of Reading.
2.
Alexander, A. W., Andersen, H. G., Heilman, P. C., Voeller, K. K. S., & Torgesen, J. K. (1991). Phonological awareness training and remediation of analytic decoding deficits in a group of severe dyslexics. Annals of Dyslexia, 41, 193–206.
3.
Ball, E. W., & Blachman, B. A. (1991). Does phoneme awareness training in kindergarten make a difference in early word recognition and developmental spelling?Reading Research Quarterly, 26(1), 49–66.
4.
Beck, I. L. (1981). Reading problems and instructional practices. In G. E. Mackinnon & T. G. Waller (Eds.), Reading research: Advances in theory and practice (Vol. 2, pp. 53–95). New York: Academic Press.
5.
Blachman, B. A. (1987). An alternative classroom reading program for learning disabled and other low-achieving children. In R. Bowler (Ed.), Intimacy with language: A forgotten basic in teacher education (pp. 49–55). Baltimore: The Orton Dyslexia Society.
6.
Bos, C. S. (1982). Getting past decoding: Assisted and repeated readings as remedial methods for learning disabled students. Topics in Learning & Learning Disabilities, 1(4), 51–57.
7.
Bradley, L., & Bryant, P. (1985). Rhyme and reason in reading and spelling.Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
8.
Brown, I. S., & Felton, R. H. (1990). Effects of instruction on beginning reading skills in children at risk for reading disability. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 2, 223–241.
9.
Calfee, R. (1983). The mind of the dyslexic. Annals of Dyslexia, 33, 9–28.
10.
Camp, L. W., Winbury, N. E., & Zinna, D. R. (1981). Strategies for initial reading instruction. Bulletin of the Orton Society, 31, 175–189.
11.
Catts, H. W. (1989). Defining dyslexia as a developmental language disorder. Annals of Dyslexia, 39, 50–64.
12.
Chall, J. (1967). Learning to read: The great debate.New York: McGraw-Hill.
13.
Chall, J. (1979). The great debate: Ten years later with a modest proposal for reading stages. In L. G. Resnick & P. A. Weaver (Eds.), Theory and practice of early reading (Vol. 1, pp. 29–56). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
14.
Denckla, M. B., & Rudel, R. G. (1976). Naming of object drawings by dyslexic and other learning disabled children. Brain and Language, 3, 1–16.
15.
Dykstra, R. (1968). Summary of the second-grade phase of the cooperative research program in primary reading instruction. Reading Research Quarterly, 4, 49–70.
16.
Ehri, L. C. (1989). The development of spelling knowledge and its role in reading acquisition and reading disability. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 22, 336–365.
17.
Ehri, L. C., & Robbins, C. (1992). Beginners need some decoding skill to read words by analogy. Reading Research Quarterly, 27(1), 13–26.
18.
Felton, R. H. (1993). Impact of instruction on word identification skills in children with phonological processing problems. In R. M. Joshi & C. K. Leong (Eds.), Reading disabilities: Diagnosis and component processes.Dordrecht, Holland: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
19.
Felton, R. H., & Brown, I. S. (1990). Phonological processes as predictors of specific reading skills in children at risk for reading failure. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 2, 39–59.
20.
Felton, R. H., & Wood, F. B. (1989). Cognitive deficits in reading disability and attention deficit disorder. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 22, 3–13.
21.
Felton, R. H., & Wood, F. B. (1992). A reading level match study of nonword reading skills in poor readers with varying IQ. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 25, 318–326.
22.
Gough, P. B., & Tunmer, W. E. (1986). Decoding, reading, and reading disability. Remedial and Special Education, 7(1), 6–10.
Jorm, A. F., & Share, D. L. (1983). Phonological recoding and reading acquisition. Applied Psycholinguistics, 4(2), 103–147.
25.
Lewkowicz, N. (1980). Phonemic awareness training: What to teach and how to teach it. Journal of Educational Psychology, 65, 19–24.
26.
Liberman, I. Y., & Liberman, A. M. (1990). Whole language vs. code emphasis: Underlying assumptions and their implications for reading instruction. Annals of Dyslexia, 40, 51–76.
27.
Liberman, I. Y., & Shankweiler, D. (1985). Phonology and the problems of learning to read and write. Remedial and Special Education, 6(6), 8–17.
28.
Liberman, I. Y., Shankweiler, D., Camp, L., Blachman, B., & Werfelman, M. (1980). Steps toward literacy: A linguistic approach. In P. Levinson & C. Sloan (Eds.), Auditory processing and language: Clinical and research perspectives (pp. 189–215). New York: Grune & Stratton.
29.
Lie, A. (1991). Effects of a training program for stimulating skills in word analysis in first-grade children. Reading Research Quarterly, 26, 234–250.
30.
Lindamood, C. H., & Lindamood, P. C. (1975). The ADD program, auditory discrimination in depth: Books 1 and 2.Hingman, MA: DLM Teaching Resources.
31.
Lindamood, C. H., & Lindamood, P. C. (1979). Lindamood auditory conceptualization test.Allen, TX: DLM Teaching Resources.
32.
Lovett, M. W., Ransby, M. J., Hardwick, N., Johns, M. S., & Donaldson, S. A. (1989). Can dyslexia be treated? Treatment-specific and generalized treatment effects in dyslexic children's response to remediation. Brain and Language, 37, 90–121.
Olofsson, A., & Lundberg, I. (1985). Evaluation of long term effects of phonemic awareness training in kindergarten: Illustrations of some methodological problems in evaluation research. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 26, 21–34.
35.
Pennington, B. F. (1991). Genetic and neurological influences on reading disability: An overview. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 3(3/4), 191–204.
36.
Perfetti, C. A. (1986). Continuities in reading acquisition, reading skills, and reading disability. Remedial and Special Education, 7(1), 11–21.
37.
Pflaum, S. W., Walberg, H. J., Karegianes, M. L., & Rasher, S. P. (1980). Reading instruction: A quantitative analysis. Educational Researcher, 9, 12–18.
38.
Rack, J. P., Snowling, M. J., & Olson, R. K. (1992). The nonword reading deficit in developmental dyslexia: A review. Reading Research Quarterly, 27, (1), 29–53.
39.
Richardson, E., & DiBenedetto, B. (1985). Decoding skills test.Parkton, MD: York Press.
40.
Rosner, J. (1975). Helping children overcome learning difficulties.New York: Walker and Co.
41.
Shankweiler, D., & Liberman, I. (1989). Phonology and reading disability: Solving the reading puzzle.Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
42.
Simmons, D. C. (1992). Perspectives on dyslexia: Commentary on educational concerns. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 25, 66–70.
43.
Stanovich, K. E. (1988). Explaining the differences between the dyslexic and the garden-variety poor reader: The phonological-core variable-difference model. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 21, 590–604.
44.
Stanovich, K. E. (1991). Discrepancy definitions of reading disability: Has intelligence led us astray?Reading Research Quarterly, 26, 7–29.
45.
van Bon, W. H. J., Boksebeld, L. M., Font Freide, T. A. M., & van den Hurk, A. J. M. (1991). A comparison of three methods of reading-while-listening. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 24, 471–476.
46.
Wagner, R. K., & Torgesen, J. K. (1987). The nature of phonological processing and its causal role in the acquisition of reading skills. Psychological Bulletin, 101(2), 192–212.
47.
Williams, J. P. (1979). Reading instruction today. American Psychologist, 34, 917–922.
48.
Wolf, M. (1984). Naming, reading, and the dyslexias: A longitudinal overview. Annals of Dyslexia, 34, 87–115.
49.
Woodcock, R. W. (1973). Woodcock reading mastery tests.Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service.
