Literature Review

Literature Review



“Half of all children will eventually learn to read at their grade-level, whether they’re taught to sound out words or to look at pictures.”


Kathy Lalfy and Debbie M. Price, (Jan. 4, 1998); The Palm Beach Post:

Learning how to read


“Educators have long argued over the best way to teach reading to children. The research, however, indicates that a highly popular method is inadequate on its own. Many teachers adopted the whole language approach because of its intuitive appeal.”


Keith Rayner, Barbara R. Foorman, Charles A. Perfetti, David Pesetsky, and Mark S. Seidenberg. (2002, March). How should reading be taught? Scientific America, 286 (3), 84-91


"Although less skilled readers are handicapped by their poor phonological skills, The results suggest that in less skilled adult readers, phonological skills are a primary factor in their reading despite some evidence of visual-orthographic compensation."


Raymond L. Majeres. (2005). Phonological and Orthographic Coding Skills in Adult Readers. The Journal of General Psychology, 132 (3), 267-280


"In this study, two experiments were conducted in order to investigate how the right and left cerebral hemispheres recognize visually presented words pre-lexically. The backward masking technique was used to target words that were backward masked orthographically and phonologically….Research yielded that each hemisphere makes a meaningful contribution to word recognition prior to lexical access."



Halderman, Laura Katherine (2006). A time course investigation of pre-lexical orthographic and phonological processes in the cerebral hemisphere. Ph. D. dissertation, University of California, Riverside, United States—California


"Whole language/language experience approaches are almost equal in results with several expectations: First, whole language/language experience approaches may be more effective in kindergarten than in first grade. Second, they may produce stronger effects on measures of word recognition than on measures of reading comprehension. Third, recent studies show a trend toward stronger effects for the basal reading program vs. whole language/language experience methods. Fourth, whole language/language experience approaches produce weaker effects with populations labeled specifically as disadvantaged than they do with those not specifically labeled. Finally, studies with higher rated quality tend to produce lower effect sizes and the lowest effects sizes were found in studies that evaluated existing programs as opposed to newly implemented experimental programs."


Stahl, Steven, and Miller Patricia (2004). Whole Language and Language Experience Approaches for Beginning Reading: A Qualitative Research Synthesis. Review of Educational Research, Vol. 59, No. 1, 87-116


"New English Language Development (EDL) Program from SRA/ McGraw-Hill supports California's English Learners with language deficiencies in phonics."


SRA/McGraw-Hill Supports California’s English Learners with State-Approved Imagine It! ELD Program. (20 November). P.R. Newswire


"Sesame Street English Workshop solicits the help of the Muppets, Elmo, and Cookie Monster just to name a few in teaching young viewers about letters, phonics, and other related concepts to deliver a more interactive approach to language learning experience via technology. Electronics like the platform-agnostic 26x two-minute Sesame Street English shorts; include a wireless Leapfrog-esque magic pen that children can use to answer questions and play games."


Emily Claire Afan. (2009, February), Sesame Street English goes digital. KidScreen, 57.


"Research based program, PCI, gains national recognition by being named the 2009 Distinguished Achievement Award recipient for its curriculum designed to aid students with developmental disabilities, autism, and significant learning difficulties. The program uses visual discrimination, the ability to quickly distinguish one letter from another, and an increase in sight-word vocabulary."


PCI Reading Program Named 2009 Distinguished Achievement Award Finalist by The Association of Educational Publishers. (20 April) P.R. Newswire


“…scientific studies indicate phonics instruction produced better reading scores than other methods.”


Reyner, Jon. (2008 December). The Reading Wars: Phonics vs. Whole Language. Northern Arizona University


“California issues report from Reading Task Force by way of State Superintendent of Public Instruction, to return to a balance in the way reading is taught with effective whole language classrooms.”


Eastin, Delaine. CSU Institute for Education Reform.(2003).Building A Powerful Reading Program: From Research to Practice