Learning Letters: Evidence and Questions From a Science‐of‐Reading Perspective

Abstract

In this article, I illustrate how research from cognitive science and the science of reading can inform research on the science of reading instruction. This purpose is accomplished by focusing on four recently published randomized control trials of instruction designed to teach alphabet letters to 3‐ and 4‐year‐old children (N = 342) attending preschool in the United States. Approximately 35% of the children were dual‐language learners. Instruction ranged from 10 to 12 weeks’ duration and was implemented in small groups taught by research assistants. Evidence for the value of explicit instruction in which paired‐associate learning connecting visual letter forms with their verbal letter labels (names and sounds) for learning letters is reviewed. The effectiveness of explicit instruction for promoting children’s motivation and engagement is identified. The relation of these studies to important features of a science of reading is discussed. Collective and individual instructionally related implications from the studies are elaborated, including replicated evidence of the benefit of visual–verbal paired‐associate learning of printed letters and their spoken names or sounds; the positive effects on motivation and engagement of such instruction; and the benefit of decontextualized letter instruction over letter instruction contextualized within storybook reading, real words, and personal names.

Beyond Labels and Agendas: Research Teachers need to Know about Phonics and Phonological Awareness

“…In this context, educators learn to use "the right terms," but may not know the reading science. Second, there is a need to update phonics and PA instruction with the most current research (e.g., Ehri, 2020;Piasta & Wagner, 2010;Roberts, 2021;Sunde et al, 2020;Vadasy & Sanders, 2021) and scholarship (Aiken et al, 2021;Blevins, 2019;Duke & Mesmer, 2019;Kaye & Lose, 2019). Third, there are topics that are not getting the attention they deserve.…”

“…A group of teachers we know used research (e.g., Roberts, 2021) to form a script for teaching "mouth moves" during phonological awareness instruction:…”

“…These articulatory gestures move phonemic awareness instruction beyond teaching the sounds to include how the sounds are made and how they feel. Teaching children to pay attention to these moves can add value to the learning of phonemes and other alphabet knowledge (Liberman & Matthingly, 1985; Roberts, 2021; Roberts et al, 2019).…”

“…Several research teams have looked at teaching with the use of articulatory gestures and incorporated mouth moves into scaffolding of learning letters (Boyer & Ehri, 2011; Castiglioni‐Spalten & Ehri, 2003; McGee & Ukrainetz, 2011; Roberts, 2021). An intervention that taught letters only was compared with an intervention pairing letters with articulatory moves (Boyer & Ehri, 2011), finding that adding gestures was more effective than teaching letters alone.…”

“…A group of teachers we know used research (e.g., Roberts, 2021) to form a script for teaching “mouth moves” during phonological awareness instruction: Name the parts of the vocal tract. “Stick out your tongue. Say tongue.” [lips, teeth, throat]. Name the target sound. We are going to learn about the sound /b/. Discuss the moves. “Look at this mouth.…”