Skip to Content
Ask an Expert

 How do I begin this year with several first graders identified with Dyslexia?

If there are no provisions for small group instruction, that is an important first step. Students with dyslexia need... [More]


a resource from
Neuhaus Edication Center

Research-based Component 1 – Phonemic Awareness

 
  • Neuhaus Education Center classes equip teachers with activities to teach and reinforce all levels of phonological awareness, especially phonemic awareness. Neuhaus Education Center classes also assist teachers in the categorization and production of the 44 speech sounds of English.

  • Phonemic awareness is a strong predictor of reading success. While not totally sufficient in itself, phonemic awareness is necessary for successful reading. Phonemic awareness can be taught.

  • Most students with dyslexia demonstrate a deficit in phonemic awareness. This deficit is not a development lag. It is a deficit that demands early and immediate intervention.
 

References

Adams, M. J. (1990). Learning to reading: Thinking and learning about print. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Ball, E. W. & Blachman, B. A. (1988). Phonemic segmentation training. Effect on reading readiness. Annals of Dyslexia, 38, 208-225.
Ball, E. W. & Blachman, B. A. (1991). Does phonemic awareness training in kindergarten make a difference in early word recognition and developmental spelling? Reading Research Quarterly, 26(1), 46-66.
Blachman, B. (1987). An alternative classroom reading program for learning disabled and other low-achieving children. In W. Ellis (Ed.) Intimacy with language: A forgotten basic in teacher education. Baltimore: The Orton Society.
Blachman, B. (1991). Phonological awareness: Implications for pre-reading and early reading instruction. In S. Brady and D. Shankweiler (Eds.), Phonological processes in literacy: A tribute to Isabelle Y. Liberman. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Blachman, B. (Ed.). (1997). Foundations of reading acquisition and dyslexia: Implications for early intervention. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Bradley, L. & Bryant, P. E. (1983). Categorizing sounds and learning to read: A causal connection. Nature, 30, 419-421.
Brady, S., Fowler, A., Stone, B., & Winbury, N. (1994). Training phonological awareness: An inner-city intervention project. Annals of Dyslexia, 44, 26-59.
Bryne, B. & Fielding-Barnsley, R. (1995). Evaluation of a program to teach phonemic awareness to young children: A 2- and 3-year follow-up and a new preschool trial. Journal of Educational Psychology, 85,1-5.
Foorman, B. R., Francis, D. J., Shaywitz, S. E., Shaywitz, B. A., & Fletcher, J. M. (1998). The case for early reading intervention. In B. Blachman (Ed.), Foundations of reading acquisitions. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Liberman, I. Y. (1973). Segmentation of the spoken word. Bulletin of the Orton Society 23:65-77.
Liberman, I. Y., Shanweiler, D., Fischer, F. W., & Carter, B. (1974). Explicit syllable and phoneme segmentation in the young child. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 18, 201-212.
Lyon, G. R. (1995). Toward a definition of dyslexia. Annals of Dyslexia, 45, 3-27.
National Institutes of Health (2000). Report of the National Reading Panel: Teaching children to read (NIH Publication No. 00-4769). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Nicholson, T. (1997). Closing the gap on reading failure: Social background, phonemic awareness, and learning to read. In B. Blachman (Ed.), Foundations of reading Acquisition and dyslexia (pp.381-407). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Perfetti, C. A., Beck, I., Bell, L., & Hughes, C. (1987). Phonemic knowledge and learning to read are reciprocal: A longitudinal study of first-grade children. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly 33: 282-319.
Rack J., Hulme, C., Snowling, M., & Wightman, J. (1994). The role of phonology in young children learning to read words: The direct mapping hypothesis. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 57, 42-71.
Snow, C. E., Burns, M. S., & Griffin, P. (Eds.). (1998). Preventing reading difficulties in young children. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
Stanovich, K. E. (1986). Matthew effect in reading: Some consequences of individual differences in the acquisition of literacy. Reading Research Quarterly, 21, 360-407.
Uhry, J. K (1995). Predicting reading from phonological awareness and classroom print: An early reading screening. Educational Assessment, 1, 349-368.
Yopp, H. K. (1995). A test for assessing phonemic awareness in young children. The Reading Teacher, 49, 20-29.