The Perception of Linguistic Structure in Learning to Read

S ummary . The first ad hoc investigations of i.t.a. have established its practical effects in the early stages of learning to read. However, further work is needed to determine exactly how psychologically i.t.a. produces the observed improvements in reading and spelling. The theory is proposed that i.t.a.'s clarification of linguistic structure facilitates perception of phonemes, spoken‐words, graphemes and written words as individual units, and that this is an important factor in the superior achievements of i.t.a. taught pupils. It is argued that, contrary to Vernon's view, this perceptual facilitation should also lead to improvements in ‘the process of synthesis' which she has described

Cognitive psychology · Facilitation · Learning to read · Linguistics · Perception · Reading (process) · Spelling · Philosophy · Psychology · Reading and Literacy Development