In this classic edition of their ground-breaking work, Usha Goswami and Peter Bryant revisit their influential theory about how phonological skills support the development of literacy. The book describes three causal factors which can account for children's reading and spelling development:

• pre-school phonological knowledge of rhyme and alliteration
• the impact of alphabetic instruction on knowledge about phonemes
• links between early spelling and later reading.

This classic edition includes a new introduction from the authors which evaluates research from the past 25 years. Examining new evidence from auditory neuroscience, statistical modelling and orthographic database analyses, as well as new data from cognitive developmental psychology and educational studies, the authors consider how well their original ideas have stood up to the test of time.

Phonological Skills and Learning to Read will continue to be essential reading for students and researchers in language and literacy development, and those involved in teaching children to read.

About the Author
Usha Goswami is Professor of Cognitive Developmental Neuroscience at the University of Cambridge, UK. She is also Director of the Centre for Neuroscience in Education, which carries out research into the brain basis of literacy, numeracy, dyslexia and dyscalculia. Peter Bryant is Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Education at the University of Oxford UK.

Reviews

This book really gives one the feeling that progress has been made. The meticulous stock-taking evident in the extensive literature review has brought this out. The great puzzle of the phoneme in literacy is virtually solved. The hunt for this solution has been one of the most exciting enterprises in psychology today. Moreover, it has brought developmental psychology into direct contact with educational practice. This book is scholarly yet clear, didactic yet fun to read. It can be recommended to anybody who has ever wondered how children learn to read...I am wholly enthusiastic about this book, and I believe that it will be much in demand as a set course book. - Uta Frith, MRC Cognitive Development Unit, London, UK

Goswami and Bryant have provided us with an excellent book. It is clearly written and a delight to read. It is relevant to both theory and the practical task of teaching children to read. It will, deservedly, be read by a wide audience. - Margaret Snowling, Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry

I have thoroughly enjoyed reading this monograph...The argument is a delight...This will be a very valuable contribution to thinking about the role of phonological processing in reading and in learning to read, but it will also be usable as an undergraduate text. I shall certainly consider using it to support my own course on Reading and Understanding. -

Geoffrey Underwood, University of Nottingham, UK

Goswami and Bryant assemble an impressive number of research studies which bear on their thesis, outlining them clearly and succinctly. They write persuasively but never dogmatically, revealing a refreshing willingness to give credit to theoretical positions other than their own. This book deserves serious attention by all those who are keen to relate the practice of the teaching of reading to theory which is firmly grounded in careful empirical work. -

Katherine Perera, The Times Higher Education Supplement

Perhaps the real contribution of this attractive monograph is that it offers a new conceptualisation of the relationship between speech and literacy which can give an exciting direction for future research. -

P.H.K. Seymour, The Times Higher Educational Supplement

I think this is an excellent and timely book. It has been a pleasure reviewing it. -

Charles Hulme, University of York, UK

This is a revised edition of the authors' groundbreaking work, which revists their theory about how phonlogical skills support the development of literacy. This new edition evaluates research from the past 25 years and examines fresh evidence from a wide variety of associated fields, assessing how the original theory stands the test of time. - Neil Henty, Early Years Educator

Book Information
ISBN 9781138907485
Author Usha Goswami
Format Paperback
Page Count 162
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 298g