The Effects of Different Types of Teaching Methods and Verbal Feedback on the Performance of Beginning Readers

Abstract

Initial reading acquisition was taught to 64 kindergarten children for 11 weeks utilizing a two × two × four factorial design. The two antecedent conditions were the Lippincott (phonics — Ph) and Scott-Foresman (sight recognition — SR) Series. The two consequent conditions were positive verbal feedback following correct reading responses (R-N) and negative verbal feedback following incorrect reading responses (N-W). Four experimenter-teachers (ET) were used. Utilizing standardized tests of reading achievement, it was found that Ph produced a reading response of letter-sound combinations, whereas SR produced recognition of a limited number of words. There were no consistent differences for the variables of teacher, IQ, or sex.