ABSTRACT
Mary’s knowledge of the spelling of English is best reviewed in the context of her initially good, but later slower, progress in reading. The Breakthrough reading test at the end of the second term found Sean still in the predicament of being unable to remember many words. At first sight Sean seems to have been reading quite well. Dave's development of knowledge of English spelling came very slowly. Dave seemed to be reading one word at a time on an all-or-none word recognition basis. Dave's rather confused views of reading and writing may have affected his approach to them and his rate of learning, but they were not so inadequate as to leave him totally uncertain about what he was at. Dave read so with help in sounding the long vowel. His reading errors suggested an approach influenced by expectations from other reading, or simply from sense.
