Date of Award

5-1969

Degree Type

Report

Degree Name

Master of Education (MEd)

Department

Education

Committee Chair(s)

Bryce E. Adkins

Committee

Bryce E. Adkins

Abstract

In this complex modern world, reading is a medium of communication and a tool of learning that is an indispensable function in society (Tinker and McCullough, 1962) .

For many years the issues of reading disability were argued in terms of genetic as compared to environmental factors . In the light of research it is now known that the home produces a powerful impact upon the child's ability to learn and that social and cultural disadvantages can depress academic ability.

Over the years educators have been aware of the importance that experience plays in the child's preparation for reading. Hilliard and Troxell (1937) stated that the greater the child's experience , the greater are his possibilities for success in reading and that children with a rich background are more strongly equipped to attack the printed page than are students who have a meager background. More than thirty years later we read:

The more interesting and varied the experiences they share in, the more knowledge will expand and the larger their meaningful vocabulary will become. A young child grows in acquiring language through his daily contacts with interesting activities . . . Such growth is highly important to his later success in reading. (Gans , 1964, p. 41)

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