In this article, I illustrate how research from cognitive science and the science of reading can inform research on the science of reading instruction. This purpose is accomplished by focusing on four recently published randomized control trials of instruction designed to teach alphabet letters to 3- and 4-year-old children (N = 342) attending preschool in the United States. Approximately 35% of the children were dual-language learners. Instruction ranged from 10 to 12 weeks’ duration and was implemented in small groups taught by research assistants. Evidence for the value of explicit instruction in which paired-associate learning connecting visual letter forms with their verbal letter labels (names and sounds) for learning letters is reviewed. The effectiveness of explicit instruction for promoting children’s motivation and engagement is identified. The relation of these studies to important features of a science of reading is discussed. Collective and individual instructionally related implications from the studies are elaborated, including replicated evidence of the benefit of visual–verbal paired-associate learning of printed letters and their spoken names or sounds; the positive effects on motivation and engagement of such instruction; and the benefit of decontextualized letter instruction over letter instruction contextualized within storybook reading, real words, and personal names.

中文翻译：

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学习快报：阅读科学视角的证据和问题

在本文中，我将说明认知科学和阅读科学的研究如何为阅读教学科学的研究提供信息。这一目的是通过关注最近发表的四项随机对照试验来实现的，这些试验旨在教 3 岁和 4 岁儿童学习字母（N= 342) 在美国上学前班。大约 35% 的儿童是双语学习者。教学时长从 10 周到 12 周不等，由研究助理教授以小组形式进行。对显式教学价值的证据进行了审查，其中配对关联学习将视觉字母形式与其语言字母标签（名称和声音）联系起来，以学习字母。明确了促进儿童动机和参与的显式教学的有效性。讨论了这些研究与阅读科学的重要特征之间的关系。详细阐述了研究中与集体和个人教学相关的影响，包括复制的证据，证明视觉-语言配对学习印刷字母及其口语名称或声音的好处；对此类教学的动机和参与的积极影响；以及去上下文化的字母教学优于在故事书阅读、真实单词和个人姓名中上下文化的字母教学的好处。