Knowing letter names, their forms, and their sounds is strongly related to being able to remember written words. As a result, having strong Alphabet Knowledge is one of the best predictors for successfully learning to read. Additionally, learning to recognize and write letters is a fundamental part of developing the Foundational Writing Skills that support conventional writing.

Children will not naturally learn to read the way they learn spoken language and thus must be taught how to connect visual symbols - the alphabet in English - to sounds according to their language's written system, including single letter sounds and letter combinations (e.g., b -> /b/, ph -> /f/).

Read the full annotated bibliography of our Alphabet Knowledge research.