Rebecca Treiman and Brett Kessler, both at Washington University in St. Louis, are widely known for their research on writing systems and how they are learned and used. They bring a combination of linguistic and psychological expertise to the topic.

• Contents ; Preface ; Symbols and Abbreviations ; Abbreviations ; General Symbols ; Phonetic Symbols ; 1 Introduction ; 1.1 Writing as a Tool ; 1.2 Orthographic Knowledge as a Part of Writing ; 1.2.1 Cognitive Resources and Technical Tools ; 1.2.2 Social Implications of Nonstandard Spelling ; 1.3 How Can Orthographic Knowledge Be Achieved? ; 1.3.1 Discovery Learning and the Whole-Language Approach ; 1.3.2 Direct Instruction and the Phonics Approach ; 1.4 Spelling and Reading ; 1.5 Orthographic Reform ; 1.6 Past Work on Writing Systems and How They Are Learned ; 1.7 Our Approach ; 2 Writing Systems ; 2.1 Outer Form of Scripts ; 2.2 What Writing Systems Represent ; 2.2.1 Representing Ideas: Semasiography ; 2.2.2 Representing Speech: Glottographic Writing ; 2.2.2.1 Representing Words and Morphemes: Logography ; 2.2.2.2 Representing Syllables: Syllabary ; 2.2.2.3 Representing Phonemes: Alphabetic Writing ; 2.2.2.4 Representing Subphonemic Features: Featural Writing ; 2.2.2.5 Mixed Writing Systems ; 2.3 How Writing Represents Meaning ; 2.3.1 How Semasiographies Represent Meaning ; 2.3.2 How Glottographies Represent Meaning ; 2.4 Composition of Characters ; 2.4.1 Composing Semasiograms ; 2.4.2 Composing Logograms ; 2.4.3 Composing Letters ; 2.5 Underrepresentation ; 2.6 Arranging Multiple Characters ; 2.6.1 Lines and Pages of Text ; 2.6.2 Grouping of Characters ; 2.7 Conservatism in Writing ; 2.8 Sound Change and its Effects on Writing ; 2.8.1 Types of Sound Change ; 2.8.2 Effects of Sound Change on Writing ; 2.9 Which Language Do We Write? ; 2.10 Conclusions ; 3 Learning and Teaching ; 3.1 Statistical Learning ; 3.2 Learning through Language ; 3.3 Implicit and Explicit Knowledge ; 3.4 Learning of Language and Learning About Language ; 3.5 Formal and Informal Teaching ; 3.6 Conclusions ; 4 Theories ; 4.1 Rote Memorization ; 4.2 Dual-Route Theory ; 4.3 Constructivism ; 4.4 Phase Theory ; 4.5 Connectionist Theories ; 4.6 IMP ; 4.7 Methods of Testing the Theories ; 4.8 Conclusions ; 5 Graphic Form ; 5.1 Surface Properties of Writing ; 5.2 Learning About the Surface Properties of Writing ; 5.2.1 Artificiality and Two-Dimensionality ; 5.2.2 Iconicity ; 5.2.3 Sequentiality and Directionality ; 5.2.4 Knowledge About Units ; 5.2.5 Differences Among Types of Writing ; 5.2.6 Differentiating Writing From Pictures and Numbers ; 5.2.7 Summary ; 5.3 Theories ; 5.4 Teaching ; 5.5 Conclusions ; 6 Symbolic Function ; 6.1 Learning That Writing Stands for Something Outside Itself ; 6.2 Learning What Writing Stands For and How ; 6.3 Theories ; 6.4 Conclusions ; 7 The Order of the Alphabet ; 7.1 Principles in Ordering ; 7.1.1 Arbitrary Ordering ; 7.1.2 Principled Ordering ; 7.1.2.1 Deletions ; 7.1.2.2 Insertions ; 7.1.2.3 Reordering ; 7.1.2.4 Other Scripts ; 7.2 When and How Children Learn About Alphabet Order ; 7.2.1 Oral Methods ; 7.2.2 Alphabet Books ; 7.2.3 Learning About Alphabet Order at School ; 7.3 How Does Knowledge of Alphabet Order Influence Children? ; 7.4 Conclusions ; 8 Symbol Shapes ; 8.1 Principles That Underlie Systems of Symbol Shapes ; 8.1.1 Economy ; 8.1.2 Conservatism ; 8.1.3 Beauty ; 8.1.4 Expressiveness ; 8.1.5 Similarity ; 8.1.6 Contrast ; 8.1.7 Redundancy ; 8.1.8 Summary of the Principles That Underlie Systems of Symbol Shapes ; 8.2 Learning and Use of Shapes as Graphic Objects ; 8.2.1 Learning About the Similarities Among the Shapes of Writing ; 8.2.2 Learning About Contrasts Among the Shapes of Writing ; 8.2.3 Production ; 8.2.4 Learning Variant Forms of Shapes ; 8.3 Nonarbitrary Links Between Symbol Shapes and Functions ; 8.4 Formal and Informal Teaching ; 8.5 Theories ; 8.6 Conclusions ; 9 Letter Names ; 9.1 Principles That Underlie Systems of Letter Names ; 9.1.1 Phonetic Iconicity ; 9.1.2 Legality ; 9.1.3 Similarity ; 9.1.4 Contrast ; 9.1.5 Economy ; 9.1.6 Conservatism ; 9.1.7 Other Principles ; 9.1.8 Summary of Principles That Underlie Systems of Letter Names ; 9.2 Learning the Phonological Forms of Letter Names ; 9.3 Do Children Benefit From the Phonetic Iconicity of Letter Names? ; 9.4 Should Children Learn Letter Names? ; 9.5 Names of Auxiliary Marks ; 9.6 Theories ; 9.7 Conclusions ; 10 Early Spelling in Phonographic Writing Systems ; 10.1 Do Beginners Spell Using One Symbol for Each Syllable? ; 10.2 Letter Names and Early Spelling ; 10.2.1 Spellings With Whole Letter Names ; 10.2.2 Partial and Inexact Matches to Letter Names ; 10.2.3 Conclusions About Letter Name Spellings ; 10.3 Other Labels ; 10.4 Phonological Analysis and Classification ; 10.4.1 Consonant Cluster Onsets ; 10.4.2 One Versus Two Sounds ; 10.4.3 Final Consonant Clusters ; 10.4.4 Other Ambiguities Involving Phonemes ; 10.4.5 Suprasegmental Features ; 10.5 Beyond Phonology ; 10.6 Teaching ; 10.7 Conclusions ; 11 Complex Spellings ; 11.1 Beyond the Regular Word Versus Exception Word Dichotomy ; 11.2 Conditioning by Neighboring Segments ; 11.2.1 Coda-to-Vowel Conditioning ; 11.2.2 Onset-to-Vowel Conditioning ; 11.2.3 Vowel-to-Onset Conditioning ; 11.2.4 Vowel-to-Coda Conditioning ; 11.2.5 Do Rimes Have a Special Status? ; 11.2.6 Extended Spellings of Intervocalic Consonants ; 11.2.7 Summary of Results on Conditioning by Neighboring Segments ; 11.3 Conditioning by Position ; 11.4 Conditioning by Stress ; 11.5 Conditioning by Morphology ; 11.5.1 Influences of Morphology on Spelling ; 11.5.2 Summary of Results on Morphological Conditioning ; 11.6 Other Types of Conditioning ; 11.7 Unconditioned Inconsistencies ; 11.8 Other Complexities ; 11.8.1 Homographs ; 11.8.2 Words With More Letters Than Phonemes ; 11.8.3 Additional Complexities ; 11.9 Summary of Findings on Learning of Complex Patterns ; 11.10 Teaching ; 11.11 Conclusions ; 12 Punctuation and Capitalization ; 12.1 Punctuation ; 12.1.1 Punctuation Marks ; 12.1.2 Word Separation ; 12.2 Capitalization ; 12.3 Teaching ; 12.4 Conclusions ; 13 Conclusions and Extensions ; 13.1 Evaluation of Theories of the Learning of Orthography ; 13.2 Broader Influences of Knowledge About Writing ; 13.2.1 Influences on Reading ; 13.2.2 Influences on Language ; 13.2.3 Influences Outside of Language ; 13.2.4 Summary of Writing's Influences ; 13.3 Instruction About Orthography ; 13.3.1 Teach Patterns ; 13.3.2 Include Activities That Focus Attention on Writing Itself ; 13.3.3 Provide Feedback After Errors ; 13.3.4 Don't Assume Too Much ; 13.3.5 Teach Teachers as Well as Children ; 13.3.6 It's Just Orthography ; 13.4 Assessing Children's Spelling ; 13.5 Differences Between Children ; 13.6 Final Words ; References