Investigating a Synthesized Theory of Mediated Word Identification

A SYNTHESIZED THEORY of mediated word identification-which was based on the writings of Gibson, Smith, and Venezky-was used to develop the hypothesis that readers mediate the identification of unfamiliar words by comparing the unknown word to known words and word parts. To investigate the efficacy of the synthesized theory, a sample of second graders with poor mediated word identification abilities was selected. Half of this sample were given a 2-week treatment in which they practiced compare-contrast strategies in order to identify words and non-words. The results of 3 two-way analyses of variance indicated experimental subjects were able to correctly pronounce significantly more one- and 2-syllable words than were control subjects. There was no difference in the number of non-words correctly pronounced. The results of the study supported the tenets of the synthesized theory.