E80| Heart Words & Mispronunciation Correction: Evidence-Based Strategies for Irregular Words with Anna Lithgow and Dr. Danielle Colenbrander
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What’s the best way to teach irregular words—and is memorizing flashcards enough? In Episode 80, Jake explores new research comparing Heart Words and mispronunciation correction (MPC) with guests Anna Lithgow and Dr. Danielle Colenbrander. Both approaches supported stronger reading and spelling gains than look-and-say practice, with similar results to each other. Learn how each routine supports orthographic mapping, why “theory-aligned” isn’t the same as “empirically tested,” and how teachers might match their approach to the word and the learner rather than rely on a one-size-fits-all strategy.
- 2:25 — Guest introductions
- 4:43 — Why whole-word memorization falls short
- 7:48 — Irregularity exists on a spectrum
- 12:08 — The route matters
- 13:20 — Heart Words: theory-aligned versus empirically tested
- 16:53 — A Heart Words routine, step by step
- 21:46 — How mispronunciation correction works
- 27:53 — The supporting role of context
- 29:32 — What earlier MPC studies investigated
- 32:34 — The 2022 study and a practical MPC demonstration
- 36:16 — The updated MPC routine
- 37:25 — Study design and main results
- 40:49 — Comparison with look-and-say
- 44:07 — Instructional time and efficiency
- 46:42 — Is there still a place for look-and-say?
- 50:10 — When MPC may be useful—and where it breaks down
- 54:13 — When Heart Words may be a better fit
- 56:23 — Reasons for optimism in literacy research
- 58:52 — Jake’s Take
Reference:
Lithgow, A., Kohnen, S., Barr, P., Robidoux, S., & Colenbrander, D. (2026). Teaching irregular words: A comparison of mispronunciation correction and heart-word methods. Scientific Studies of Reading, 30(4), 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888438.2026.2671171