Walter E. Dunson, Ph.D. 

Academic language therapy helps students who need either primary instruction or remediation with the English "code".  In the evolution of writing, we have designated symbols to represent the sounds of spoken language.  We have, in essence, created our own code.  The correspondence between sound and symbol that has been developed for the English language is called the English code.

In order for students to properly master the components of our language, breaking the code proves to be a monumental, yet crucial, task.  Few students naturally make the association between letters and sounds.  The English code must be explicitly taught and drilled until the associations from symbol to sound and sound to symbol are automatic.