Teaching phonics is recognised educationally as an essential part of the teaching of reading and writing. This reading scheme teaches children how to sound out words and blend sounds to read words and to segment the sounds in the words in order to accurately spell them.[...]

Traditionally, stability in Asia has relied on America's bilateral alliances with Japan, Australia, and the Republic of Korea. Yet in recent years, emergent and more active multilateral forums--such as the Six-Party Talks on North Korea and the East Asia Summit--have taken precedence, engendering bo[...]