The purpose of the present study was to exmine the method and the possibility of teaching moderately mentally retarded (MR) childrern to read Japanes syllabic charactefs (Kanamoji) through the formation of the act of analyzing the syllabic structure of words (ASSW) .In experiment 1, which aimed at atscertaining the development of coordination and its'relation to the acquisition of the act of ASSW, the following tasks were given to 6 to 12-year-old moderately MR and 3-4 year-old normal children. Tasks : 1) a reading test of kana-moji, 2) ari articulation test, 3) the task of articulating and sepafating words into syllables, 4) the task of clapping hands rhythmically coordinating with a series of pulses, 5) the ttasks of moving hands in reciprocal coordinatidn:, 6) the tasks of pronouncing syllables of given words one at a time in sequence at intervals of 0.3, 1.0 and 2.O sec.