Reading and Spelling Development Across Languages Varying in Orthographic Consistency: Do Their Paths Cross?

Overt Word Reading and Visual Object Naming in Adults with Dyslexia: Electroencephalography Study in Transparent Orthography

The study aimed to investigate overt reading and naming processes in adult people with dyslexia (PDs) in shallow (transparent) language orthography. The results of adult PDs are compared with adult healthy controls HCs. Comparisons are made in three phases: pre-lexical (150-260 ms), lexical (280-700 ms), and post-lexical stage of processing (750-1000 ms) time window. Twelve PDs and HCs performed overt reading and naming tasks under EEG recording. The word reading and naming task consisted of sparse neighborhoods with closed phonemic onset (words/objects sharing the same onset). For the analysis of the mean ERP amplitude for pre-lexical, lexical, and post-lexical time window, a mixed design ANOVA was performed with the right (F4, FC2, FC6, C4, T8, CP2, CP6, P4) and left (F3, FC5, FC1, T7, C3, CP5, CP1, P7, P3) electrode sites, within-subject factors and group (PD vs. HC) as between-subject factor. Behavioral response latency results revealed significantly prolonged reading latency between HCs and PDs, while no difference was detected in naming response latency. ERP differences were found between PDs and HCs in the right hemisphere's pre-lexical time window (160-200 ms) for word reading aloud. For visual object naming aloud, ERP differences were found between PDs and HCs in the right hemisphere's post-lexical time window (900-1000 ms). The present study demonstrated different distributions of the electric field at the scalp in specific time windows between two groups in the right hemisphere in both word reading and visual object naming aloud, suggesting alternative processing strategies in adult PDs. These results indirectly support the view that adult PDs in shallow language orthography probably rely on the grapho-phonological route during overt word reading and have difficulties with phoneme and word retrieval during overt visual object naming in adulthood.

Reading-to-Writing Mediation model of higher-order literacy

Introduction

Writing difficulties frequently manifest comorbidly with reading challenges, and reading is implicated in particular acts of writing, such as reviewing and editing. Despite what is known, however, there remain significant barriers to understanding the nature of reading-writing relations, as few studies are comprehensive in the number and types of literacy skills evaluated. This study consists of a secondary data analysis of two studies employing structural equation modeling (SEM) to evaluate relations among reading and writing components skills independently, using the Direct and Inferential Mediation Model (DIME) of reading comprehension and Not-so-Simple View of Writing (NSVW) as theoretical frameworks.

Methods

We examine relations between reading and writing components from these models with a sample of upper elementary students with/at-risk for learning disabilities (n = 405). Lower-order components included word reading, vocabulary, handwriting and spelling. Higher-order components included background knowledge, reading strategies, inferencing, planning, editing, and revision. The literacy outcomes were oral and silent reading fluency, reading comprehension, and writing quality and productivity. We systematically build a Reading-to-Writing Mediation (RWM) model by first merging the DIME and NSVW components in a direct effects model (Aim 1), expanding the joint model to include reading and writing fluency (Aim 2), evaluating indirect effects between DIME and NSVW component skills (Aim 3), and finally, evaluating indirect effects with reading and writing fluency (Aim 4).

Results

The findings suggest that higher order fluency and comprehension skills are differentially related to writing activities and products.

Discussion

The pattern of results helps elucidate the mechanisms of how various reading and writing skills transfer and relate. The results have implications for targeted and implicit instruction in multicomponent interventions and the use of screeners to identify areas of risk.

What spelling errors can tell us about the development of processes involved in children's spelling

Introduction

Spelling is an essential foundation for reading and writing. However, many children leave school with spelling difficulties. By understanding the processes children use when they spell, we can intervene with appropriate instruction tailored to their needs.

Methods

Our study aimed to identify key processes (lexical-semantic and phonological) by using a spelling assessment that distinguishes different printed letter strings/word types (regular and irregular words, and pseudowords). Misspellings in the test from 641 pupils in Reception Year to Year 6 were scored using alternatives to binary correct versus incorrect scoring systems. The measures looked at phonological plausibility, phoneme representations and letter distance. These have been used successfully in the past but not with a spelling test that distinguishes irregularly spelled words from regular words and pseudowords.

Results

The findings suggest that children in primary school rely on both lexical-semantic and phonological processes to spell all types of letter string, but this varies depending on the level of spelling experience (younger Foundation/Key stage 1 and older Key stage 2). Although children in younger year groups seemed to rely more on phonics, based on the strongest correlation coefficients for all word types, with further spelling experience, lexical processes seemed to be more evident, depending on the type of word examined.

Discussion

The findings have implications for the way we teach and assess spelling and could prove to be valuable for educators.

Patterns of Children's Relationships With Parents and Teachers in Grade 1: Links to Task Persistence and Performance

Our study aimed to investigate the patterns of children's relationships with their parents and teachers, the development of these relationships during Grade 1, and respective links to children's learning (in task persistence and performance). Parents of 350 children answered questionnaires about the quality of their relationships with their children; 25 teachers answered questions about children's task persistence at school and the quality of their relationships with their students; 350 children completed literacy and math performance tests; and six testers evaluated children's task persistence when completing those tests. All measures were administered twice: at the start and end of Grade 1. Latent profile analyses found two meaningful child profiles that were similar at the beginning and end of Grade 1: average relationship (89% at T1, 85% at T2) and conflictual relationship (11% at T1, 15% at T2) with parents and teachers. These profiles were highly stable throughout Grade 1, except for 15 children who moved from an average relationship to a conflictual relationship profile. This declining trajectory can be characterized by poor relationships with teachers and low task persistence at the end of Grade 1, although they did not perform any worse than other children. Finally, children exhibiting conflictual relationships with their parents and teachers at the beginning of Grade 1 performed worse on spelling and subtraction tasks and demonstrated lower task-persistent behavior at the end of Grade 1 than those with average (good) relationships with parents and teachers.

Parental Teaching of Reading and Spelling Across the Transition From Kindergarten to Grade 1

We investigated the longitudinal links between parental teaching of reading and spelling and children’s word reading and spelling skills. Data of 244 Lithuanian parent–child dyads were analyzed, who were followed across three time points: end of kindergarten (T1; M_age = 6.88; 116 girls), beginning of Grade 1 (T2), and end of Grade 1 (T3). The children’s word reading and spelling skills were tested, and the parents answered questionnaires on the frequency with which they taught their children reading and spelling. Overall, the results showed that the parents were responsive to their children’s skill levels across the domains of reading and spelling and across time (i.e., the transition from kindergarten to Grade 1 and across Grade 1). However, differences between the domains of reading and spelling were also observed. In particular, in the domain of reading and across the transition from kindergarten to Grade 1, the parents responded to their children’s skill levels by increasing the time spent teaching children with poor word reading skills, and decreasing the teaching time for the children with good word reading skills. In contrast, as spelling skills may require more time to develop, parents maintained similar frequencies of teaching spelling across the transition to Grade 1 for all children, and only parents of good spellers taught less spelling at the end of Grade 1 than parents of children with poor and average word spelling skills.

Stability of Deficits in Reading Fluency and/or Spelling

Deficits in reading fluency and in spelling can dissociate during development, resulting in groups with reading deficit only (RD), spelling deficit only (SD) and combined reading and spelling deficit (RSD). The current study investigated the one-to-two-year longitudinal stability of these subgroups in 167 German-speaking children. Reading fluency deficits (irrespective of spelling skills) were stable over time, while spelling deficits were stable in the RSD-group but not in the SD-group. Lower stability in the SD-group resulted from the fact that many children improved their spelling skills over time. Improvement in spelling was associated with good performance in phoneme awareness together with intact RAN and decoding skills.