Acquisition Of Early Reading Skills Research Articles

Cognitive Flexibility + Phonics Intervention Effects on Reading Gains

This is the second in series of studies designed to test direct and conditional effects of embedded cognitive practice in phonics instruction. Students identified in winter of kindergarten with minimal alphabet knowledge were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: explicit phonics (Plain) (n = 28) or explicit phonics with embedded cognitive flexibility practice (Flex) (n = 29). The core of both conditions was an explicit structured literacy approach: the Flex condition was differentiated by brief cognitive flexibility practice switching letter or word dimensions. Instruction was delivered individually over a six-week period. In spite of Covid-19 impacts, both treatment groups exhibited significant gains on reading outcomes. However, there were no significant differences between the conditions on growth in decoding, encoding, or cognitive flexibility. Future research should consider the timing and design of instruction to determine how cognitive abilities, as well as alphabet knowledge, contribute to acquisition of early reading skills.

Inattentiveness and Language Abilities in Preschoolers: A Latent Profile Analysis.

Growing evidence suggests that early symptoms of inattentiveness may affect the language development and academic success of young children. In the present study, we examined the extent to which profiles of inattentiveness and language could be discerned within a heterogeneous group of preschoolers attending early childhood special education programs (n = 461). Based on parent-reported observations of children's symptoms of inattentiveness and direct assessments of children's language skills (grammar, vocabulary, and narrative ability), three distinct profiles were identified. The three groups, representing levels of severity (at risk, almost average, above average), differed not only by their end of year performance, but also with respect to which their abilities changed over the course of the academic year. Children in the poorest performing profile had poorer mean scores in the spring of their preschool year on all measures, but exhibited patterns of gain that exceeded or equaled their peers in higher-performing groups, in the domains of vocabulary and grammar. Examination of subsequent kindergarten reading skills suggested that profile differences remained consistent. Findings underscore the associations between early symptoms of inattentiveness and language difficulties, and further indicate that these relations extend to the acquisition of early reading skills. Future research is needed to corroborate these findings with more robust measures of attention, and to understand the long-term associations between inattentiveness, language and literacy, and potential effects on these associations from early intervention.

Contextual analysis of home environment factors influencing the acquisition of early reading skills in Zambian families

This study examined the effect of home environment factors in the acquisition of early reading skills (orthographic awareness and decoding competence). To assess these factors, a sample of seventy-two (72) first grade learners (females = 55%; age range = 7–8 years) and their maternal parents (age range 26–61 years old) from low SES in Zambia's capital city, Lusaka were recruited. Parents, in response to a home literacy questionnaire, reported on their attitudes towards reading, literacy teaching in the home, the home literacy environment, presence of reading materials for adults and children, parental education, occupation, family size and family possessions. Two measures of reading skill were administered at school. Correlations revealed that parental education, occupation and the size of the family were not significantly associated with the reading measures. Family possessions, parental reading attitudes, literacy activities, and reading materials significantly predicted orthographic awareness. In predicting decoding competence, only family possessions, parental reading attitudes and literacy activities were predictive. Regardless of the context, children experience literacy in varied forms and quantities.

The Role of Family on Pathways to Acquiring Early Reading Skills In Lusaka’s Low-Income Communities

This paper reports findings from the study that examined the role of family in children's acquisition of early reading skills. We recruited 72 first-grade learners and their parents from low-income Zambian families for the study. In response to a home literacy questionnaire, parents reported on their reading attitudes and family literacy environment. Children's early reading skills were assessed using two early reading tests (orthographic awareness and decoding competence), both conducted at two different points during the year. Regression analyses of pretest and gain scores revealed that parental reading attitude and family literacy environment significantly predicted early reading skills. These findings suggest that the family is an important element in the children's process of learning to read. Implications of the findings are discussed.

Teaching Letter–Sound Connections With Picture Mnemonics: Itchy's Alphabet and Early Decoding

The authors explored Itchy's Alphabet as an innovative approach to teaching letter–sound connections through multisensory cues. This is the initial demonstration of this instructional method for increasing students’ sublexical skills (letter identification, letter–sound knowledge, and phonological awareness). To examine the effectiveness of the program, the authors chose 3 kindergarten classrooms as intervention and comparison classes. The authors chose the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (R. H. Good, D. Simmons, E. Kame'enui, R. A. Kaminski, & J. Wallin, 2002) to monitor early decoding progress because of its unique ability to assess and monitor young children's acquisition of early reading skills. Results show that Itchy's Alphabet, combined with hands-on manipulatives, was strongly connected to children's grasp of sublexical skills. Test scores indicated gains for all children including those who were at risk, children who received special education services, and typically developing children.

Comparing Two Methods of Writing Instruction: Effects on Kindergarten Students’ Reading Skills

ABSTRACT This experimental study directly compared the effects of two prevalent forms of classroom writing instruction, interactive writing and writing workshop, on kindergarten students’ acquisition of early reading skills. Repeated measures data was collected at four points over 16 weeks to monitor growth of 151 kindergarten students in phonological awareness, alphabet knowledge, and word reading. Results of this study showed students in both the interactive writing group and the writing workshop group demonstrated significant growth over time for each of the three outcome measures, with no statistically significant difference between groups for any of the outcome measures at any of the time points. This study provides evidence that, when consistently implemented during the first 16 weeks of kindergarten, interactive writing and writing workshop are equally effective in promoting acquisition of early reading skills.

The development of reading in children who speak English as a second language.

Patterns of reading development were examined in native English-speaking (L1) children and children who spoke English as a second language (ESL). Participants were 978 (790 L1 speakers and 188 ESL speakers) Grade 2 children involved in a longitudinal study that began in kindergarten. In kindergarten and Grade 2, participants completed standardized and experimental measures including reading, spelling, phonological processing, and memory. All children received phonological awareness instruction in kindergarten and phonics instruction in Grade 1. By the end of Grade 2, the ESL speakers' reading skills were comparable to those of L1 speakers, and ESL speakers even outperformed L1 speakers on several measures. The findings demonstrate that a model of early identification and intervention for children at risk is beneficial for ESL speakers and also suggest that the effects of bilingualism on the acquisition of early reading skills are not negative and may be positive.

Effective Academic Interventions in the United States: Evaluating and Enhancing the Acquisition of Early Reading Skills

The alignment of assessment, intervention, and meaningful student outcomes is arguably one the most exciting developments in school psychology. This linkage is especially apparent in the areas of early literacy where the convergence of three areas of research and development form a dynamic process of information and feedback to enhance the effectiveness of interventions in preventing and remediating reading problems for children in early elementary grades. In this article, we develop the rationale for early and intensive literacy intervention, review the major implications of the converging evidence in early literacy and reading acquisition, and propose mechanisms to enhance early literacy development through the strategic and timely linkage of assessment and intervention. The major areas of convergence from research regarding what to teach and how to teach it are presented. The contributions and role of assessment information in developing and providing effective beginning reading and early literacy interventions are described.

Development of phonological sensitivity in 2- to 5-year-old children.

This study examined phonological sensitivity in 238 children from middle- to upper-income families and 118 children from lower-income families across different levels of linguistic complexity. Children ranged in age from 2 to 5 years. Overall, the results indicated that as children increased in age, phonological sensitivity both increased in absolute terms and became more stable. Significant social class differences in growth of phonological sensitivity were also obtained. Phonological sensitivity at different levels of linguistic complexity (e.g., syllables, phonemes) was substantially interrelated at each age and predicted word reading ability in older children independently of language skills and letter knowledge. These results indicate that phonological sensitivity can be assessed in young preschool children and that lower levels of phonological sensitivity may serve as developmental precursors to higher levels of phonological sensitivity. The development of phonological processing is an important precursor to the acquisition of early reading skills (e.g., Adams, 1990; Wagner & Torgesen, 1987). Phonological processing refers to the use of phonological information (i.e., the sounds of one's language) in processing written and oral language. A growing body of research indicates that individual differences in one form of phonological processing, phonological sensitivity, are causally related to the normal acquisition of beginning reading (e.g., Bryant, MacLean, Bradley, & Crossland, 1990; Wagner & Torgesen, 1987; Wagner, Torgesen, & Rashotte, 1994). Children who are better at detecting and manipulating syllables, rhymes, or phonemes are quicker to learn to read, and this relation is present even after variability in reading skill due to factors such as IQ, receptive vocabulary, memory skills, and social class is partialed out (Bryant et al., 1990; Wagner & Torgesen, 1987; Wagner et al., 1994). The majority of evidence linking phonological sensitivity in prereaders with the development of reading has come from studies that have assessed children's phonological sensitivity at the point of school entry but prior to formal reading instruction. For example, Share, Jorm, MacLean, and Mathews (1984) found that children's phonological sensitivity, measured at the beginning of kindergarten with a phoneme segmentation task, was the single best predictor of

Effective academic interventions in the United States: evaluating and enhancing the acquisition of early reading skills

The alignment of assessment, intervention, and meaningful student outcomes is arguably one of the most exciting developments in school psychology. This linkage is especially apparent in the areas of early literacy where the convergence of three areas of research and development form a dynamic process of information and feedback to enhance the effectiveness of interventions in preventing and remediating reading problems for children in early elementary grades. In this article, we develop the rationale for early and intensive literacy intervention, review the major implications of the converging evidence in early literacy and reading acquisition, and propose mechanisms to enhance early literacy development through the strategic and timely linkage of assessment and intervention. The major areas of convergence from research regarding what to teach and how to teach it are presented. The contributions and role of assessment information in developing and providing effective beginning reading and early literacy interventions are described.

Longitudinal studies of phonological processing and reading.

O ne of the most exciting developments in research on reading over the last two decades is the emerging consensus about the importance of phonological processing abilities in the acquisition of early reading skills (Shankweiler & Liberman, 1989; Stanovich, 1988; Wagner & Torgesen, 1987). As the term is used by those who study early reading development, phonological processing refers to an individual's mental operations that make use of the phonological or sound structure of oral language when he or she is learning how to decode written language. The last 20 years of research have produced a broad variety of converging evidence that at least three kinds of phonological processing skills are positively related to individual differences in the rate at which beginning reading skills are acquired (see Adams, 1990; Brady & Shankweiler, 1991; Crowder & Wagner, 1991; and Torgesen, 1993, for recent reviews of this work). The kinds of phonological processing skills and knowledge that have been most frequently studied include phonological awareness, phonological memory, and rate of access for phonological information. Types of Reading-Related Phonological Skill

Effects of instruction on beginning reading skills in children at risk for reading disability

Children identified in kindergarten as being at risk for reading disability were taught in grades one and two using one of two methods of reading instruction, a structured phonics code-emphasis approach or an approach emphasizing use of context. At the end of first and second grade, children were tested on measures of achievement in word identification, word attack, passage comprehension and spelling. Those in the Code group earned uniformly higher scores on all achievement measures at the end of first and second grades. At the end of first grade, statistically significant differences between groups were found on nonword reading and spelling of phonetically regular words. At the end of second grade, significant differences were found in reading of polysyllabic real words and decoding of monosyllabic and polysyllabic nonsense words. It was concluded that reading instruction does have an important impact on acquisition of early reading skills, and that structured, systematic phonics instruction results in more favorable outcome than does a context emphasis approach.

Early Toy Preferences of Four-Year-Old Readers and Nonreaders

THOMAS, BILLIE. Early Toy Preferences of Four-Year-Old Readers and Nonreaders. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1984, 55, 424-430. In this study, parents of early readers and nonreaders recalled their child's toy preferences. Subjects were 56 4-year-old children and their parents. On the Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests, 28 of the 4-year-olds read at or above second-grade level, and 28 could not recognize 3 sight words. Groups were matched for sex, family background, and General Cognitive Index Score on the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities. Parents completed an interview and questionnaire about their child's play materials since birth, developmental milestones, and family background. There were no significant differences in the children's backgrounds or developmental histories. According to parents' reports, there were significant differences in the toy preferences of the 2 groups. The early readers played with, enjoyed, and valued reading readiness toys, such as books and alphabet cards, significantly more than the nonreaders, who preferred gross motor, construction, and fantasy toys significantly more. Results indicate that early readers cannot be differentiated by IQ or family demographic information alone and that consistent toy preferences precede the acquisition of early reading skills.

Auditory and visual perceptual skills related to the reading performance of disadvantaged boys.

To determine the nature and magnitude of the relationships between selected auditory and visual perceptual abilities and reading performance of 105 disadvantaged boys analyses assessed (a) the magnitude of the relationships, (b) the extent to which the relationships were linear, and (c) the extent to which the correlations were independent of verbal intelligence. Relationships between perceptual skills and reading performance were low to moderate in magnitude and did not depart significantly from linearity. The correlations between the two attributes decreased substantially when the influence of verbal intelligence was held constant. It was concluded that auditory and visual perceptual skills appear more related to the acquisition of early reading skills than to their subsequent elaboration.