Cognitive-linguistic Skills Research Articles

Does reading fluency mediate the relationship between cognitive-linguistic skills and reading comprehension? A study in European Portuguese

Research has consistently revealed the existence of an interconnection between reading comprehension, word reading, reading fluency, vocabulary and rapid naming. The main goal of this study was to explore the possible mediating role of reading fluency in the relationship between reading comprehension and the remaining skills, and to test whether the magnitude of these relationships was similar across different years of schooling. For this purpose, a longitudinal study with two assessment time points was carried out in a sample of 2nd and 3rd graders who were learning to read in European Portuguese, an intermediate-depth orthography. The results evidenced that reading fluency not only directly influences reading comprehension but also plays a mediating role in the relationship between reading comprehension and skills such as word reading and rapid naming. On other hand, the results indicate a unique effect of vocabulary on reading comprehension. Taken together, these results have important implications for educational practice, suggesting that explicit intervention in reading should include both the teaching and training in reading fluency and the construction of a richer lexical repertoire.

Individual differences in talker discrimination among adult cochlear implant users

Real-world speech communication involves interacting with talkers with diverse voices and accents. Adult cochlear implant (CI) users often demonstrate poor discrimination of talkers’ voices relative to their normal-hearing peers, which may contribute to difficulties in understanding speech produced by multiple talkers. However, the factors underlying poor talker discrimination ability are not well understood. The current study examined auditory and cognitive-linguistic factors that support talker discrimination, and explored the association between talker discrimination and sentence recognition across CI users. In an AX talker discrimination task, 25 adult CI users indicated whether word pairs were produced by the same talker or by two different talkers. Participants also completed measures of spectrotemporal processing, cognitive-linguistic skills, including fluid intelligence, working memory capacity, inhibitory control, and phonological processing, and sentence recognition. Results showed that talker discrimination scores (accuracy, sensitivity) were moderately to strongly correlated with spectrotemporal processing, fluid intelligence, inhibitory control, and phonological processing. Talker discrimination scores were also related to sentence recognition accuracy scores across CI users. These preliminary findings suggest that both auditory and cognitive-linguistic processes support talker discrimination, and, furthermore, may underlie the relationship between talker discrimination and sentence recognition in adult CI users.

The effects of foreign language anxiety on English word reading among Chinese students at risk of English learning difficulties

AbstractForeign language anxiety has influenced reading achievement in English as a second language learning (ESL). However, less is known about how foreign language anxiety affects Chinese students learning English as L2 and the interplay between foreign language anxiety and cognitive-linguistic factors on L2 reading performance. This longitudinal study examined the impact of foreign language anxiety on English word reading and the mediating effect of cognitive-linguistic skills between foreign language anxiety and English word reading in a sample of 177 grades 2 to 3 ESL Chinese students at risk of English learning difficulties. Foreign language anxiety was assessed using parent-rated and child-rated questionnaires at T1. Students were assessed on English word reading at T1 and T2 and cognitive-linguistic skills: phonological awareness, expressive vocabulary knowledge, and working memory at T1. Path analysis showed that parent-rated foreign language anxiety significantly predicted T1 English word reading after controlling for working memory. However, child-rated foreign language anxiety did not significantly predict English word reading. Moreover, mediation analysis showed that parent-rated foreign language anxiety significantly predicted T2 English word reading through T1 English word reading and expressive vocabulary knowledge. Findings highlight the impact of foreign language anxiety on L2 word reading and suggest that mothers’ involvement in children’s ESL is essential.

The cognitive-linguistic profiles and academic performances of Chinese children with dyslexia across cultures: Beijing, Hong Kong, and Taipei.

This study examined the cognitive-linguistic and literacy-related correlates of dyslexia in three Chinese cities and the English word reading and mathematics performances of Chinese children with dyslexia. Chinese children with/without dyslexia were measured with an equivalent test battery of literacy and mathematics in Beijing, Hong Kong, and Taipei. Univariate analysis results suggested that phonological sensitivity distinguished those with and without dyslexia across all three cities in group comparisons. In Taipei and Hong Kong, morphological awareness, delayed copying, and spelling also distinguished the groups. Logistic regression analyses demonstrated that Chinese character reading, as directly compared to Chinese word reading, also distinguished the groups particularly well. In addition, in Beijing and Hong Kong, children with dyslexia performed significantly less well in English word reading than those without dyslexia. In Hong Kong and Taipei, children with dyslexia also had difficulties in mathematics performance. Findings highlight the fundamental importance of some cognitive-linguistic skills for explaining Chinese dyslexia across cultures, the utility of recognizing the individual Chinese character as a foundational unit of analysis in Chinese across cultures, and the generalizability of the comorbidity of both English as a second language (L2) and mathematics with dyslexia in Chinese children in both Beijing and Hong Kong.

Cognitive-linguistic difficulties in adults with Long COVID: A follow-up study

As the emergency phase of the COVID-19 pandemic subsides, the long-term health problems caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection are becoming increasingly clear. So-called Long COVID, or post COVID-19 condition, is a debilitating illness that impacts functioning for months and even years after infection. Alongside physical symptoms, Long COVID has a particularly insidious effect on cognition and language. While many studies have documented non-linguistic cognitive impairments in people with Long COVID, what has not been documented to any significant extent is the presence and duration of language difficulties in Long COVID. This study addresses this lack of research by examining the cognitive-linguistic skills of 41 adults with Long COVID. These adults were assessed at two time points using a test protocol of 12 language tasks. This paper describes the findings of the 6-month follow-up study. Results indicate that difficulties in immediate and delayed verbal recall persist long after the onset of COVID symptoms, even as improvements occur in verbal fluency and the informativeness of spoken discourse. It is argued that these difficulties are a significant contributing factor in a lack of work return in these adults. Implications of these findings for the provision of speech-language pathology services to these adults and occupational health policies relating to Long COVID are discussed.

DYPA

Identifying early a person with dyslexia, a learning disorder with reading and writing, is critical for effective treatment. As accredited specialists for clinical diagnosis of dyslexia are costly and undersupplied, we research and develop a computer-assisted approach to efficiently prescreen dyslexic Chinese children so that timely resources can be channelled to those at higher risk. Previous works in this area are mostly for English and other alphabetic languages, tailored narrowly for the reading disorder, or require costly specialized equipment. To overcome that, we present DYPA, a novel DYslexia Prescreening mobile Application for Chinese children. DYPA collects multimodal data from children through a set of specially designed interactive reading and writing tests in Chinese, and comprehensively analyzes their cognitive-linguistic skills with machine learning. To better account for the dyslexia-associated features in handwritten characters, DYPA employs a deep learning based multilevel Chinese handwriting analysis framework to extract features across the stroke, radical and character levels. We have implemented and installed DYPA in tablets, and our extensive trials with more than 200 pupils in Hong Kong validate its high predictive accuracy (81.14%), sensitivity (74.27%) and specificity (82.71%).

Effectiveness of parent coaching on the literacy skills of Hong Kong Chinese Children with and without dyslexia.

Literacy skills are important for children's development. The present study explored the effectiveness of a parent coaching approach on the reading and spelling skills and compared cognitive-linguistic skills performances between Chinese children with and without dyslexia. Participants were 33 children with dyslexia and 77 children without dyslexia, as well as their parent, in Hong Kong. Children were divided into three groups: dyslexia with training, non-dyslexia with training, and non-dyslexia without training. Parents in both training groups were instructed to facilitate children's literacy skills. A series of cognitive-linguistic skills were tested on children at pretest. Children received measures of character reading, word reading, and word spelling before and after the parent coaching. Results showed that, compared to children without dyslexia, children with dyslexia performed significantly more poorly on all cognitive-linguistic skills. Analyses of the training effect demonstrated that the dyslexia with training group significantly improved their performances on word reading and word spelling following the intervention. In addition, those without dyslexia who experienced training performed significantly better on character reading and word spelling at posttest than pretest. These results suggest that parent coaching can be one potentially effective method of promoting literacy skills among children both with and without dyslexia.

Cognitive-linguistic skills and vocabulary knowledge breadth and depth in children’s L1 Chinese and L2 English

AbstractThis study examined the correlates of different aspects of vocabulary knowledge in L1 Chinese and L2 English in Hong Kong bilingual children (N = 481, age = 6–12 years old). Their nonverbal IQ, cognitive-linguistic skills, receptive and expressive vocabulary knowledge breadth, and vocabulary knowledge depth in Chinese and English were measured. Results demonstrated that morphological awareness was uniquely correlated with different aspects of vocabulary knowledge across Chinese and English. Phonological processing skills played different roles in vocabulary knowledge in L1 and L2. In addition, receptive vocabulary breadth uniquely contributed to expressive vocabulary breadth across languages. Moreover, both receptive and expressive vocabulary breadth contributed to vocabulary knowledge depth in L1 Chinese and L2 English. The findings highlight some shared and unique aspects of different vocabulary constructs across languages.

Desempenho cognitivo-linguístico de pré-escolares em diferentes contextos educacionais

ABSTRACT Purpose: to investigate preschoolers’ cognitive-linguistic performance in different educational settings. Methods: thirty-nine children aged 4:0 to 5:11 years, enrolled in two private preschools from different Brazilian regions, were assessed with the Protocol for the Early Identification of Reading Problems, in the version adapted to preschool - which includes the following tests: alphabet knowledge; metaphonological skills; phonological working memory; rapid automatized naming; silent word reading; and hearing sentence comprehension based on figures. The groups were compared with the Mann-Whitney statistical test, and significant differences were set at p < 0.05. Results: as expected, data revealed different performances between preschoolers from the two schools. The worse results in both were related to rhyme production and rhyme identification, which reveals that phonological awareness is probably not being stimulated in these groups. Participants performed as expected or “under attention” in the other skills. Conclusion: the performances of preschoolers from both schools were identified and classified, revealing differences in cognitive-linguistic performances between the different educational settings. These results ratify the importance of a teaching approach that helps develop cognitive-linguistic skills, early in preschool.

Early literacy acquisition in logographic orthographies: Evidence from Chinese and Japanese

We examined the cognitive-linguistic predictors of early literacy development and the extent to which they were similar or different across two logographic orthographies (Chinese and Japanese Kanji). Data from 167 Hong Kong Chinese children and 169 Japanese children were used. Children were tested on cognitive-linguistic skills (phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming [RAN], morphological awareness, vocabulary) in Grade 1 and literacy skills (word reading and spelling) in Grades 1 and 2. Whereas the association of phonological awareness with word reading was significantly stronger in Japanese than in Chinese, the association of RAN with word reading was stronger in Chinese. Morphological awareness predicted literacy skills in both languages. Moreover, mediation analysis revealed that the effects of the cognitive-linguistic skills on later literacy skills were fully mediated by early literacy skills, except that morphological awareness directly predicted later spelling in Japanese. These findings suggest that the nature of writing systems can modulate the relationship between cognitive-linguistic skills and literacy skills, even when they share the logographic nature and use the same graphic symbols.

A clinical bulbar assessment scale (CBAS) for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Comprehensive and valid bulbar assessment scales for use within amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) clinics are critically needed. The aims of this study are to develop the Clinical Bulbar Assessment Scale (CBAS) and complete preliminary validation. The authors selected CBAS items from among the literature and expert opinion, and content validity ratio (CVR) was calculated. Following consent, the CBAS was administered to a pilot sample of English-speaking adults with El Escorial defined ALS (N=54) from a multidisciplinary clinic, characterizing speech, swallowing, and extrabulbar features. Criterion validity was assessed by correlating CBAS scores with commonly used ALS scales, and internal consistency reliability was obtained. Expert raters reported strong agreement for the CBAS items (CVR=1.00; 100% agreement). CBAS scores yielded a moderate, significant, negative correlation with ALS Functional Rating Scale-Revised (ALSFRS-R) total scores (r=-0.652, p < .001), and a strong, significant, negative correlation with ALSFRS-R bulbar subscale scores (r=-0.795, p < .001). There was a strong, significant, positive correlation with Center for Neurologic Studies Bulbar Function Scale (CNS-BFS) scores (r=0.819, p < .001). CBAS scores were significantly higher for bulbar onset (mean=38.9% of total possible points, SD=22.6) than spinal onset (mean=18.7%, SD=15.8; p=.004). Internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's alpha) values were: (a) total CBAS, α=0.889; (b) Speech subscale, α=0.903; and (c) Swallowing subscale, α=0.801. The CBAS represents a novel means of standardized bulbar data collection using measures of speech, swallowing, respiratory, and cognitive-linguistic skills. Preliminary evidence suggests the CBAS is a valid, reliable scale for clinical assessment of bulbar dysfunction.

Structural gray matter features and behavioral preliterate skills predict future literacy - A machine learning approach.

When children learn to read, their neural system undergoes major changes to become responsive to print. There seem to be nuanced interindividual differences in the neurostructural anatomy of regions that later become integral parts of the reading network. These differences might affect literacy acquisition and, in some cases, might result in developmental disorders like dyslexia. Consequently, the main objective of this longitudinal study was to investigate those interindividual differences in gray matter morphology that might facilitate or hamper future reading acquisition. We used a machine learning approach to examine to what extent gray matter macrostructural features and cognitive-linguistic skills measured before formal literacy teaching could predict literacy 2 years later. Forty-two native German-speaking children underwent T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging and psychometric testing at the end of kindergarten. They were tested again 2 years later to assess their literacy skills. A leave-one-out cross-validated machine-learning regression approach was applied to identify the best predictors of future literacy based on cognitive-linguistic preliterate behavioral skills and cortical measures in a priori selected areas of the future reading network. With surprisingly high accuracy, future literacy was predicted, predominantly based on gray matter volume in the left occipito-temporal cortex and local gyrification in the left insular, inferior frontal, and supramarginal gyri. Furthermore, phonological awareness significantly predicted future literacy. In sum, the results indicate that the brain morphology of the large-scale reading network at a preliterate age can predict how well children learn to read.

Cognitive–Linguistic Skills Explain Chinese Reading Comprehension Within and Beyond the Simple View of Reading in Hong Kong Kindergarteners

AbstractIn this study, we investigated the direct and indirect associations of different cognitive–linguistic skills and Chinese reading comprehension in Hong Kong kindergarteners. We assessed 179 children's nonverbal IQ, cognitive–linguistic skills, word reading, listening comprehension, and reading comprehension. Results showed significant correlations between all variables and reading comprehension. Further path analysis results indicated that rapid automatized naming, orthographic knowledge, and morphological awareness contributed to reading comprehension via word reading. Nonverbal IQ and vocabulary knowledge were associated with reading comprehension through listening comprehension. Beyond that, nonverbal IQ and morphological awareness still contributed directly to reading comprehension. Overall, our findings elucidated the importance of nonverbal IQ and cognitive–linguistic skills within the framework of the simple view of reading in Chinese and highlighted the unique roles of nonverbal IQ and meaning‐related skills in Chinese reading comprehension, which contributed to understanding the simple view of reading in Chinese.

Direct and indirect effects of cognitive-linguistic and home environment factors on pinyin reading development

We examined the developmental relationship between cognitive-linguistic skills (nonverbal IQ, vocabulary, phonological awareness, rapid automatised naming [RAN]), home environment factors (direct teaching, shared book reading, access to literacy resources, parents’ expectations, family’s socioeconomic status [SES]), and pinyin letter knowledge in kindergarten, pinyin reading accuracy at the beginning of Grade 1, and pinyin reading fluency at the middle of Grade 1 in a sample of 159 Chinese children (mean age = 72.70 months). Results showed that phonological awareness, RAN, and direct teaching were associated with pinyin letter knowledge. RAN consistently predicted pinyin reading accuracy and fluency. Moreover, parents’ expectations and family’s SES predicted pinyin reading indirectly through RAN and direct teaching. These findings suggest that the cognitive-linguistic and home environment predictors of pinyin reading are similar to those for Chinese reading, except that vocabulary and access to literacy resources may be less important for pinyin reading.

Spelling as a way to classify poor Chinese-English literacy skills in Hong Kong Chinese children.

Previous work has predominantly focused on word reading in studying literacy difficulties; very little work has focused on spelling difficulty instead. The present study adopted spelling (dictation) as the criterion to classify poor literacy skills in Hong Kong Chinese-English bilingual children. We examined the cognitive-linguistic skills profiles across four groups of children with different spelling abilities. Based on performances on Chinese and English dictation (criterion = below 25% in a larger sample), four groups were identified, 21 poor spellers of Chinese (PC), 18 poor spellers of English (PE), 27 poor spellers of both languages (PB), and 30 good spellers of both scripts (GB). Measures on language-specific tests of cognitive-linguistic skills (phonological awareness, lexical decision, morphological awareness, rapid naming, and delayed copying) were included to compare the degree of deficit exhibited by each group. With age, grade, and non-verbal intelligence controlled, one-way ANCOVA results revealed that, compared to GB, PC manifested significant deficits in Chinese-delayed copying but scored similarly on all English cognitive-linguistic skills. PE and PB showed significant deficits in Chinese and English phonological awareness compared to PC; they were significantly weaker in English-delayed copying, morphological awareness, and rapid naming (RAN). The PB group was significantly slower in both Chinese and English RAN compared to GB. Findings highlight the critical role of delayed copying in distinguishing poor spellers in both Chinese and English, the importance of phonological awareness for spelling in English but not in Chinese, and the role of automaticity in bilingual spelling difficulties.

Does Early Exposure to Chinese-English Biliteracy Enhance Cognitive Skills?

Clarifying the effects of biliteracy on cognitive development is important to understanding the role of cognitive development in L2 learning. A substantial body of research has shed light on the cognitive factors contributing to biliteracy development. Yet, not much is known about the effect of the degree of exposure to biliteracy on cognitive functions. To fill this research void, we measured three categories of biliteracy skills (language, reading, and cognitive–linguistic skills in both Chinese and English) jointly and investigated the effects of biliteracy skill performance in these three categories on cognitive skills (working memory and attentional control) in Chinese L1 children who were exposed to English as L2 beginning at age 3 (“early”) or in grade 3 (“late”). In this cross-sectional study, 10 parallel Chinese and English language, reading, and cognitive–linguistic measures were administered to emerging Chinese–English bilingual children in grade 3 (n = 178) and grade 6 (n = 176). The results revealed that early exposure to Chinese–English biliteracy enhanced cognitive skills but with a cost of a slight delay in performance on Chinese L1 language skills in grade 3 (but not in grade 6). Importantly, the present findings suggest that, in addition to universal and developmental processes, the cumulative effect of early and sustained bi-scriptal exposure enhances working memory and attention in school children.

Cross-script effects of cognitive-linguistic skills on Japanese Hiragana and Kanji: Evidence from a longitudinal study

Cross-script effects of cognitive-linguistic skills on Japanese Hiragana and Kanji: Evidence from a longitudinal study

Performance of early literacy students in cognitive-linguistic skills during the pandemic

Introduction: The Covid-19 pandemic made discrepancies between the different educational realities more evident for schoolchildren in the beginning of literacy.&#x0D; Objective: to characterize the performance of cognitive-linguistic skills of students in early literacy phases during the pandemic.&#x0D; Methods: Twenty-two elementary school students participated in this study, distributed in GI 1st year students and 2nd year GII students, submitted to the application of the Cognitive-Linguistic Skills Assessment Protocol for students in the initial stage of literacy.&#x0D; Results: Students from GI and GII showed average performance for writing the name and writing the alphabet in sequence. The GI presented a refusal response for the subtests of word dictation, pseudoword dictation and picture dictation, word repetition and visual sequential memory of shapes and poor performance for alphabet recognition in random order and average performance for alphabet recognition in sequence. GII showed lower performance for the subtests of word dictation, pseudoword dictation, picture dictation and superior performance for alphabet recognition in random order, alphabet in sequence and visual sequential memory of shapes.&#x0D; Discussion: The appropriation of the letter-sound relationship mechanism raises questions, since it evidenced the difficulty of all students in cognitive-linguistic skills necessary for the full development of reading and writing in an alphabetic writing system such as Brazilian Portuguese .&#x0D; Conclusion: Students in the 1st and 2nd years showed lower performance in cognitive-linguistic skills important for learning reading and writing.

Bottom-Up Signal Quality Impacts the Role of Top-Down Cognitive-Linguistic Processing During Speech Recognition by Adults with Cochlear Implants.

Significant variability persists in speech recognition outcomes in adults with cochlear implants (CIs). Sensory ("bottom-up") and cognitive-linguistic ("top-down") processes help explain this variability. However, the interactions of these bottom-up and top-down factors remain unclear. One hypothesis was tested: top-down processes would contribute differentially to speech recognition, depending on the fidelity of bottom-up input. Bottom-up spectro-temporal processing, assessed using a Spectral-Temporally Modulated Ripple Test (SMRT), is associated with CI speech recognition outcomes. Similarly, top-down cognitive-linguistic skills relate to outcomes, including working memory capacity, inhibition-concentration, speed of lexical access, and nonverbal reasoning. Fifty-one adult CI users were tested for word and sentence recognition, along with performance on the SMRT and a battery of cognitive-linguistic tests. The group was divided into "low-," "intermediate-," and "high-SMRT" groups, based on SMRT scores. Separate correlation analyses were performed for each subgroup between a composite score of cognitive-linguistic processing and speech recognition. Associations of top-down composite scores with speech recognition were not significant for the low-SMRT group. In contrast, these associations were significant and of medium effect size (Spearman's rho = 0.44-0.46) for two sentence types for the intermediate-SMRT group. For the high-SMRT group, top-down scores were associated with both word and sentence recognition, with medium to large effect sizes (Spearman's rho = 0.45-0.58). Top-down processes contribute differentially to speech recognition in CI users based on the quality of bottom-up input. Findings have clinical implications for individualized treatment approaches relying on bottom-up device programming or top-down rehabilitation approaches.

Exploring Individual Differences in Recognizing Idiomatic Expressions in Context.

Written language comprehension requires readers to integrate incoming information with stored mental knowledge to construct meaning. Literally plausible idiomatic expressions can activate both figurative and literal interpretations, which convey different meanings. Previous research has shown that contexts biasing the figurative or literal interpretation of an idiom can facilitate its processing. Moreover, there is evidence that processing of idiomatic expressions is subject to individual differences in linguistic knowledge and cognitive-linguistic skills. It is therefore conceivable that individuals vary in the extent to which they experience context-induced facilitation in processing idiomatic expressions. To explore the interplay between reader-related variables and contextual facilitation, we conducted a self-paced reading experiment. We recruited participants who had recently completed a battery of 33 behavioural tests measuring individual differences in linguistic knowledge, general cognitive skills and linguistic processing skills. In the present experiment, a subset of these participants read idiomatic expressions that were either presented in isolation or preceded by a figuratively or literally biasing context. We conducted analyses on the reading times of idiom-final nouns and the word thereafter (spill-over region) across the three conditions, including participants’ scores from the individual differences battery. Our results showed no main effect of the preceding context, but substantial variation between readers and variation in contextual facilitation. We encourage interested researchers to exploit the present dataset for follow-up studies on individual differences in idiom processing.