Phonological Decoding Skills Research Articles

The Role of Phonological Decoding on the Reading Skills of Beginning Readers With Reading Disabilities in a Highly Transparent Orthography

This study aimed to examine the role of phonological decoding on the reading skills of Turkish beginning readers with reading disabilities. Participants were 80 second graders with and without reading disabilities educated in general education classes at public elementary schools in Ankara, Turkey. In the assessment process, to test the participants’ phonological decoding skills, we used a pseudoword decoding paradigm, and to determine reading fluency and comprehension skills reading texts were used. Data were collected in individual sessions and analyzed by running a series of GLM analyses of variance and Pearson correlation analyses. Findings showed the reading fluency and comprehension performances of participants varied depending on their phonological decoding processing level and thus suggested phonological decoding is one of the most important indicators of reading fluency and comprehension in a highly transparent language, Turkish. The acquisition of adequate reading comprehension seems to be modified by particularities of phonological decoding.

Impaired Ability in Visual-Spatial Attention in Chinese Children With Developmental Dyslexia.

A growing body of evidence suggests that children with dyslexia in alphabetic languages exhibit visual-spatial attention deficits that can obstruct reading acquisition by impairing their phonological decoding skills. However, it remains an open question whether these visual-spatial attention deficits are present in children with dyslexia in non-alphabetic languages. Chinese, with its logographic writing system, offers a unique opportunity to explore this question. The presence of visual-spatial attention deficits in Chinese children with dyslexia remains insufficiently investigated. Therefore, this study aimed to explore whether such deficits exist, employing a visual search paradigm. Three visual search tasks were conducted, encompassing two singleton feature search tasks and a serial conjunction search task. The results indicated that Chinese children with dyslexia performed as well as chronological age-matched control children in color search tasks but less effectively in orientation search, suggesting a difficulty in the rapid visual processing of orientation: a deficit potentially specific to Chinese dyslexia. Crucially, Chinese children with dyslexia also exhibited lower accuracy, longer reaction times, and steeper slopes in the reaction times by set size function in the conjunction search task compared to control children, which is indicative of a visual-spatial attention deficit.

Phonological decoding skill in braille readers: implications for dyslexia

Phonological decoding skill in braille readers: implications for dyslexia

Exposure to dialect variation in an artificial language prior to literacy training impairs reading of words with competing variants but does not affect decoding skills.

Many bidialectal children grow up speaking a variety (e.g., a regional dialect) that differs from the variety in which they subsequently acquire literacy. Previous computational simulations and artificial literacy learning experiments with adults have demonstrated lower accuracy in reading contrastive words for which dialect variants exist compared with noncontrastive words without dialect variants. At the same time, exposure to multiple varieties did not affect learners' ability to phonologically decode untrained words; in fact, longer literacy training resulted in a benefit from dialect exposure as competing variants in the input may have increased reliance on grapheme-phoneme conversion. However, these previous experiments interleaved word learning and reading/spelling training, yet children typically acquire substantial oral language knowledge prior to literacy training. Here we used artificial literacy learning with adults to examine whether the previous findings replicate in an ecologically more valid procedure where word learning precedes literacy training. We also manipulated training conditions to explore interventions thought to be beneficial for literacy acquisition, such as providing explicit social cues for variety use and literacy training in both varieties. Our findings replicated the reduced accuracy for reading contrastive words in those learners who had successfully acquired the dialect variants prior to literacy training. This effect was exacerbated when literacy training also included dialect variation. Crucially, although no benefits from the interventions were found, dialect exposure did not affect reading and spelling of untrained words suggesting that phonological decoding skills can remain unaffected by the existence of multiple word form variants in a learner's lexicon. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

One-to-One or One Too Many? Linking Sound-to-Letter Mappings to Speech Sound Perception and Production in Early Readers.

Effects related to literacy acquisition have been observed at different levels of speech processing. This study investigated the link between orthographic knowledge and children's perception and production of specific speech sounds. Sixty Spanish-speaking second graders, differing in their phonological decoding skills, completed a speech perception and a production task. In the perception task, a behavioral adaptation of the oddball paradigm was used. Children had to detect orthographically consistent /t/, which has a unique orthographic representation (〈t〉), and inconsistent /k/, which maps onto three different graphemes (〈c〉, 〈qu〉, and 〈k〉), both appearing infrequently within a repetitive auditory sequence. In the production task, children produced these same sounds in meaningless syllables. Perception results show that all children were faster at detecting consistent than inconsistent sounds regardless of their decoding skills. In the production task, however, the same facilitation for consistent sounds was linked to better decoding skills. These findings demonstrate differences in speech sound processing related to literacy acquisition. Literacy acquisition may therefore affect already-formed speech sound representations. Crucially, the strength of this link in production is modulated by individual decoding skills.

Manual dexterity predicts phonological decoding speed in typical reading adults.

Manual dexterity and phonological decoding involve the posterior parietal cortex, which controls location coding for visually guided actions, as well as a large fronto-cerebellar network. We studied the relationship between manual dexterity and reading ability in adult typical readers. Two measurements of manual dexterity were collected to index the procedural learning effect. A linear regression model demonstrated that phonological short-term memory, manual dexterity at time 1 and procedural learning of manual dexterity predicted phonological decoding speed. Similar results were found when left-hand dexterity at time 1 and procedural learning dexterity were entered last. The better one's phonological decoding skill was, the less fluent their manual dexterity was, suggesting a recycle from object-location to letter-location coding. However, the greater the procedural learning, the faster phonological decoding was, suggesting that larger plasticity of object-location coding was linked to better letter-location coding. An independent role of the interhemispheric connections or of the right posterior parietal cortex is also suggested.

The Relationship Between Reading Skills and Intelligence in Students With and Without Special Educational Needs in Learning

Reading research shows that phonological decoding skills and intelligence work mostly independent from each other. However, there is a variety of results on the relationship between reading skills and IQ measures. Studies in this field mainly focus on students with reading disabilities (RD) or students with intellectual disabilities (ID) and less on pupils with Special Educational Needs in Learning (SEN-L). We performed a secondary data analysis to evaluate differences in reading skills and fluid intelligence between students with (N = 144) and without (N = 157) SEN-L and the relationship between SEN-L, reading skills, and fluid intelligence. Participants completed a standardized screening of reading skills (SLS 2-9) and a German culture fair intelligence test (CFT 20-R). Students with SEN-L had lower scores in both tests. Correlations between both scores were smaller within the two groups than in the total sample. Implications of the findings are discussed.

Investigation of the Relationship between Phonological Decoding and Word Reading Speed and Accuracy in Developmental Perspective

The main purpose of this research is to examine the relationship between phonological decoding skills and word reading fluency with a developmental perspective. A total of 300 students from the first, fourth, and eighth grades participated in the study. The phonological decoding skills were evaluated with the Phonological Decoding and Evaluation Tool and the word reading fluency was evaluated with reading texts at different grade levels. All assessments were carried out individually in an environment determined within the students' own schools. Data obtained from the study were analyzed by calculating the Mann-Whitney U test and the Pearson Correlation Coefficient. Findings show that there is a significant relationship between phonological decoding skills and word reading fluency subscales. Results were discussed on the basis of the reading performance of students participating in the study and the word decoding strategies they used during reading.

Correlates of Orthographic Learning in Swedish Children With Cochlear Implants.

This study set out to explore the cognitive and linguistic correlates of orthographic learning in a group of 32 deaf and hard of hearing children with cochlear implants, to better understand the factors that affect the development of fluent reading in these children. To date, the research about the mechanisms of reading fluency and orthographic learning in this population is scarce. The children were between 6:0 and 10:11 years of age and used oral language as their primary mode of communication. They were assessed on orthographic learning, reading fluency and a range of cognitive and linguistic skills including working memory measures, word retrieval and paired associate learning. The results were analyzed in a set of correlation analyses. In line with previous findings from children with typical hearing, orthographic learning was strongly correlated with phonological decoding, receptive vocabulary, phonological skills, verbal-verbal paired-associate learning and word retrieval. The results of this study suggest that orthographic learning in children with CI is strongly dependent on similar cognitive and linguistic skills as in typically hearing peers. Efforts should thus be made to support phonological decoding skill, vocabulary, and phonological skills in this population.

White matter microstructure integrity in relation to reading proficiency☆

Components of reading proficiency such asaccuracy, fluency, and comprehension require the successful coordination of numerous, yet distinct, cortical regions. Underlying white matter tracts allow for communication among these regions. This study utilized unique residualized tract – based spatial statistics methodology to identify the relations of white matter microstructure integrity to three components of reading proficiency in 49 school - aged children with typically developing phonological decoding skills and 27 readers with poor decoders. Results indicated that measures of white matter integrity were differentially associated with components of reading proficiency. In both typical and poor decoders, reading comprehension correlated with measures of integrity of the right uncinate fasciculus; reading comprehension was also related to the left inferior longitudinal fasciculus in poor decoders. Also in poor decoders, word reading fluency was related to the right uncinate and left inferior fronto - occipital fasciculi. Word reading was unrelated to white matter integrity in either group. These findings expand our knowledge of the association between white matter integrity and different elements of reading proficiency.

The Accuracy of Phonological Decoding Skill Among Japanese EFL Learners

The Accuracy of Phonological Decoding Skill Among Japanese EFL Learners

Individual differences in orthographic priming relate to phonological decoding skill in adults.

We examined relationships between individual differences in orthographic priming and a battery of measures assessing orthographic processing ability, reading history, current reading ability, and verbal intelligence in university students. Pronounceable and unpronounceable nonword primes preceded word and nonword targets. Individual differences in nonword reading skill and other measures of reading and spelling ability were associated with the degree of orthographic priming. Individuals with less phonological decoding skill benefited more from anagram primes for word targets preceded by unpronounceable primes and nonword targets preceded by pronounceable primes. Analyses of extreme groups revealed that the group with the lowest phonemic decoding efficiency scores showed a general benefit of orthographic relatedness, while the group with the highest phonemic decoding efficiency scores showed a benefit only under certain conditions. Thus, individuals with worse nonword reading skills may have less precise orthographic representations and therefore benefit more from overlapping coarse-grained orthographic information, regardless of the pronounceability of the prime or the lexical status of the target. These findings demonstrate that university students vary in their orthographic processing skill and the degree to which orthographic information is used during word recognition.

Paired-Associate Learning Ability Accounts for Unique Variance in Orthographic Learning

ABSTRACTPaired-associate learning is a dynamic measure of the ability to form new links between two items. This study aimed to investigate whether paired-associate learning ability is associated with success in orthographic learning, and if so, whether it accounts for unique variance beyond phonological decoding ability and orthographic knowledge. A group of 63 children ages 8–10 completed an orthographic learning task and three types of paired-associate learning task: visual–visual, visual–verbal, and verbal–verbal. The results showed that both visual–verbal and verbal–verbal (but not visual–visual) paired-associate learning ability were associated with success in learning the spellings of novel words. Moreover, hierarchical regression analyses showed that visual–verbal paired-associate learning predicted orthographic learning even after phonological decoding skill and existing orthographic knowledge had been accounted for. We propose that paired-associate learning ability may be one of the underlying mechanisms of orthographic learning, facilitating the connection between the phonology and orthographic representation of a word.

The contribution of morphological awareness to reading comprehension in early stages of reading

The contribution of morphological awareness to reading comprehension in Hebrew was studied in 298 second grade students who practiced two types of inflections, plural and possessive. Reading tasks at the beginning and end of the school year indicated that all improved on all tests in that period. Orthographic word recognition and morphological awareness predicted reading comprehension at the end of year. Students with low (LPD) and high (HPD) phonological decoding skills clearly differed qualitatively in reading comprehension. In the HPD students it was predicted by awareness of possessive inflections; in the LPD students it was predicted by orthographic word recognition ability. The results highlight the importance of examining the different components of morphological awareness in readers with different levels of phonological decoding ability.

Spatial attention and reading ability: ERP correlates of flanker and cue-size effects in good and poor adult phonological decoders

To investigate facilitatory and inhibitory processes during selective attention among adults with good (n=17) and poor (n=14) phonological decoding skills, a go/nogo flanker task was completed while EEG was recorded. Participants responded to a middle target letter flanked by compatible or incompatible flankers. The target was surrounded by a small or large circular cue which was presented simultaneously or 500ms prior. Poor decoders showed a greater RT cost for incompatible stimuli preceded by large cues and less RT benefit for compatible stimuli. Poor decoders also showed reduced modulation of ERPs by cue-size at left hemisphere posterior sites (N1) and by flanker compatibility at right hemisphere posterior sites (N1) and frontal sites (N2), consistent with processing differences in fronto-parietal attention networks. These findings have potential implications for understanding the relationship between spatial attention and phonological decoding in dyslexia.

Orthographic learning in developmental surface and phonological dyslexia

Phonological decoding skill has been proposed to be key to successful sight word learning (orthographic learning). However, little is known about how children with phonological dyslexia, who have impaired phonological decoding, acquire sight words, or why children with surface dyslexia can have normal phonological decoding skill yet impaired sight word acquisition. This study addressed this issue by investigating orthographic learning in two 10-year-old children: S.D., with a reading profile of surface dyslexia, and P.D., with a reading profile of phonological dyslexia. They participated in two experiments exploring the role of phonological decoding and paired-associate learning in orthographic learning. The results showed that, first, P.D.'s orthographic learning ability was better than S.D.'s, despite her phonological decoding skills being poorer. Second, S.D. showed impaired paired-associate learning abilities while P.D. did not. Overall, the results indicate that phonological decoding ability does not translate directly to orthographic learning ability, and that paired-associate learning ability may also be associated with success in orthographic learning.

Tracking orthographic learning in children with different profiles of reading difficulty.

Previous studies have found that children with reading difficulties need more exposures to acquire the representations needed to support fluent reading than typically developing readers (e.g., Ehri and Saltmarsh, 1995). Building on existing orthographic learning paradigms, we report on an investigation of orthographic learning in poor readers using a new learning task tracking both the accuracy (untimed exposure duration) and fluency (200 ms exposure duration) of learning novel words over trials. In study 1, we used the paradigm to examine orthographic learning in children with specific poor reader profiles (nine with a surface profile, nine a phonological profile) and nine age-matched controls. Both profiles showed improvement over the learning cycles, but the children with surface profile showed impaired orthographic learning in spelling and orthographic choice tasks. Study 2 explored predictors of orthographic learning in a group of 91 poor readers using the same outcome measures as in Study 1. Consistent with earlier findings in typically developing readers, phonological decoding skill predicted orthographic learning. Moreover, orthographic knowledge significantly predicted orthographic learning over and beyond phonological decoding. The two studies provide insights into how poor readers learn novel words, and how their learning process may be compromised by less proficient orthographic and/or phonological skills.

Spatial and temporal attention in developmental dyslexia.

Although the dominant view posits that developmental dyslexia (DD) arises from a deficit in phonological processing, emerging evidence suggest that DD could result from a more basic cross-modal letter-to-speech sound integration deficit. Letters have to be precisely selected from irrelevant and cluttering letters by rapid orienting of visual attention before the correct letter-to-speech sound integration applies. In the present study the time-course of spatial attention was investigated measuring target detection reaction times (RTs) in a cuing paradigm, while temporal attention was investigated by assessing impaired identification of the first of two sequentially presented masked visual objects. Spatial and temporal attention were slower in dyslexic children with a deficit in pseudoword reading (N = 14) compared to chronological age (N = 43) and to dyslexics without a deficit in pseudoword reading (N = 18), suggesting a direct link between visual attention efficiency and phonological decoding skills. Individual differences in these visual attention mechanisms were specifically related to pseudoword reading accuracy in dyslexics. The role of spatial and temporal attention in the graphemic parsing process might be related to a basic oscillatory “temporal sampling” dysfunction.

Modelling reading development through phonological decoding and self-teaching: implications for dyslexia

The most influential theory of learning to read is based on the idea that children rely on phonological decoding skills to learn novel words. According to the self-teaching hypothesis, each successful decoding encounter with an unfamiliar word provides an opportunity to acquire word-specific orthographic information that is the foundation of skilled word recognition. Therefore, phonological decoding acts as a self-teaching mechanism or ‘built-in teacher’. However, all previous connectionist models have learned the task of reading aloud through exposure to a very large corpus of spelling–sound pairs, where an ‘external’ teacher supplies the pronunciation of all words that should be learnt. Such a supervised training regimen is highly implausible. Here, we implement and test the developmentally plausible phonological decoding self-teaching hypothesis in the context of the connectionist dual process model. In a series of simulations, we provide a proof of concept that this mechanism works. The model was able to acquire word-specific orthographic representations for more than 25 000 words even though it started with only a small number of grapheme–phoneme correspondences. We then show how visual and phoneme deficits that are present at the outset of reading development can cause dyslexia in the course of reading development.

Predictors of Orthographic Learning of Regular and Irregular Words

The aim of this study was to explore the reading and language skills that are associated with orthographic learning and to examine whether the effects of these factors are influenced by word regularity. Grade 2 and 3 children learned the phonology and meaning of novel words and were subsequently exposed to their orthography, with either regular or irregular mappings. At the participant level, phonological decoding skill, orthographic knowledge, and vocabulary knowledge were associated with orthographic learning for both word types. However, at an item level, reading novel words correctly did not directly relate to the successful acquisition of the representations of those novel words. In addition, item-specific vocabulary knowledge was a predictor of success in orthographic learning, but only for irregular words. The findings are discussed in relation to the self-teaching hypothesis (Share, 1995).