Acquisition Of Reading Skills Research Articles

Stages And Methods Of Analyzing The Texts Of A Book In Primary School

Acquisition of reading skills is an important condition for successful mastering of all subjects taught in school. Reading is a major activity that provides a great opportunity for pupils to develop ideologically, politically, intellectually, aesthetically and verbally. This article elucidates systematic and purposeful work to develop and improve reading skills.

Predicting future poor readers from pre-reading visual skills: A longitudinal study

Reading is essential for learning, from literature to physics, from paper to screens on e-readers and smart phones. Even if it is well known that learning to read implies good language skills, children also need to develop good oculomotor and visual-perception skills. Thereby, any deficits in visual processing may affect learning. The possible impact of visual deficits is rarely considered, especially with regard to eye movements and visual perception. Hence, these deficits are usually discovered much later or remain undiagnosed. The present study aimed at assessing the usefulness of visual processing related measures in the early detection of reading difficulties. Visual skill differences that are apparent early in kindergarten might provide predictive insights into risk for learning difficulties at school entry. We used a prospective, longitudinal approach where visual processes (assessed with the Developmental Eye Movement (DEM) test) were measured in 51 preschoolers, and the impact of these processes on future reading development was explored one year later, in Grade 1. Results showed that (1) 31% of our sample of preschoolers showed visual processing impairments (without any clinical complaints) and (2) reading accuracy and speed in first graders were significantly correlated with visual skills assessed in kindergarten, thus confirming the significant role of oculomotor and visual-perception processes in the acquisition of reading skills. These suggests the potential for these measures to be used clinically for identifying children at risk for low academic achievement, enabling appropriate targeting of early interventions.

Exploring EFL university learners’ acquisition of advanced reading skills in the Yemeni context

Reading is an essential language skill for enhancing learners’ performance at various levels of study. However, EFL learners at the tertiary level encounter reading difficulties, particularly in acquiring advanced reading skills, which have affected their reading comprehension and resulted in low academic performance achievement. This is probably attributed to various factors, including learners’ lack of effective reading strategies. A study that exclusively explores reading difficulties encountered by EFL university learners, reasons for the difficulties, and strategies adopted to overcome the difficulties and develop advanced reading skills seem to be scarce in the literature. Therefore, the main purpose of this study was to explore the acquisition process of advanced reading skills in EFL tertiary context at a private university in Yemen from learners’ perspective. The study adopted a qualitative approach to gather data from EFL tertiary learners through a focus group discussion. The data were analyzed manually using the indexing approach. Findings revealed that learners face reading difficulties such as inference making, getting the gist of the text, and managing the reading tasks. These difficulties were attributed to linguistic and non-linguistic reasons, and metacognitive, cognitive, and social-affective strategies were used in reading. The study recommends engaging EFL learners in intensive and extensive reading to help them apply the strategies they learn and develop advanced reading skills and better academic performance. Future research studies may focus on strategies for reading fluency.

The role of national culture in student acquisition of mathematics and reading skills

ABSTRACT International tests demonstrate that students’ mathematics and reading skills vary widely across countries. I investigate whether a country’s cultural characteristics are the fundamental cause of these differences, while family and school characteristics are the proximate causes. I find that while either cultural characteristics or family and school characteristics can explain average student scores on PISA mathematics and reading literacy tests across countries, when the effects of both types of characteristics are examined together, the cultural characteristics explain most of the differences. These results indicate that families and schools function as agents of society and that schools have a limited capability to improve students’ skills absent accompanying changes in a country’s cultural characteristics.

Multi-aspect potential of project activities in the university (based on the innovative platform project material)

The article discusses the methodology of work on the project of the “Revival of traditions of family reading in the modern spiritual education of children and youth” innovative platform, organized in the Arzamas branch of the SUNN. The project is a cumulative phenomenon that synthesizes the scientific and methodological experience of leading teachers, psychologists, and organizers of children’s reading, research scientists of children’s literature. The project involves scientists, teachers of educational institutions of different levels, students, children of different ages, and their parents in a wide joint creative activity. Particular attention in the development of this practice-oriented innovative project is paid to the activities of the student initiative group and its pedagogical effect. The educational strategy of the project contributes to the development of constructive critical thinking and is aimed at developing a wide range of professional competencies among students participating in the project: professional and pedagogical, communicative, general cultural, and informational. The article pays particular attention to the description of the complex of educational products and forms of methodological assistance to teachers and parents. In the process of implementing this project, the urgent needs of teachers and families participating in the project are met. Those include the acquisition of methodological experience in working with parents and children to popularize children’s literature and family reading; practical experience of working with a children’s book in a family circle; the acquisition of artistic reading and recitation skills by the project participants; the generalization and systematization of scientific and methodological experience in the field of children’s literature and family reading; family and creative literary communication; the introduction to the literary study of local lore. Literary and ethical-artistic questions are brought to spectators through theatrical communication.

Executive function, language dominance and literacy skills in Spanish-speaking language-minority children: A longitudinal study

In the United States, children whose home language is Spanish are at increased risk for the development of reading difficulties. Studies have reported a link between executive function (EF) and reading; few studies have examined this linkage in Spanish-speaking language-minority (LM) children. This longitudinal study examined the association between preschool EF and kindergarten reading-related skills in 241 Spanish-speaking LM children (M-age in preschool = 54.23 months, SD = 6.17). In preschool, children completed measures of inhibitory control (IC) and working memory (WM) in their dominant language, and early literacy skills in Spanish and English. In the fall of their kindergarten year, children completed code- and language-related literacy measures in both languages. A 2-factor model (IC and WM) accounted for children's preschool EF. Most zero-order correlations between EF factors and kindergarten outcomes in Spanish (rs = 0.03-0.40) and English (rs = 0.05-0.35) were statistically significant. For English-language outcomes, WM was more strongly associated with code-related skills and IC with language-related skills; for Spanish-language outcomes, WM was more strongly related to both code- and language-related skills than IC. There was little difference in the associations between EF and reading outcomes based on the language in which EF was measured (i.e., the child's dominant language). When controlling for early literacy skills in the same language as the kindergarten outcomes, EF contributed significant unique variance to kindergarten skills in English but not in Spanish. For Spanish language outcomes, early literacy skills appear to mediate the role of preschool EF. The results suggest that children's development in cognitive domains, such as EF, may have an important role in the acquisition of core early reading skills for Spanish-speaking LM children.

The Effects of Shared e-Book Reading With Dynamic Text and Speech Output on the Single-Word Reading Skills of Young Children With Developmental Disabilities.

Purpose This study investigated the use of a new software feature, namely, dynamic text with speech output, on the acquisition of single-word reading skills by six children with developmental disabilities during shared e-book reading experiences with six typically developing peers. Method A single-subject, multiple-probe design across participants was used to evaluate the effects of the software intervention. Six children with developmental delays were the primary focus for intervention, while six children with typical development participated as peer partners in intervention activities. e-Books were created with the new software feature, in which a child selects a picture from the e-book and the written word is presented dynamically and then spoken out. These e-books were then used in shared reading activities with dyads including a child with a disability and a peer with typical development. Participants engaged in the shared reading activity for an average of 13 sessions over a 6-week time period, an average of 65 min of intervention for each dyad. Results Participants with disabilities acquired an average of 73% of the words to which they were exposed, a gain of 4.3 words above the baseline average of 1.7 correct responses. The average effect size (Tau-U) was .94, evidence of a very large effect. Conclusion The results provide evidence that the use of e-books with the dynamic text and speech output feature during inclusive shared reading activities can be an effective and socially valid method to develop the single-word reading skills of young children with developmental disabilities.

Foundational Reading Interventions Adapted for Individuals Who Require Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC): a Systematic Review of the Research

The acquisition of reading skills is vital for all individuals given the ubiquitous influence of reading on academic outcomes and quality of life. Individuals with complex communication needs, requiring the supports of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), are often excluded from learning phonological approaches to literacy. Most literacy approaches require verbal production of speech sounds—which is particularly difficult for individuals with complex communication needs. However, despite challenges with spoken production of sounds, research has reported positive outcomes in participation in phonological interventions when they are adapted to meet the needs of individuals who use AAC. The purpose of the current study was to conduct a systematic review to evaluate the effectiveness of foundational reading interventions (specifically phonological awareness skills, letter-sound correspondences, and decoding interventions) designed to meet the needs of individuals who use AAC. Results indicate that large and very large effects are observed with adapted phonological interventions for individuals who use AAC. These results are consistent across ages, diagnoses, most interventionists, and phonological skills (e.g., decoding, letter-sounds, sound blending). Future research shifting away from very controlled settings with the researcher (to small and large group instruction, instruction by common service providers like teachers, or other types of instruction) may be particularly valuable to support access to, and implementation of, foundational reading interventions for individuals with complex communication needs who require AAC.

Reading and spelling skills of prematurely born children in light of the underlying cognitive factors

Prematurity is a serious risk factor for learning difficulties. Within the academic skills reading has the greatest impact on the prospects of the students; therefore, studying the reading skills in the risk populations is very important. The aim of our study was to investigate reading and spelling skills of prematurely born children. Our target group consisted of 8–11-year-old children (n = 23) who were born preterm with very low birthweights (VLBW). For comparison 57 full-term children (27 good readers and 30 dyslexics) were included in the study sample. To assess the reading and spelling abilities the Hungarian version of the 3DM (Dyslexia Differential Diagnosis) was used. Cognitive abilities were tested using the Hungarian adaptation of the WISC-IV and the Rey Complex Figure Test. The data were analyzed with a novel statistical approach using the R program. In the cognitive measures the mean performances of all three groups fell within the normal range. In the WISC-IV Full-scale IQ as well as in some other cognitive measures the good readers significantly outperformed both the dyslexics and the preterms. The findings of the study did not confirm our expectation that VLBW prematurity should lead to developmental disadvantages in the acquisition of reading and spelling skills since in the reading and spelling performances of the good readers and the preterms did not differ, while both the good readers and the preterms scored higher than the dyslexics. The results suggest that the cognitive assets of the preterm children contributing to their reading and spelling performances were their good spatial–visual memory, working memory, and processing speed. The identification of the cognitive mechanisms underlying reading and spelling abilities is of crucial importance for designing intervention for children with deficits in these academic skills.

A Conceptual Replication Study of the Enhanced Core Reading Instruction MTSS-Reading Model

States are increasingly recommending that districts and schools use multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) to improve reading outcomes for all students. States have also suggested MTSS is a viable service delivery model in response to new state legislation to screen, identify, and treat students with word-level reading disability (i.e., dyslexia). One model of MTSS that utilizes Enhanced Core Reading Instruction (ECRI MTSS), has demonstrated significant increases in students’ early acquisition of foundational reading skills (Smith et al., 2016). The purpose of this study was to conduct a conceptual replication of the Smith’s (2016) original impact study. In a cluster-randomized controlled trial, 44 schools were randomly assigned to the ECRI MTSS treatment or a business-as-usual (BAU) MTSS control condition. Across conditions, 754 students were assigned to receive Tier 2 intervention in addition to Tier 1 instruction. Impact data indicate moderate to strong effects on student decoding, word reading, and fluency skills for students in the ECRI MTSS schools. Results suggest that schools can use ECRI MTSS to improve foundational reading skills for struggling early readers, including students with or at risk for word-level reading disabilities (i.e., dyslexia).

Dyslexia Diagnosis by EEG Temporal and Spectral Descriptors: An Anomaly Detection Approach.

Diagnosis of learning difficulties is a challenging goal. There are huge number of factors involved in the evaluation procedure that present high variance among the population with the same difficulty. Diagnosis is usually performed by scoring subjects according to results obtained in different neuropsychological (performance-based) tests specifically designed to this end. One of the most frequent disorders is developmental dyslexia (DD), a specific difficulty in the acquisition of reading skills not related to mental age or inadequate schooling. Its prevalence is estimated between 5% and 12% of the population. Traditional tests for DD diagnosis aim to measure different behavioral variables involved in the reading process. In this paper, we propose a diagnostic method not based on behavioral variables but on involuntary neurophysiological responses to different auditory stimuli. The experiments performed use electroencephalography (EEG) signals to analyze the temporal behavior and the spectral content of the signal acquired from each electrode to extract relevant (temporal and spectral) features. Moreover, the relationship of the features extracted among electrodes allows to infer a connectivity-like model showing brain areas that process auditory stimuli in a synchronized way. Then an anomaly detection system based on the reconstruction residuals of an autoencoder using these features has been proposed. Hence, classification is performed by the proposed system based on the differences in the resulting connectivity models that have demonstrated to be a useful tool for differential diagnosis of DD as well as a method to step towards gaining a better knowledge of the brain processes involved in DD. The results corroborate that nonspeech stimulus modulated at specific frequencies related to the sampling processes developed in the brain to capture rhymes, syllables and phonemes produces effects in specific frequency bands that differentiate between controls and DD subjects. The proposed method showed relatively high sensitivity above 0.6, and up to 0.9 in some of the experiments.

The Impact of Visual Literacy Awareness Education on Verbal and Writing Skills of Middle School Students

The most important source for the acquisition of the skills targeted in Turkish language course is the texts included in the textbooks. However, recent advances in computers have allowed the visual elements to be included in the education system in addition to textual elements. Visual elements are used in several media, especially in television and the Internet as well as books, magazines, newspapers, etc. For the acquisition of visual reading and visual reading skills, visual reading education is of great importance. In the present study that investigated the effect of visual reading education and visual elements on writing and verbal skills of middle school students, pretest-posttest random sampling design with control group, an experimental design was used. The study researcher randomly assigned 17 students in the study group and 18 students in the control group who were attending the 5th grade in Ahmet Yesevi ISE Middle School during the 2018-2019 academic year. The Written Expression Evaluation Scale (WEES) and Effective Speech Skills in Turkish Language Scale (VRSTLS) were used as data collection instruments. The study data were analyzed with parametric independent and paired samples t-tests. SPSS-PASW Statistics (Version 22) was used in analyses. The study findings demonstrated that visual reading awareness education had a significant impact on the development of writing and verbal skills of the students.

Local perception impairs the lexical reading route.

Human perception of a visual scene is hierarchically organized. Such rapid, albeit coarse, global processing allows people to create a useful context in which local details can be successively allocated. Lack of the typical hierarchical global-to-local visual processing is longitudinally predictive of future reading difficulties in pre-readers, which suggests that an atypical local perception can interfere with reading skill acquisition. Global and local Navon tasks were used to induce a transient perceptual priming before a reading-aloud task. We tested the effect of an atypical local perception on lexical and sublexical reading routes in typical adult readers. Local (vs. global) priming resulted in a slower phonological access to irregular, relative to regular, words. By contrast, pseudoword reading was not affected by local (vs. global) perceptual priming. Our findings demonstrate that, in typical adult readers, local priming impairs the fast processing of the letter string useful for lexical reading.

Orthographic knowledge predicts reading and spelling skills over and above general intelligence and phonological awareness

It is widely accepted that general intelligence and phonological awareness contribute to children’s acquisition of reading and spelling skills. A further candidate in this regard is orthographic knowledge (i.e., the knowledge about permissible letter patterns). It consists of two components, word-specific (i.e., the knowledge of the spelling of specific words) and general orthographic knowledge (i.e., the knowledge about legal letter patterns of a writing system). Among German students, previous studies have shown that word-specific orthographic knowledge contributes to both reading and spelling. The results regarding general orthographic knowledge and its contribution to reading and spelling are inconsistent. The major goal of the present study was to determine the incremental predictive value of orthographic knowledge for reading and spelling skills among German elementary-school children (N = 66), over and above the contribution of general intelligence and phonological awareness. The second goal was to examine whether there is a difference between the two subtypes of orthographic knowledge in the amount of their respective contribution to reading and spelling performance. The results show that word-specific as well as general orthographic knowledge contribute to both reading and spelling performance, over and above intelligence and phonological awareness. Furthermore, it reveals that both word-specific and general orthographic knowledge explain more variance of spelling compared to reading. Possible explanations for these results, limitations, and implications of the study are being discussed.

The power of a story in the function of language literacy

In this paper we tried to demonstrate the power of a story in the function of language literacy. We are going to build up our argument from the general premises of the cultural psychologist Jerome Bruner dispersed in many of his books, which postulate that our experience of ourselves and the world is structured in a narrative form – like a story. We think that the best way to acquire language literacy is to start from a story and then to proceed to language. Listening to stories (told or read by a teacher) equips students with the skills and attitudes that afterwards enable easier acquisition of pre-reading and reading skills. Such pre-reading skills are making distinction between written and spoken language, recognition of articulation, intonation and diction in language, and understanding that language is always entangled in meaning. The studies have shown that having access to imaginative and properly structured stories adequate for students’ developmental level is very important and beneficial for understanding of how language works. Language and stories are essentially interconnected and one cannot exist without the other and that is why the structure of narratives discloses the structure of language.

Investigation of pre-service teachers’ critical reading self-efficacy

Critical thinking has become an important skill in today’s intensive information flow. Because individuals need to reach the right source by evaluating the information. The development of critical thinking requires the acquisition of critical reading skills. Critical reading is the reading of individuals by questioning and evaluating text. In this research, critical reading self-efficacy of pre-service teachers were examined in terms of variables of gender, grade level, the department studied, mothers’ educational background, fathers’ education background and daily internet usage time. The sample of the current research was composed of 345 pre-service teachers. The data collection process, Critical Reading Self-Efficacy Perception Scale was used. To analyze data, Mann Whitney U and Kruskal Wallis H-tests were used. As a result of Mann Whitney U-test, a significant difference was defined in critical reading self-efficacy according to the department studied. As a result of Kruskal Wallis H-test a significant difference was defined in critical reading self-efficacy and questioning, inference, analysis and evaluation sub-dimensions according to mothers’ educational background, and in critical reading self-efficacy and finding similarities and awareness sub-dimension according to daily internet usage time.

Learning Lexical Information Depends Upon Task, Learning Approach, and Reader Subtype

Learning to read relies upon the integration of phonological, orthographic, and semantic information. However, no studies have investigated how children with varying reading abilities learn phonological-orthographic (PO) and semantic aspects of novel words as a function of both learning approach (LA; e.g., learning new words in isolation or context) and outcome (fluency or comprehension). In this study, 45 children participated in three tasks that differentially tested PO and semantic attributes of novel pseudo-words learned through two learning approaches. Children were classified into groups as having dyslexia (DYS), having specific reading comprehension deficits (S-RCDs), or being typically developing readers (TD). Differences were found between groups, with S-RCD poorer than TD on semantic but not PO components of learning. Children with DYS displayed impaired results on both semantic and PO learning but showed an interaction on task by LA performance. Specifically, in the DYS group, isolation LA yielded better performance on PO learning, while context LA was better for semantic learning. These results indicate that (a) children with S-RCDs have a unique learning profile that is dissociable from DYS and TD and (b) reading impairments are not static but rather influence acquisition of reading skill in different ways, depending on reading profile.

Delayed development of phonological constancy in toddlers at family risk for dyslexia

Phonological constancy refers to infants’ ability to disregard variations in the phonetic realisation of speech sounds that do not indicate lexical contrast, e.g., when listening to accented speech. In typically-developing infants, this ability develops between 15- and 19-months of age, coinciding with the consolidation of infants’ native phonological competence and vocabulary growth. Here we investigated the developmental time course of phonological constancy in infants at family risk for developmental dyslexia, using a longitudinal design. Developmental dyslexia is a disorder affecting the acquisition of reading and spelling skills, and it also affects early auditory processing, speech perception, and lexical acquisition. Infants at-risk and not at-risk for dyslexia, based on a family history of dyslexia, participated when they were 15-, 19-, and 26-months of age. Phonological constancy was indexed by comparing at-risk and not at-risk infants’ ability to recognise familiar words in two preferential looking tasks: (1) a task using words presented in their native accent, and (2) a task using words presented in a non-native accent. We expected a delay in phonological constancy for the at-risk infants. As predicted, in the non-native accent task, not at-risk infants recognised familiar words by 19 months, but at-risk infants did not. The control infants thus exhibited phonological constancy. By 26 months, at-risk toddlers did show successful word recognition in the native accent task. However, for the non-native accent task at 26 months, neither at-risk nor control infants showed familiar word recognition. These findings are discussed in terms of the impact of family risk for dyslexia on toddlers’ consolidation of early phonological and lexical skills.

Teacher quality and student skill acquisition. An analysis based on PIRLS-2011 outcomes

ABSTRACT This article examines the question of teacher quality and its effects on the skills acquisition of primary school students in Spain. We use an education production function in which we incorporate teachers’ fixed effects, estimated by means of a multiple regression model. Specifically, we examine the acquisition of reading skills by drawing on data from PIRLS-2011. The results obtained allow us to conclude that teachers constitute an important input in the acquisition of reading skills. Additionally, we analyse which observed teachers’ characteristics can be related to teacher quality. By identifying the quality of each teacher in the sample, we are also able to determine where the “best” and “worst” teachers work. The results indicate that there is a greater probability of finding high quality teachers in privately owned schools and in schools where the students come from families with higher levels of economic and socio-cultural resources.

Cross-Language Influence of Phonological Processing Skills on Early Reading in Chinese-English Speaking Children

Empirical research shows the importance of phonological processing in children’s acquisition of reading skills. However, the cross-language relationship between first language and second language is still not clearly described especially in Malaysia’s multi-cultural context. This study examines the relations between phonological processing skills and early reading in children’s acquisition of Chinese (L1) and English (L2) as second languages. A total of 150 Chinese-speaking children (6 - 7 years old) participated and were administered measures of early reading and phonological processing skills in both L1 and L2. Within-language and cross-language structural equation, models (SEMs) were created to explore the causal relationships between phonological processing skills and early reading in both languages. Results indicated that among the three key skills of phonological processing, rapid automatic naming was the strongest predictor of Chinese early reading. In contrast, phonological awareness strongly predicted English early reading. Only English (L2) rapid automatic naming skills contributed to Chinese (L1) early reading. The cross-language transfer of English rapid automatic naming skills on Chinese (L1) early reading was found and reported. This study contributes to the development of models and theories of bilingual acquisition. It aims to design instructional programmes by considering these critical skills' contribution in enhancing successful reading in English as a second language