Silent Word Reading Research Articles

“Reading”, “listening” and sound, light environment

Sound is always an important medium for passing on knowledge and skills as well as for communicating information. Reading accompanies the use of the brain in the silent reading of words, an act that transforms textual information into verbal information. People can “listen” and “read” in a dark or low light environment. Learning and thinking in a quiet, dark environment is not only conducive to the formation of innovative thinking, but also the inheritance of ancient ideas of health and wisdom. Modern disciplines follow the human perception mechanism and advocate concepts of “Quiet Area” (in soundscape discipline) and “Dark Night Sky” (in lightscape discipline). It is in accordance with the ancients preference of thinking and learning in a “quiet, dark environment”, which is consistent with the law of the matter and the origin of things. This also reflects the integration of human life wisdom and modern science.

The Test of Silent Word Reading as a Diagnostic Tool for The Identification of Dyslexia in Pupils of School Age

The Test of Silent Word Reading as a Diagnostic Tool for The Identification of Dyslexia in Pupils of School Age

WordSword: An Efficient Online Word Reading Assessment for Global English.

The development of efficient and reliable online assessments has become increasingly important in the digital era. We developed a 10-min online word reading assessment of global English based on the existing paper-and-pencil version of our English silent word reading test. The test includes two parts, namely, random word recognition and contextual word reading. A total of 889 participants (437 children and 392 adults; 62.7% female) took part in the study. They were from various regions including mainland China, Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR, Poland, the United States, and the Philippines. Reliability and validity analyses on various demographics samples (by age and country/region of origin) demonstrated that the WordSword Test is highly reliable and valid (e.g., the correlation of this test with other English reading measures were above .80). Education level was positively correlated with test performance, while the correlations between age and test performance were not consistent. Ninety-seven children participants also took the paper-and-pencil version of the WordSword Test. The correlation between performances on the online and paper-and-pencil versions of the test was .879, one year apart. With more children and adults taking the WordSword Test, we ultimately hope to establish norms by area, grade level, and age.

Are Both Object and Alphanumeric Rapid Automatized Naming Measures Required to Predict Word Reading Fluency in German Prereaders?

Rapid automatized naming (RAN) powerfully predicts word-level reading fluency in the first 2 years of school as well as further reading development. Here, we analyze various RAN stimuli (objects and digits) and oral/silent word reading (OWR/SWR) modalities to find feasible measures for predicting early reading development. The RAN performances of 127 children starting first grade were assessed. The children’s oral and silent word reading skills were then reassessed in the second grade. Linear regression models and relative weight analysis were used to compare reading and screening modalities and further precursors of reading such as phonological awareness and nonverbal IQ were controlled. Scores from the first grade RAN assessment did not differentially predict second grade OWR versus SWR levels. RAN digits predicted word reading development more strongly than RAN objects, which contributed uniquely when predictions used only RAN variables. However, when different precursors of reading were controlled, only RAN digits helped to predict early reading performance.

Mapping cortical activations underlying covert and overt language production using high-density diffuse optical tomography

Gold standard neuroimaging modalities such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), positron emission tomography (PET), and more recently electrocorticography (ECoG) have provided profound insights regarding the neural mechanisms underlying the processing of language, but they are limited in applications involving naturalistic language production especially in developing brains, during face-to-face dialogues, or as a brain-computer interface. High-density diffuse optical tomography (HD-DOT) provides high-fidelity mapping of human brain function with comparable spatial resolution to that of fMRI but in a silent and open scanning environment similar to real-life social scenarios. Therefore, HD-DOT has potential to be used in naturalistic settings where other neuroimaging modalities are limited. While HD-DOT has been previously validated against fMRI for mapping the neural correlates underlying language comprehension and covert (i.e., “silent”) language production, HD-DOT has not yet been established for mapping the cortical responses to overt (i.e., “out loud”) language production. In this study, we assessed the brain regions supporting a simple hierarchy of language tasks: silent reading of single words, covert production of verbs, and overt production of verbs in normal hearing right-handed native English speakers (n = 33). First, we found that HD-DOT brain mapping is resilient to movement associated with overt speaking. Second, we observed that HD-DOT is sensitive to key activations and deactivations in brain function underlying the perception and naturalistic production of language. Specifically, statistically significant results were observed that show recruitment of regions in occipital, temporal, motor, and prefrontal cortices across all three tasks after performing stringent cluster-extent based thresholding. Our findings lay the foundation for future HD-DOT studies of imaging naturalistic language comprehension and production during real-life social interactions and for broader applications such as presurgical language assessment and brain-machine interfaces.

What explains children's digital word reading performance in L2?

Word reading fluency is crucial for early L2 development. Moreover, the practice of digital reading has become increasingly common for both children and adults. Therefore, the current study investigated factors that explain digital word reading fluency in English (L2) among Chinese children from Hong Kong. Eighty-six children (age: M = 9.78, SD = 1.42) participated in a digital silent word reading test using a mobile phone, a computer, or a tablet. This is a 10-minute timed test of English word reading. Overall, children's digital word reading fluency was highly correlated with print word reading fluency, even when measured a year apart. A hierarchical regression model revealed that socio-economic status ( β = .333), grade ( β = .455), and English reading motivation ( β = .375) were positively and uniquely associated with performance in digital reading. These predictors explained 48.6% of the total variance in task performance. Two additional variables, i.e., the type of reading device and extraneous cognitive load, were included as well. Digital word reading fluency was significantly poorer when done using a phone as compared to a computer ( β = -.187). No significant difference was found between reading on a tablet and a computer. Extraneous cognitive load ( β = -.255) negatively and uniquely explained digital word reading fluency as well. Overall, the model explained 58.8% of the total variance. The present study represents the first attempt to highlight a comprehensive set of predictors of digital word reading fluency.

The Validity of Two Tests of Silent Reading Fluency: A Meta-Analytic Review

The purpose of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the potential of two silent reading fluency measures as indicators of reading competence. Specifically, we analyzed score differences between the Test of Silent Contextual Reading Fluency (TOSCRF), the Test of Silent Word Reading Fluency (TOSWRF), and other standardized measures of reading to determine whether the two silent reading fluency measures were valid indicators of reading competence. Further, potential moderating variables were examined: (a) type of criterion reading measure (i.e., decoding/encoding, word-letter identification, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension); (b) type of silent reading fluency measure (i.e., word vs. contextual); (c) type of learner (English language learner [ELL] status, at risk for a disability; average; above average and gifted); and (e) administration format (i.e., group or individual), and the reading score outcomes. A comparison of effect sizes, across 47 studies and 47,616 participants, revealed the very little score differences between the TOSCRF, TOSWRF, and other standardized measures of reading competence (r = 0.07, very small or trivial). Three moderator variables (English language learner status, type of silent reading fluency measure [word vs. contextual], and administration format [individual vs. group]) did, in fact, moderate effect sizes across studies. A discussion of the implications for using the TOSCRF and TOSWRF as indicators of reading competence, study limitations, and recommendations for future research are included.

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.

초등학교 읽기부진학생들의 읽기능력에 따른 잠재집단별 시선처리 특성 분석

This study analyzes the eye tracking characteristics associated with the reading ability of elementary school students with learning difficulties by using the LPA(latent profile analysis). A total of 32 elementary school students in S city were classified based on the results of the reading test. Eye tracking characteristics of each latent group were compared and analyzed by measuring the movement of the gaze in the reading fluency and silent word reading test. As a result, LPA identified five subgroups with patterns of strengths and weakness in the reading tests. There was a significant difference in the reading test scores for each latent group. Regarding the eye tracking variables for the latent groups, there was a statistically significant difference between the groups in both the total fixation time and regression in the reading fluency test. In addition, it was confirmed that the number of fixed gazes, the number of regressions, and the number of saccades were significant variables in the classification of the latent group. Based on these results, Implications of these results and suggestions for follow-up studies were discussed.

Functional mapping and cooperation between the cerebellum and cerebrum during word reading.

Multiple areas in the cerebellum have been reported to be engaged in reading. However, how these regions cooperate with the reading-related areas in the cerebrum remains unclear. Here, brain images of fifty-two adults were acquired via functional magnetic resonance imaging. By comparing the cerebellar activation across three localization tasks targeting orthographic, phonological, and semantic processing, we first identified three different reading-related areas in the cerebellum, biased toward orthography, phonology, and semantics, respectively. Then, functional connectivity (FC) analyses demonstrated that the mean FC between functionally corresponding areas across the cerebrum and cerebellum was greater than that between noncorresponding areas during silent word reading. FC patterns of functionally corresponding areas could significantly predict reading speed, with the FC driven from orthographic and semantic areas contributing the most. Effective FC analyses further showed that orthographic and semantic areas in the cerebellum had selective and direct connectivity to areas in the cerebrum with similar functional specificity. These results suggest that reading-related areas vary in their functions to reading, and cooperation between areas with corresponding functions was greater than that between noncorresponding areas. These findings emphasize the importance of functional cooperation between the cerebrum and cerebellum during reading from a new perspective.

Musical aptitude and silent reading fluency in adult multilingual learners of Spanish: an exploratory study

ABSTRACT Skilled adult readers are those who read fluently, but multilingual learners do not always exhibit the same reading proficiency in the different languages they know. Among the variables that influence learners’ silent reading fluency, a research trend points to musical aptitude as an individual ability that affects language learners’ reading competency. Common auditory features of reading and musical skills have been observed in studies with children and adolescents, but studies involving multilingual adults learning an additional language are scarce. This study aims to observe the potential relationship of multilingual learners’ musical aptitude and their silent reading fluency in all the languages the learners know and in Spanish, an additional language they are learning as adults. 157 Flemish university students were tested in Dutch, French, English, and Spanish. Learners’ sociocultural data , their musical aptitude and their silent contextual word reading fluency in all languages were tested. In addition, a reading comprehension test in L4 (Spanish) was administered. The statistical results indicate a significant correlation between their musical aptitude and their L1, L2, L3 silent reading fluency, but not with L4 (Spanish).

Keeping an Eye on Effort: A Pupillometric Investigation of Effort and Effortlessness in Visual Word Recognition

Rapid and seemingly effortless word recognition is a virtually unquestioned characteristic of skilled reading, yet the definition and operationalization of the concept of cognitive effort have proven elusive. We investigated the cognitive effort involved in oral and silent word reading using pupillometry among adults (Experiment 1, N = 30; Experiment 2, N = 20) and fourth through sixth graders (Experiment 3, N = 30; Experiment 4, N = 18). We compared multiple pupillary measures (mean, peak, and peak latency) for reading familiar words (real words) and unfamiliar letter strings (pseudowords) varying in length. Converging with the behavioral data for accuracy and response times, pupillary responses demonstrated a greater degree of cognitive effort for pseudowords compared with real words and stronger length effects for pseudowords than for real words. These findings open up new possibilities for studying the issue of effort and effortlessness in the field of word recognition and other fields of skill learning.

Precocious readers: a cognitive or a linguistic advantage?

We investigated the role of linguistic and cognitive processes in reading precocity from kindergarten to grade 2. A sample of 33 precocious readers was identified that did not differ on age, gender, and parental education to a control group of 259 typical readers. The effects of verbal ability were also controlled. All children were administered a battery of cognitive and linguistic measures in three assessment points at the midterm of each year. Individual growth modeling (IGM) was used to test the rate and shape of change of the two groups. Results showed that precocious readers exhibited superior performance in phonological awareness, naming speed, and reading fluency, across development, whereas their early advantage in letter knowledge disappeared by grade 1. A cognitive advantage specific to executive function (planning) was also observed for the precocious readers early on and was maintained through grade 2. Precocious readers outperformed the control group also on silent word reading, reading comprehension, and on the expressive (production) and the receptive (recognition) orthographic processing tasks. We concluded that both linguistic and cognitive abilities—independent of verbal ability—underlie individual differences in reading precocity.

Implications of a Sight Word Intervention for Deaf Students.

The effectiveness of a sight word intervention designed for Deaf students was investigated. Thirty students, grades 1-7, in an urban school for the Deaf received an 8-month intervention. A pretest/posttest design using a teacher-designed instrument, the Cumulative Bedrock Literacy Sight Word Assessment, and the Test of Silent Word Reading Fluency (Mather, Hammill, Allen, & Roberts, 2004) assessed increases in the number of sight words students could identify and the rate at which they could identify them. Paired-samples and independent-samples t tests and Pearson product-moment correlations were used to analyze data. Results indicated a significant increase in the number of sight words participants could identify postintervention. Also, younger students increased their sight word vocabularies at a faster rate than older students. No significant differences based on home language or gender were found. The authors make suggestions for further research and program application.

Psychometric properties of a silent word reading test (LEO-1-min)

Introduction. Teachers and researchers often need to evaluate word decoding skill in group-wise and in a short time. The LEO-1-min test is created to measure word reading through a lexical decision procedure where the examinee identifies pseudowords in a list of frequent words.Objetive. To examine the reliability and validity of LEO-1-min, a silent word reading test, suitable for quick assess of reading abilities in a wide age range of students.Method. Participants were 284 children from 1st to 6th grade of a subsidized Primary School. We created four alternate forms of the LEO-1-min, each with 180 stimuli (132 words and 48 pseudowords).Results. The results show an adequate parallel forms reliability of the scores (range rs = from 0.57 to 0.81). High correlations were found between the scores on the LEO-1-min and the scores on a standardized reading aloud test. The discriminant analysis of the scores on the LEO–1-min shows a high level of success in predicting the oral word decoding performance.Discussion and Conclusion. LEO-1-min reliability is acceptable to good. Lexical decision in LEO-1-min and oral reading are highly correlated, which support using lexical decision as a groupwise test to screen for poor word readers. Form A of the test and provisional scales are presented for each primary grade.

The effect of written scripts’ dissimilarity over ventral and dorsal reading pathway: combined fMRI & DTI study

We employed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and diffuse tensor imaging (DTI) to study neural implications of silent reading of words in mutually comprehensible but visually and orthographically distinct languages for example Hindi and Urdu by independent groups of skilled readers. The fMRI results (conjunction analyses) showed the left inferior frontal gyrus (BA 44/45), bilateral inferior occipital (BA 18/19), bilateral superior parietal (BA 7), left pre-central region (BA 6), and bilateral inferior temporal gyrus (BA 20) as common regions for Hindi and Urdu readers. Some additional regions such as left ventral occipitotemporal, left middle frontal (BA 46), left middle occipital (BA18), and bilateral post-central regions (BA 3) were observed for Urdu readers. DTI results showed significantly higher FA value at the left inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus in Urdu speakers. Overall findings suggest strong engagement of ventral visual pathway in reading Urdu which has a visually complex deep orthography.

Children Use Regions in the Visual Processing and Executive Function Networks during a Subsequent Memory Reading Task.

Memory encoding is a critical process for memory function, which is foundational for cognitive functioning including reading, and has been extensively studied using subsequent memory tasks. Research in adults using such tasks indicates the participation of visual and cognitive-control systems in remembered versus forgotten words. However, given the known developmental trajectories of these systems, the functional neuroanatomy of memory encoding in children may be different than in adults. We examined brain activation for silent word reading and checkerboard viewing during an event-related reading task in 8-12 year-old children. Results indicate greater activation for checkerboard viewing than lexical processing in early visual regions, as well as for lexical processing versus checkerboard viewing in regions in left sensorimotor mouth, cingulo-opercular and dorsal-attention networks. Greater activation for remembered than forgotten words was observed in bilateral visual system and left lateralized regions within the ventral- and dorsal-attention, cingulo-opercular and fronto-parietal networks. These findings suggest a relatively mature reliance on the cognitive-control system, but greater reliance on the visual system in children when viewing words subsequently remembered. The location of regions with greater activity for remembered words reinforces the involvement of the attention and cognitive-control systems in subsequent memory in reading.

Investigating pseudohomophone interference effects in young second-language learners

This study aimed to investigate phonological activation during silent word reading in French adolescents learning English as a second language (L2) at secondary school. Grade 6 and Grade 8 adolescents performed lexical decision tasks in English, where we compared processing of nonwords that were homophonic to real L2 words (i.e., pseudohomophones [PsHs]; e.g., grean) with that of orthographic control pseudowords (OCs; e.g., greun). In Experiment 1, PsHs were constructed so that they sounded like L2 words when using cross-language (L1) grapheme-to-phoneme correspondences (GPCs) only (e.g., grine), whereas PsHs were constructed with within-language (L2) GPCs (e.g., grean) in Experiment 2. Results showed a PsH interference effect as reflected by higher error rates and/or longer rejection times for PsHs compared with OCs whether using within-language or cross-language GPCs and at both grade levels. Evidence of this PsH interference effect was also observed in Experiment 3, which used PsHs that sounded like real L1 words when using L2 GPCs (e.g., droal for the French word drôle [funny in English]). We suggest that young L2 learners automatically activate both L1 and L2 GPCs during L2 silent reading in favor of strong cross-language interactions at the orthography-to-phonology interface. The results are discussed in relation to bilingual and developmental models on visual word recognition.

Abnormal cortical activation during silent reading in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder

ObjectiveAutism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder characterized by communication deficits and social difficulties, and individuals with ASD frequently exhibit varied levels of language abilities. However, the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying their language deficits remain unclear. To gain insight into the neurophysiological mechanisms of receptive language deficits, we assessed cortical activation patterns in adolescents with ASD during silent word-reading. MethodsWe used magnetoencephalography to measure cortical activation during a silent word-reading task in 14 adolescent boys with high-functioning ASD and 17 adolescent boys with typical development (TD). ResultsCompared with participants with TD, those with ASD exhibited significantly decreased cortical activation in the left middle temporal gyrus, left temporoparietal junction, bilateral superior temporal gyrus, left posterior insula, and right occipitotemporal gyrus, and increased activation in the right anterior insula. Participants with ASD also exhibited a lack of left-lateralization in the central sulcus and abnormal right-lateralization in the anterior insula area. Furthermore, in participants with ASD, we found that abnormal activation of the right central sulcus correlated significantly with lower visual word comprehension scores, and that decreased activation of the right anterior insula correlated significantly with the severity of social interaction difficulties. ConclusionOur findings suggest that atypical cortical activation and lateralization in the temporal-frontal area, which is associated with higher-order language processing functions, such as semantic analysis, may play a crucial role in visual word comprehension and social interaction difficulties in adolescents with ASD.

Examination of Factors Affecting Students’ Reading-Comprehension Achievement with Structural Equation Modeling

It is noted in the light of several studies associated with the reading-comprehension skills that fluent word reading, connectives knowledge and fluent text reading are closely related to the comprehension skill. Hence it seems possible to create a model over these concepts and their interrelationships. Within the scope of this research two different models are proposed considering theoretical information. The study group of the research was composed of 263 secondary school students at a state school in Burdur province. Three different confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were performed to see whether factor structures were confirmed on the sample by using the maximum estimate method of the AMOS 18 software. Analysis of Covariance and Multivariate Analysis of Covariance were performed to determine whether the demographic variables grade level and gender had a significant effect on the scale scores. These analyzes were also performed in the SPSS 18 program. It has been found that as the grade level of the students increases, connective usage konowledge increases, the fluent silent word reading, the fluent silent text reading, the reading comprehension and the academic achievements increase as the grade level increases. This research concluded that reading comprehension strongly and significantly predicted academic achievement. But however, fluent silent text reading did not predict reading comprehension significantly. According to the results of the research, the model formed by the sub-dimensions of binding usage information shows better fit.