Word Reading Rate Research Articles

Not just phonology: a longitudinal study of dyslexia subtypes based on the distinction between reading accuracy and reading rate

IntroductionPrevious cross-sectional investigations by Shany and colleagues have provided evidence of double dissociation among dyslexics between word reading accuracy and (pure) word reading rate. A rate-disabled subtype (with intact reading accuracy) evinced deficits only in rapid naming (RAN); An accuracy-disabled subtype (with intact reading rate) showed deficits in phonological awareness (PA) and morphological awareness (MA) but not RAN.MethodThe present longitudinal study followed 639 Palestinian Arabic-speaking children from preschool to Grade 1 with the aim of determining (1) whether a dissociation between PA C MA and RAN is apparent among pre-literate preschoolers, (2) whether the PA C MA-disabled subgroup constitutes a mild form of Developmental Language Disorder (DLD), (3) whether our three disabled subgroups (PA C MA-only, RAN-only, and PA C MA-plus-RAN) can be differentiated on preschool early literacy measures and, (4) whether the three at-risk subgroups develop into selectively rate-disabled, accuracy-disabled, or doubly-disabled (accuracy C rate) readers in Grade 1?ResultsOur findings confirmed the existence of two distinct selectively disabled/at-risk subgroups in preschool: a RAN-only subgroup with intact PA and MA and a PA C MA subgroup with broad impairments across language measures but intact RAN. Grade 1 reading data also confirmed that the RAN-disabled subgroup became slow but accurate readers, whereas the PA C MA subgroup developed into inaccurate and slow readers.DiscussionOur study indicates partial dissociation between early dyslexia subtypes, each displaying distinct and non-overlapping cognitive-linguistic profiles in preschool. The study also revealed a strong association between reading accuracy and reading rate among beginning readers. This study emphasizes the importance of considering heterogeneity in reading outcomes as well as multiple oral language skills beyond the well-documented role of PA.

Word- and Text-Level Processes Contributing to Fluent Reading of Word Lists and Sentences.

In this study, we investigated how word- and text-level processes contribute to different types of reading fluency measures. We aimed to increase our understanding of the underlying processes necessary for fluent reading. The sample included 73 Dutch Grade 3 children, who were assessed on serial word reading rate (familiar words), word-list reading fluency (increasingly difficult words), and sentence reading fluency. Word-level processes were individual word recognition speed (discrete word reading) and sequential processing efficiency (serial digit naming). Text-level processes were receptive vocabulary and syntactic skills. The results showed that word- and text-level processes combined accounted for a comparable amount of variance in all fluency outcomes. Both word-level processes were moderate predictors of all fluency outcomes. However, vocabulary only moderately predicted sentence reading fluency, and syntactic skills merely contributed to sentence reading fluency indirectly through vocabulary. The findings indicate that sequential processing efficiency has a crucial role in reading fluency across various measures besides individual word recognition speed. Additionally, text-level processes come into play when complexity and context availability of fluency measures increases, but the exact timing requires further study. Findings are discussed in terms of future directions and their possible value for diagnostic assessment and intervention of reading difficulties.

Examining Variance in Reading Comprehension Among Developing Readers: Words in Context (Curriculum-Based Measurement in Reading) Versus Words Out of Context (Word Lists)

.Curriculum-based measurement in reading (CBM-R) is a widely used measure for identifying students in need of reading intervention and monitoring their progress. Despite a large base of research supporting the efficacy of CBM-R as a measure of comprehension, critics maintain that CBM-R is little more than a measure of word reading. The current study extends existing research by examining the extent to which CBM-R is a measure of student performance beyond word reading rate and accuracy as well as examining the benefits of administering a word list to early elementary students. Participants included 143 first-grade and 147 second-grade students. All students were administered a norm-referenced measure of reading achievement, two CBM-R passages, and two word lists. Results replicate and extend the literature by highlighting potential differences in the reading behavior of developing and fluent readers and demonstrating the potential need to administer measures of word list reading when conducting screenings in early grades.

An fMRI study of the differential effects of word presentation rates (reading acceleration) on dyslexic readers' brain activity patterns

Several lines of evidence have recently provided a clear indication that word reading rate can be considered as an independent variable which influences comprehension as well as accuracy in reading. Thus, not only is fluent reading a critical characteristic of skilled (automatic) reading, it has been shown that faster reading does not necessarily incur a cost in terms of accuracy. Indeed, readers of various levels of reading proficiency, as well as clearly impaired readers (dyslexics), if made to read faster than their normal (routine) reading rate, can increase their decoding accuracy and comprehension. Using block design, blood-(de)oxygenation-level-dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging we studied the differences in brain activation patterns induced by reading and script processing in adult dyslexics and normal reading controls as a function of two word presentation rates. Word presentation rates were set individually for each participant to correspond to his/her routine reading rate (slow) and to a correspondingly faster rate (fast). Three task conditions were tested: sentences (plausibility judgment), single words (concrete/abstract judgment), non-words (homophonic judgment). Comprehension and accuracy in the faster presentation rates were unimpaired in both groups. There were no significant differences between the activation patterns induced in both groups in ‘slow’ reading of sentences and single words, but ‘fast’ reading was related to higher activations in visual areas in the normal readers. However, in the slow non-words condition the dyslexics were characterized by activations in the Lt IFG (Broca's area) and operculum, while the control readers clearly activated visual processing areas (extra-striate cortex). These differences in brain activation patterns were not found in the fast non-words condition. We propose that time-constrained (accelerated) script decoding may prompt the dyslexic brain to process graphemic information in a different manner compared to the one employed in unconstrained (routine) reading, in some conditions in a manner of processing much closer to the one employed by normal reading controls.

The Underlying Factors of Word Reading Rate

The discovery of the “acceleration phenomenon” and the contribution of reading rate as an independent variable to the quality of the reading process brought about a systematic research project that examined the underlying factors of word reading rate. Word reading requires processing information in the visual and auditory modalities and relies on word recognition skills such as phonological and orthographic decoding. Therefore, it is believed that speed of processing of some subset of the above sub-processes affects word-reading rate. By using experimental manipulations relying on both electrophysiological (ERPs) and behavioral measures, the sub-processes that are activated in word reading can be distinguished and shown to differentiate between the early perceptual, the central cognitive, and the motoric stages of activation. Results indicate that word reading rate is related to basic speed of processing in the modalities activated during the reading process. However, the processing level within each modality that contributes to self-paced and fast word reading rate differs according to age and the efficiency of reading skills.