Word Reading Skills Research Articles

From the Editors

A synonym is a word you use when you can't spell the other one –Baltasar Gracián This final issue of Topics in Language Disorders for 2018 addresses a critical foundational skill for writing proficiency—spelling. Issue editors Annemie Desoete and Christel Van Vreckem invited authors to address spelling development and skills in alphabetic orthographies that vary considerably in their transparency: (a) German—a moderately transparent orthography that is heavily inflected and preserves morphological information in word spellings; (b) Dutch—a somewhat more transparent orthography with some irregularities in word spellings; and (c) Italian—a highly transparent, or regular, orthography. The issue begins with Kargl and Landerl's (2018) large-scale descriptive study of German spelling skills in typically developing students across Grades 4–7. As expected, these older students performed quite well when spelling regular words that could be encoded by relying just on phonological knowledge, and both phonological spelling skill and morphological awareness performance predicted overall spelling accuracy. Perhaps, most importantly, morphological awareness uniquely contributed to predicting overall spelling accuracy beyond phonological spelling skill, highlighting the importance of morphological knowledge in German with its dense inflectional system and strong preservation of morphemic units in the orthography. Given the notable importance of morphological awareness in German, the authors describe a computer-aided spelling intervention called MORPHEUS that focuses on morpheme-level spelling and present related efficacy studies using the intervention program. Then, Van Vreckem and Desoete (2018) present data that show the differentiation of spelling skills in Dutch-speaking children in Grades 2–6 with and without dyslexia. Examining spelling performance in children with dyslexia is quite appropriate, given the fact that beginning of year word reading skill is robustly related to spelling achievement (e.g., Foorman et al., 2006), spelling abilities predict later reading success (Berninger, Abbott, Abbott, Graham, & Richards, 2002; Treiman, 1998), and, more generally, reading and spelling skills are reciprocally related (e.g., Conrad, 2008; Ehri, 2000). Van Vreckem and Desoete employ a unique spelling assessment to highlight phonological, orthographic (e.g., rule-based), morphological, etymological, and combined spelling skills. Their descriptive research portrays children with dyslexia in these grades to be generally 2 years behind their peers without dyslexia. Moreover, the younger children with dyslexia struggled even with basic phonologically derived spelling words, as well as the more demanding skills associated with the other Dutch spelling patterns. In addition, children with dyslexia struggled with spelling both real words and pseudowords, and the authors suggest the use of pseudowords in spelling assessment as a means of helping differentiate children with and without dyslexia. Finally, Arfé, Cona, and Merella (2018) present an intervention study to address the spelling problems of Italian children with dyslexia in Grades 2–4. Their experimental intervention modeled the implicit synchronized auditory–phonological and visual–orthographic mappings for spelling Italian words. What is perhaps most interesting in the line of work Arfé et al. are pursuing is that children with dyslexia can benefit from instruction that is not explicit in the traditional sense (i.e., context-sensitive spelling rules and phoneme–grapheme correspondences are not explained to students as part of instruction). Of course, the transparent nature of the Italian orthography may render such explicitness as relatively less important than when intervening on behalf of children with dyslexia in more opaque orthographies such as English. Nevertheless, the possibility of helping students implicitly recognize statistical regularities in the associations of sounds with letters through modeling those associations is exciting because English orthography is rather irregular, with hundreds of associations that cannot all be explicitly taught, and thus much spelling knowledge must be acquired through implicit means (e.g., Arciuli, 2018). We think this issue sheds light on the complexity of spelling skills across languages and language systems, and the particular spelling difficulties experienced by children with dyslexia. There are some key assumptions relayed in this set of articles that readers should consider in their own work with children. First, spelling proficiency relies on diverse knowledge sources and varied aspects of language, and these must be considered when evaluating spelling performance and progress and designing instruction. Second and relatedly, in languages in which morphological information is preserved in word spellings, morphological awareness and knowledge should be incorporated into the teaching milieu. Third, degree of orthographic transparency plays an important role in facilitating or hindering spelling development, but all alphabetic orthographies have some consistent phoneme-to-grapheme mappings that teachers and interventionists should reinforce. Finally, implicit and explicit learning processes are likely involved in spelling acquisition, so spelling instruction and intervention should probably reinforce both of these processes. —Nickola Wolf Nelson, PhD Editor-in-Chief —Gary A. Troia, PhD Associate Editor

Word Reading Skills and Externalizing and Internalizing Problems from Grade 1 to Grade 2—Developmental Trajectories and Bullying Involvement in Grade 3

ABSTRACTSchool bullying is associated with externalizing and internalizing problems, but little is known about whether reading difficulties also play a part. We asked how, in Grades 1 and 2, word reading skills and externalizing/internalizing problems predict the degree to which students are involved in bullying in Grade 3. Using a sample of 480 Finnish children (M age = 7 years 2 months at the beginning of the study), developmental profiles were identified using mixture modeling based on reading skills, as well as externalizing and internalizing problems. In Grade 3, one fifth of the students were involved in bullying as victims, bullies, or bully/victims. Poor readers with externalizing/internalizing problems were most involved as bullies and bully/victims but not as victims. Average readers with externalizing/internalizing problems were also involved in bullying, whereas students with only reading difficulties were not. Skilled readers displayed little externalizing/internalizing problems and were not involved in bullying.

English Spelling Knowledge and Word Reading Skills of Arabic and Japanese ESL Learners

<p><em>Previous research has demonstrated that L1 orthographic features and literacy experiences may influence some lower-level processing skills in L2 literacy development. The goal of this study is to expand understanding of this influence on the development of ESL word reading and spelling skills among a group of 49 intermediate-level Arabic learners of English as a Second Language (ESL) and a corresponding comparison group of 50 Japanese ESL learners. Data were collected on a spelling test, a reading comprehension test, and a series of word reading tasks which include reading words with a missing vowel, reading words with a missing consonant, reading a regular wordlist, and reading pseudo-words. The results indicated that at the same level of reading comprehension, the Japanese ESL group performed significantly better than the Arabic group on spelling and all the word reading measures except the accuracy and speed in reading words with a missing vowel. The study also found that the Arabic ESL learners were more adversely affected in both accuracy and speed of reading words with a missing consonant compared with reading words with a missing vowel. Furthermore, accuracy in reading words with a missing consonant was found to be the best predictor of reading comprehension for the Arabic group but for the Japanese group, spelling and accuracy in reading words with a missing consonant were both significant predictors of ESL reading comprehension. The findings were discussed in relation to previous research. Pedagogical implications were also addressed.</em></p>

Replication of an Experimental Study Investigating the Efficacy of a Multisyllabic Word Reading Intervention With and Without Motivational Beliefs Training for Struggling Readers

This randomized control trial examined the efficacy of an intervention aimed at improving multisyllabic word reading (MWR) skills among fourth- and fifth-grade struggling readers (n = 109, 48.6% male), as well as the relative effects of an embedded motivational beliefs training component. This study was a closely aligned replication of our earlier work. The intervention was replicated with a three-condition design: MWR only, MWR with a motivational beliefs component, and business-as-usual control. Students were tutored in small groups for 40 lessons (four 40-min lessons each week). When we combined performance of students in both MWR conditions, intervention students significantly outperformed controls on proximal measures of affix reading and MWR, as well as standardized measures of decoding, spelling, and text comprehension. Furthermore, there was a noted interaction between English learner status and treatment on spelling performance. There were no statistically significant main effects between the MWR groups on proximal or standardized measures of interest. Findings are discussed in terms of their relevance to MWR instruction for students with persistent reading difficulties and considerations for future research related to the malleability of motivation.

Phonology, Orthography, and Decoding Skills Within and Across English and Chinese

ABSTRACTThe current study examined the construct of word-reading skills within and across English and Chinese. One hundred forty-three 5th graders who were native Chinese (Mandarin) speakers learning English as a second language completed 19 tasks representing phonological awareness, orthographic knowledge, and word decoding in both English and Chinese. Confirmatory factor analyses were conducted within each language, and the results showed that the best-fitting model for both languages was the 3-factor model involving phonological awareness, orthographic knowledge, and word decoding. Across the 2 languages, the language-specific model fit better than other models with 1 or 2 language-general factors. These results suggest that word reading is not a unified, language-general ability within and across English and Chinese among Chinese children learning English as a second language. Instruction and intervention may need to target phonological awareness, orthographic knowledge, and word decoding in each language.

The Role of Orthographic and Semantic Learning in Word Reading and Reading Comprehension

ABSTRACTWe tested the theoretically driven hypotheses that children’s orthographic and semantic learning are associated with their word reading and reading comprehension skills, even when orthographic and semantic knowledge are taken into account. A sample of 139 English-speaking Grade 3 children completed a learning task in which they read stories about new inventions. Then they were tested on their learning of the spelling and meaning of the inventions (i.e., orthographic and semantic learning, respectively). Word reading and reading comprehension were assessed with standardised tasks, and orthographic and semantic knowledge were assessed with choice tasks targeting the spelling and meaning of existing words. The results of our structural equation modeling indicated that orthographic learning predicted word reading directly and reading comprehension indirectly via word reading. We also found that semantic learning predicted reading comprehension directly. These findings support integration of the self-teaching hypothesis and the lexical quality hypothesis.

WordDriver-1: evaluating the efficacy of an app-supported decoding intervention for children with reading impairment.

Fluent word reading is a key characteristic of skilled reading, yet most children with reading disorders have impaired word-reading skills. Previous research has demonstrated that multi-component interventions targeting phonemic awareness and the alphabetic principle are effective for children with reading disorders. However, about 25% of children fail to respond to these interventions. While it has been difficult to isolate the active ingredient, the findings of some studies suggest that tasks targeting phonological recoding and orthographic processing are essential elements in improving decoding. To develop and evaluate an intervention that specifically targets phonological recoding and orthographic processing (a decoding intervention) for children with persistent word-reading impairment. A single-subject crossover design with multiple treatments was used to examine the efficacy of the decoding intervention (15 × 20-min sessions) compared with a language intervention that controlled for individual therapy time. Eight children (aged 7:6-8:11 years) with persistent word-reading impairment were randomly assigned to one of two intervention sequences. The effect of the decoding intervention was evaluated by (1) changes in decoding accuracy measured by performance on researcher-developed non-word lists; and (2) generalization to other standardized measures of reading. The results showed that all participants demonstrated significant gains in non-word reading on researcher-developed non-word lists and standardized measures of non-word-reading accuracy and efficiency. Trends for improvement on standardized measures of word-reading efficiency, text-reading accuracy and reading comprehension were observed. This decoding intervention significantly improved non-word decoding skills in all participants who had not responded to previous reading interventions. As such, it may be an efficient adjunct to the first stage of reading interventions for this population. The relative lack of generalization to other word-reading skills may have been due to the nature of the outcome measures, the short intervention time and/or additional delays in participant orthographic processing skills.

Young children’s narrative skill: concurrent and predictive associations with emergent literacy and early word reading skills

Narrative skill is included in emergent literacy frameworks and believed to be important for children’s early reading development. Yet, empirical evidence concerning associations with other emergent literacy skills and later word reading skills is limited. We comprehensively assessed the emergent literacy skills of 3- to 5.5-year old children (n = 243), along with their word identification and decoding skills 2 years later. Narrative skill was modestly associated with all measures of emergent literacy. Narrative skill predicted word reading skills in univariate models but not after accounting for other emergent literacy skills. Further analyses showed that associations between narrative and word reading skills were fully mediated by other emergent literacy skills. When considered in light of prior work indicating associations between narrative skill and reading comprehension, these indirect associations between narrative and early word reading suggest a second pathway by which narrative skill may support reading development.

Development and Relationships Between Phonological Awareness, Morphological Awareness and Word Reading in Spoken and Standard Arabic.

This study addressed the development of and the relationship between foundational metalinguistic skills and word reading skills in Arabic. It compared Arabic-speaking children’s phonological awareness (PA), morphological awareness, and voweled and unvoweled word reading skills in spoken and standard language varieties separately in children across five grade levels from childhood to adolescence. Second, it investigated whether skills developed in the spoken variety of Arabic predict reading in the standard variety. Results indicate that although individual differences between students in PA are eliminated toward the end of elementary school in both spoken and standard language varieties, gaps in morphological awareness and in reading skills persisted through junior and high school years. The results also show that the gap in reading accuracy and fluency between Spoken Arabic (SpA) and Standard Arabic (StA) was evident in both voweled and unvoweled words. Finally, regression analyses showed that morphological awareness in SpA contributed to reading fluency in StA, i.e., children’s early morphological awareness in SpA explained variance in children’s gains in reading fluency in StA. These findings have important theoretical and practical contributions for Arabic reading theory in general and they extend the previous work regarding the cross-linguistic relevance of foundational metalinguistic skills in the first acquired language to reading in a second language, as in societal bilingualism contexts, or a second language variety, as in diglossic contexts.

Is Dyslexia a Brain Disorder?

Specific word reading difficulty, commonly termed ‘developmental dyslexia’, refers to the low end of the word reading skill distribution but is frequently considered to be a neurodevelopmental disorder. This term implies that brain development is thought to be disrupted, resulting in an abnormal and dysfunctional brain. We take issue with this view, pointing out that there is no evidence of any obvious neurological abnormality in the vast majority of cases of word reading difficulty cases. The available relevant evidence from neuroimaging studies consists almost entirely of correlational and group-differences studies. However, differences in brains are certain to exist whenever differences in behavior exist, including differences in ability and performance. Therefore, findings of brain differences do not constitute evidence for abnormality; rather, they simply document the neural substrate of the behavioral differences. We suggest that dyslexia is best viewed as one of many expressions of ordinary ubiquitous individual differences in normal developmental outcomes. Thus, terms such as “dysfunctional” or “abnormal” are not justified when referring to the brains of persons with dyslexia.

Examining the effectiveness of a supplemental reading intervention on the early literacy skills of English language learners

ABSTRACTWhile the research on effective early reading interventions for English language learners is expanding, the majority of the research focuses on students whose native language is Spanish. This study investigated the effects of a supplemental reading program that builds phoneme awareness skills and emphasizes explicit instruction in the alphabetic code for five first grade ELLs whose native language was not Spanish. Each of the five participants spoke a different language, including Somali, French, Arabic, Burmese, and Chinese. A single-case design study was conducted to examine students’ response to the intervention, as measured by weekly progress monitoring probes in areas of phoneme segmentation, phonetically regular real word reading skills, and pseudoword reading skills. The study also investigated pretest and posttest measures of phoneme blending, phoneme segmenting, and real word reading. All students showed improvement on the phoneme segmentation and nonsense word reading probes, and four out of five improved on the phonetically regular word reading probes. Additionally, all students showed growth from pretest to posttest on phoneme segmentation and real word reading, and four of the five students improved their blending skills. The data from this study indicate that explicit and systematic phonological awareness and phonics-based instruction shown to be effective with native English speakers can be effective with non-Spanish-speaking ELLs.

Effects of dynamic text in an AAC app on sight word reading for individuals with autism spectrum disorder

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of Transition to Literacy (T2L) software features (i.e., dynamic text and speech output upon selection of a graphic symbol) within a grid display in an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) app, on the sight word reading skills of individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and complex communication needs. The study implemented a single-subject multiple probe research design across one set of three participants. The same design was utilized with an additional set of two participants. As part of the intervention, the participants were exposed to an AAC app with the T2L features during a highly structured matching task. With only limited exposure to the features, the five participants all demonstrated increased accuracy of identification of 12 targeted sight words. This study provides preliminary evidence that redesigning AAC apps to include the provision of dynamic text combined with speech output, can positively impact the sight-word reading of participants during a structured task. This adaptation in AAC system design could be used to complement literacy instruction and to potentially infuse components of literacy learning into daily communication.

The effects of two assistive technologies on reading comprehension accuracy and rate

ABSTRACTThis study compared the effectiveness of two assistive technologies to accommodate the word reading skills of four middle school students with reading learning disabilities. Kurzweil 3000 is a continuous text-to-speech (TTS) computer software program that allows students to follow along on a computer monitor while passages are read aloud. A reading pen is a discontinuous TTS assistive technology (AT) device that allows students to scan and hear selected words read aloud. An adapted alternating treatments design was implemented to compare the effects of listening-while-reading using continuous TTS AT, discontinuous TTS AT, and silently reading without accommodation on reading comprehension accuracy and rate. Results indicate that in three of the four participants, continuous TTS technology led to the greatest improvements in both comprehension accuracy and rate when compared to silent reading with effect sizes reaching 0.70 and 0.99, respectively. The fourth participant demonstrated the highest comprehension accuracy and rate in the discontinuous TTS condition. The discontinuous TTS condition led to the lowest comprehension rates across all four students. Additionally, participants generally found the continuous TTS AT to be the more acceptable of the two accommodations. Discussion focuses on possible theoretical explanations for the results and implications for future research.

Overcoming barriers to using precision teaching with a web-based programme

Precision Teaching (PT) is an evidence-based intervention, which research indicates is frequently not implemented following training, with few teachers using it in schools after training events. The web-based programme in this research focuses on word-level reading skills and targets blending and segmenting skills rather than whole word reading. This research, undertaken with 10 schools, explored whether a web-based PT programme would provide favourable implementation rates, and support the fidelity of the programme delivery. The study also measured the impact of the PT programme on word decoding and sight word reading using the Test of Word Reading Efficiency. Results suggest favourable implementation rates with 7 of the 10 schools implementing the programme. Full impact data for 34 children suggest that the programme has a positive impact on decoding (effect size 0.7) and sight word reading skills (effect size 0.6). A timed assessment provides evidence that fluency improved as well as accuracy. Gains were sustained at two-month follow-up.

The unique role of executive function skills in predicting Hong Kong kindergarteners' reading comprehension.

Word reading and linguistic comprehension skills are two crucial components in reading comprehension, according to the Simple View of Reading (SVR). Some researchers have posited that a third component should be involved in reading and understanding texts, namely executive function (EF) skills. This study was novel in two ways. Not only did we tested EF skills as a predictor of reading comprehension in a non-alphabetic language (i.e., Chinese) to extend the theoretical model of SVR, we also examined reading comprehension further in kindergarten children (age 5) in Hong Kong, in the attempt to reveal possible early precursors of reading comprehension. A group of 170K3 kindergarteners was recruited in Hong Kong. Children's word reading was assessed. Their linguistic comprehension was assessed with phonological awareness, verbal short-term memory, and vocabulary knowledge. Using a structured observation task, Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders (HTKS), we measured their composite scores for EF skills. Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders performance predicted unique variance in children's Chinese reading comprehension concurrently beyond word reading and a set of linguistic comprehension skills. The results highlight the important role of EF skills in beginning readers' reading comprehension.

A pilot evaluation of the reading intervention ‘Own‐voice Intensive Phonics’

This paper describes the mixed methodology evaluation of the Own‐Voice Intensive Phonics (OVIP) programme with 33 secondary students with persistent literacy difficulties. The evaluation involved a quasi‐experimental evaluation in which 33 students in years 7–9 in four schools used OVIP over an 8 week period and were monitored at three times for their word reading, phonic decoding and phonological skills. Students, teaching assistants and teachers involved were also interviewed about the use of OVIP, the perceived processes and outcomes. Assessment results showed that OVIP was associated with greater gains in word reading than these students' usual teaching/intervention approaches. Those interviewed also experienced benefits associated with using OVIP. It was further found that word reading gains were not related to a measure of being at risk of significant literacy difficulties. Participants identified the use of their own voice, the student's agency and working at their own pace as key factors relevant to how OVIP worked. These factors aligned with a working OVIP programme theory. The findings are discussed in terms of further development and research related to an own voice approach to addressing persistent literacy difficulties.

Word skipping: Effects of word length, predictability, spelling and reading skill.

Readers’ eyes often skip over words as they read. Skipping rates are largely determined by word length; short words are skipped more than long words. However, the predictability of a word in context also impacts skipping rates. Rayner, Slattery, Drieghe and Liversedge reported an effect of predictability on word skipping for even long words (10-13 characters) that extend beyond the word identification span. Recent research suggests that better readers and spellers have an enhanced perceptual span. We explored that whether reading and spelling skill interact with word length and predictability to impact word skipping rates in a large sample (N = 92) of average and poor adult readers. Participants read the items from Rayner et al., while their eye movements were recorded. Spelling skill (zSpell) was assessed using the dictation and recognition tasks developed by Sally Andrews and colleagues. Reading skill (zRead) was assessed from reading speed (words per minute) and comprehension accuracy of three 120 word passages each with 10 comprehension questions. We fit linear mixed models to the target gaze duration data and generalized linear mixed models to the target word skipping data. Target word gaze durations were significantly predicted by zRead, while the skipping likelihoods were significantly predicted by zSpell. Additionally, for gaze durations, zRead significantly interacted with word predictability as better readers relied less on context to support word processing. These effects are discussed in relation to the lexical quality hypothesis and eye movement models of reading.

Understanding how syntactic awareness contributes to reading comprehension: Evidence from mediation and longitudinal models.

The authors tested theoretically driven predictions as to the ways in which syntactic awareness, or awareness of word order within sentences, might contribute to reading comprehension, the end goal of reading development and instruction. They conducted a longitudinal study of 100 English-speaking children followed from Grade 3 to 4. Children completed measures of syntactic awareness, word reading, reading comprehension, and reading-related control variables. Path analyses at each of Grades 3 and 4 show a unique concurrent relation of syntactic awareness with reading comprehension, but not to word reading skills. Longitudinal analyses reveal that syntactic awareness at Grade 3 predicts gains in reading comprehension between Grades 3 and 4. Together, findings suggest a robust role for syntactic awareness in the development of reading comprehension. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved)

The crossover effects of morphological awareness on vocabulary development among children in French immersion

The purpose of the current study was to explore longitudinally the bidirectional cross-language effects between morphological awareness and vocabulary development across English and French over one year. Participants included 81 Grade 1 students and 75 Grade 2 students. All were non-native speakers of French, and demonstrated average English word reading and vocabulary skills. They received formal instruction entirely in French at school. Children were tested at two time points spaced one year apart with tasks tapping inflectional and derivational morphological awareness, and vocabulary. They also completed measures of phonological awareness, word reading, and non-verbal reasoning. The Grade 1 students were assessed in English only at pretest, and in English and French at post-test. The Grade 2 students were assessed in English and French at both time points. As predicted, regression analyses revealed that English inflectional awareness predicted unique variance in French vocabulary among Grade 1 students. Among Grade 2 students, cross-lagged analyses showed that both English inflectional and English derivational awareness predicted gains in French vocabulary between Grades 2 and 3. Conversely, counter to our expectations, French morphological awareness did not predict gains in English vocabulary over time. Taken together, these results extend the extant corpus of research to substantiate that children can leverage morphological awareness from their primary language to facilitate their vocabulary learning in their second language.

The Relationship Between Acquisition Rate for Words and Working Memory, Short-Term Memory, and Reading Skills: Aptitude-by-Treatment or Skill-by-Treatment Interaction?

The amount of information that students successfully learn and later recall from each intervention session is limited and is called the acquisition rate (AR). Research has consistently supported the effects of modifying intervention set sizes with AR data, but research with AR is in its infancy. The current study compared the relationship between AR while learning words with working memory, short-term memory, and reading skills. Participants were 52 fourth- and fifth-grade students with and without learning disabilities (LDs). Working memory ( r = .34), short-term memory ( r = .41), and word reading skills ( r = .57) all moderately correlated with AR, but word reading skills accounted for 32% of the variance and the other two scores added little unique variance. The corrected correlation coefficients were higher for the word reading with AR than with any other variable and were essentially equal for both groups ( r = .73 for average readers and r = .75 for students with an LD in reading). Thus, the data not only support the validity of making decisions with AR data but also suggest that AR is more consistent with a skill-by-treatment interaction framework than an aptitude-by-treatment interaction approach. Potential applications, directions for future research, and limitations are discussed.