On the Role of Color in Reading and Comprehension Tasks in Dyslexic Children and Adults

We investigated the effect of chromatic variations on the reading process with normal and dyslexic readers. We demonstrate that color can induce wholeness, parts-whole organization and phenomenal fragmentation during reading and comprehension tasks within written texts made up of words and non-words in the following conditions: monochromatic (the whole text colored with only one color), word (each word colored in different color), half word (half word colored with a color different from the one of the second half), syllable (every syllable colored with a different color) and letter (each letter with a different color). The dependent variables considered were reading time, reading errors and incorrect answers to a comprehension test. The main results demonstrated that these parameters of reading performance are all influenced by the five aforementioned chromatic conditions. These outcomes manifest similar trends in four groups of readers: children and adults combined with normal or dyslexic readers. Possible applied research and clinical applications are discussed together with some basic questions related to color vision suggesting that the main purposes of color for living beings is to generate wholeness, parts-whole organization and perceptual segmentation

A case study of an intervention program for students with dyslexia in a primary school in the UAE

The study aims to investigate the impact of an iPad programme on the performance of students with dyslexia on reading, writing and spelling skills in two classes of a public primary school in Al -Ain, UAE. The study follows a mixed method approach (questionnaire; face-to-face interviews; pre-posttests). Twenty (20) 3rd graders male students with dyslexia, attending English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classes were the participants of the study. Students’ performance on spelling, reading and writing skills were tested after instructed through an iPad intervention programme with multisensory applications. The experimental group’s performance (10 students with dyslexia) was compared to the control group’s (10 students with dyslexia) instructed through traditional, non-computer-based, methods. A pre-assessment test was conducted for evaluating the reading, spelling and writing skills of both groups of students prior to the intervention. After eight (8) weeks, both groups were involved in post-tests for evaluating their performance on reading, spelling and writing skills. The study found that the students’ with dyslexia skills were improved after the iPad intervention programme as opposed to the students instructed through mainstream methods. Interviews with the parents and the teachers corroborated the results of the post-tests but also validated the usefulness and effectiveness of the intervention programme for the students’ academic improvement

Experimental phenomenology on the role of chromatic accentuation in reading tasks

According to Gestalt psychologists, color is considered a secondary attribute and a less effective tool if compared to shape, luminance and motion. In this work novel and meaningful visual properties given by chromatic variations in the reading process in normal and dyslexic readers have been studied. It was shown that color highlights wholeness, parts-whole organization and phenomenal fragmentation during reading and comprehension tasks in reading texts made of words and non-words modified through several color conditions: monochromatic (the whole text colored with only one color); word (each word colored in different color); half word (half word colored in a color different from the one of the second half); syllable (every syllable in a different color); letter (each letter in a different color). The aleatory variables here considered were: the reading time, the reading errors and the incorrect answers given in a comprehension test. The outcomes demonstrated that these variables are all directly related and strongly affected by the five chromatic conditions. These findings illustrate similar trends in the four groups of readers: children and adults, normal and dyslexic readers. Further possible researches and eventually some clinical applications are also discussed along with some questions related to color vision. They suggest the main purposes of color for living beings which is that to generate wholeness, parts-whole organization and perceptual fragmentation

Ειδικές Μαθησιακές Δυσκολίες και Τεχνολογίες της Πληροφορίας και της Επικοινωνίας στη Δευτεροβάθμια Εκπαίδευση: Παρέμβαση στην Παραγωγή Γραπτού Λόγου

Με βάση τα υπάρχοντα ερευνητικά δεδομένα, η παραγωγή γραπτού λόγου αποτελεί μια από τις πλέον σπουδαίες και απαιτητικές μαθησιακές δραστηριότητες. Οι έφηβοι μαθητές της δευτεροβάθμιας εκπαίδευσης δεν περιορίζονται πλέον ως προς την παραγωγή γραπτού λόγου στο σχολείο ή στο φροντιστήριο και στο παραδοσιακό χαρτί∙ αντίθετα γράφουν στον ηλεκτρονικό υπολογιστή, στο κινητό τηλέφωνο, στο τάμπλετ που χρησιμοποιούνται ως μέσα μάθησης, έκφρασης και επικοινωνίας. Μέσα σε αυτό το δυναμικό πλαίσιο οι έφηβοι μαθητές με Ειδικές Μαθησιακές Δυσκολίες (ΕΜΔ) καλούνται και αυτοί να επικοινωνήσουν και να εκφραστούν γραπτώς μέσα από ένα μήνυμα στο κινητό τους έως μια έκθεση στο σχολείο. Η βιβλιογραφία αναφέρει εκτενώς μια σειρά από δυσκολίες που αντιμετωπίζει αυτή η κατηγορία μαθητών κατά την παραγωγή γραπτού λόγου, ενώ τα τελευταία χρόνια αναδεικνύει και τον θετικό ρόλο των Τεχνολογιών της Πληροφορίας και της Επικοινωνίας (ΤΠΕ) στην αντιμετώπιση των δυσκολιών τους. Σκοπός της παρούσας έρευνας είναι να καταγράψει τις στάσεις και τις απόψεις μαθητών της δευτεροβάθμιας εκπαίδευσης με και χωρίς ΕΜΔ πάνω στην παραγωγή γραπτού λόγου και τη χρήση των ΤΠΕ μέσα σε ένα ευρύ και γενικό πλαίσιο. Παράλληλα, η έρευνα επιδιώκει να εξετάσει και να προτείνει πρακτικές, εργαλεία και τρόπους βελτίωσης της παραγωγής γραπτού λόγου των μαθητών με ΕΜΔ στη δευτεροβάθμια εκπαίδευση με τη βοήθεια της τεχνολογίας, τόσο ως διαδικασία αυτο-διόρθωσης όσο και ως τελικό αποτέλεσμα. Στην έρευνα συμμετείχαν 40 μαθητές με επίσημη διάγνωση ΕΜΔ και 20 μαθητές χωρίς διάγνωση. Αμφότερες οι ομάδες κλήθηκαν, έπειτα από σύντομη παρέμβαση στη χρήση έντυπων και ηλεκτρονικών εργαλείων διόρθωσης και εμπλουτισμού του γραπτού τους, να γράψουν από δύο εκθέσεις, μία στο χέρι και μία στον υπολογιστή. Στη συνέχεια τα γραπτά κωδικοποιήθηκαν και δόθηκαν για διόρθωση σε διορθώτριες- φιλολόγους ώστε να βαθμολογηθούν και να καταγραφούν τα λάθη σε επίπεδο ορθογραφίας. Παράλληλα, τα γραπτά αναλύθηκαν με βάση λογισμικό αναγνωσιμότητας ελληνικών κειμένων. Οι μαθητές απάντησαν επίσης σε ερωτηματολόγιο στάσεων απέναντι στην παραγωγή γραπτού λόγου. Τα αποτελέσματα του ερωτηματολογίου έδειξαν ότι οι μαθητές γράφουν σχεδόν σε καθημερινή βάση τόσο με έντυπα όσο και ηλεκτρονικά μέσα με κυρίαρχες τις σχολικές σημειώσεις και ασκήσεις και στη συνέχεια τα μηνύματα στο κινητό και τα σύντομα μηνύματα σε μέσα κοινωνικής δικτύωσης. Κατά την παραγωγή γραπτού λόγου οι μαθητές και των δύο ομάδων δείχνουν να χρησιμοποιούν περισσότερο τα ηλεκτρονικά εργαλεία βελτίωσης και επιμέλειας του κειμένου, να εφαρμόζουν καλύτερες στρατηγικές και τέλος να παράγουν καλύτερα κείμενα, ως προς πολλούς δείκτες, με τη χρήση ηλεκτρονικού υπολογιστή έναντι της γραφής στο χέρι. Τέλος, οι μαθητές με ΕΜΔ έδειξαν να ωφελούνται περισσότερο από τη χρήση των ΤΠΕ σε σχέση με τους μαθητές χωρίς ΕΜΔ.Based on current research data writing is one of the most significant and demanding learning activities. Adolescent students of secondary education do not restrain themselves anymore, regarding writing, in school or private tutoring and in “traditional” handwriting. On the contrary, they write on their pcs, smart phones, tablets, which they use as means of learning, expressing themselves and communicating. In this dynamic field adolescent students with Specific Learning Difficulties (SLD) are also asked to communicate and express themselves by producing various types of texts, ranging from messages written in their mobile phones to school essays. Bibliography reports extensively on a wide range of difficulties which this category of students face during writing, while at the same time during the last years it underlines the positive role that Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) play in confronting those difficulties. The purpose of the present research is to record the attitudes and opinions of adolescents with and without SLD about writing and the use of ICT in a wide range. In parallel, the research aims at examining and proposing best practices, tools and means of improving the writing of secondary education students with SLD, with the help of technology both as a self-correcting process and also final product. A group of 40 secondary students with a formal diagnosis of SLD participated in the research together with another group of 20 typical secondary education students. Both groups where asked, after a brief intervention in the use of printed and electronic tools for text checking and editing, to write two school essays, one in handwriting and one with the use of a pc. Afterwards, their writings where coded and sent for checking to secondary education language teachers in order for them to be marked and the spelling mistakes be recorded. At the same time the texts where analyzed with a software for greek text reading difficulty. The students also answered a survey of attitudes towards writing. Results of the survey showed that students write almost every day both in printed and electronic forms, with a domination of school notes and exercises and mobile text messages and brief messages in the social media following. During writing, students of both groups seem to use more electronic tools for checking and editing their text, use better strategies and finally produce better writings, in many levels, with the use of a computer rather than writing in hand and using printed tools. Finally, students with SLD seemed to benefit more from the use of ICT in comparison with students without SLD

Design of word exercises for children with dyslexia

This paper presents a method to design reinforcement word exercises to support children with dyslexia. The method takes into account linguistic patterns found in the errors written by people with dyslexia and their specific language difficulties. The method has six stages: definition of the exercise type, word selection, word modification, selection of the distractors, creation of the difficulty levels, and selection of the text layout. More than 5,000 word exercises in Spanish and English created with this method have been integrated in a game available on iOS