A comparison of the fluency of oral and written recall of children in the fourth grade.

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit

Children's naming and word-finding difficulties: descriptions and explanations

Purpose: There are a substantial minority of children for whom lexical retrieval problems impede the normal pattern of language development and use. These problems include accurately producing the correct word even when the word?s meaning is understood; such children are often referred to as having word-finding difficulties (WFDs). This review examines the nature of naming and lexical retrieval difficulties in these and other groups of children. Method: A review of the relevant literature on lexical access difficulties in children with word finding difficulties was conducted. Studies were examined in the terms of population parameters and comparison groups included in the study. Results and Conclusions: Most discussions of the cognitive processes causing lexical retrieval difficulties have referred to semantics, phonology and processing speed. It is argued that our understanding of these topics will be further advanced by the use of appropriate methodology to test developmental models that both identify the processes in successfully performing different lexical retrieval tasks and more precisely locating the difficulties experienced by children with such tasks

Learning The ABC\u27s: Family Involvement in Kindergarten Literacy

The present study investigated home literacy environments established through reading with children, engaging in literacy activities, and having literacy materials provided, along with families\u27 participation in literacy-related school events. One hundred one kindergarten children and their families from five classrooms in two inner-city urban elementary schools were invited to participate in the Learning the ABCs project. A total of 68 families gave consent. Participation in the project included receiving 15 weeks of Home Literacy Bags. The 68 participating children were randomly assigned into two intervention groups using cluster sampling of the five classes. Group One received weekly bags with four activities while Group Two received weekly bags with four activities, a variety of materials, and one book. The primary purpose of this study was to determine the strength of four family involvement variables (reading with children, engaging in literacy activities, having literacy materials provided, and participating in literacy-related events at school) in predicting kindergarten students\u27 gain scores on three literacy assessments (ALRI, TERA-3, and DIBELS). The primary research question was: To what extent can kindergarten students\u27 ALRI, TERA-3, and DIBELS gain scores be explained by participation in family involvement activities? A secondary purpose of the study was to determine which of the family involvement activities was the strongest predictor of kindergarten students\u27 literacy achievement as measured by the literacy assessments. The secondary research question was: Which family involvement activity is the strongest predictor of gains in kindergarten students\u27 letter and sound knowledge and phonological awareness? Literacy assessments were implemented using a pre/post test design. The literacy gain scores served as the dependent variables and the family involvement activities served as the independent variables. Each variable set was included in a regression analysis, which was followed up with an analysis of regression structure coefficients (rs) to determine the individual variable contributions

Modeling the relationships between cognitive–linguistic skills and literacy skills: new insights from a transparent orthography

In this 1-year longitudinal study, we examined the central component processes of reading fluency, spelling accuracy, reading comprehension, and narrative text writing skills of 103 Turkish Cypriot children. Two cohorts of children from 2nd and 4th grades were followed into 3rd and 5th grades, respectively. The testing battery included the measures of phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming (RAN), vocabulary, listening comprehension, and working memory. In line with previous research evidence from other transparent orthographies, such as German (Wimmer & Mayringer, 2002), we have also found that whereas phonological awareness was the strongest predictor of spelling, RAN was a powerful predictor of reading fluency. The overall pattern of relationships were broadly in line with the models of reading comprehension and writing in English and further highlighted the central role of oral language skills in children's comprehension and writing. The results have also underscored the complexity of the relationships between reading fluency and reading comprehension and likewise between transcription skills and writing quality. Finally, it has become clear from the findings that there is a need for an integrated and comprehensive approach to the study of reading comprehension and writing. Taken together, the overall results suggested that alongside many similarities, there are distinct differences in the ways in which different component processes are related to different literacy skills that can be further influenced by the nature of the input language and orthography. © 2011 American Psychological Association

The Effects of Repeated Reading Interventions on First-Grade Reading Fluency

This study aimed to investigate the effects of daily repeated reading on first-grade students\u27 oral reading fluency scores and to examine the role of parental involvement in this process. The study used fluency benchmark scores and bi-weekly progress monitoring scores to collect data over a nine-week period. Although there was an initial statistically significant increase in scores, the study\u27s results showed no overall effect on oral reading fluency scores. Variables, including outliers and limited parental involvement, may have affected the study\u27s results. Further research with larger sample sizes and more rigorous control over variables is needed to confirm these findings

An investigation into the effectiveness of paired reading with the incorporation of additional error corrective procedures

The aim of this literature review was to examine the effectiveness of the Paired Reading (PR) intervention, a one-to-one instruction approach to improving children\u27s fluency, accuracy, and comprehension. The effectiveness of PR in promoting a positive attitude towards reading and in increasing children\u27s sense of self-efficacy in reading was also investigated, focusing principally on children whose level of reading was below what was expected for their chronological age. It addressed the question of how well the intervention can be implemented by parents and explored the strategies used in PR to elucidate what aspects of the intervention may contribute to its success. The effectiveness of PR was also compared with other, less structured, reading methods such as Relaxed Reading and the Pause-Prompt-Praise intervention. Limitations were discussed in light of the literature and directions for future research were outlined. Children struggling to meet classroom curriculum standards due to insufficient reading mastery must receive immediate help to improve their reading skills to a viable level to prevent academic failure. The Paired Reading (PR) intervention incorporates strategies promoting enjoyable reading and numerous studies have supported its efficacy. However, research comparing PR with less structured reading methods that rely principally on positive feedback has found little difference in outcome, suggesting that it is positive feedback that accounts for PR\u27s success. Thus, this study compared PR with a variation of this intervention, Error Correction Reading (ECR), incorporating additional corrective procedures, to investigate whether these procedures would increase its efficacy, particularly in relation to reading accuracy and comprehension. Participants comprised five children who were behind in their reading, from three year three classes. As predicted, both interventions helped the children progress in their reading. However, the study failed to provide evidence for the superiority of ECR, complementing previous studies that suggest positive feedback primarily underlies PR\u27s success rather than error corrective procedures

Reading fluency instruction in upper elementary international school classrooms

This project focuses on the importance of reading fluency, emphasizing its role in the construction of meaning and aiding in the overall comprehension process. Its components: accuracy, automaticity, and prosody are examined in relation to various activities that enhance each component. A sample curriculum is discussed

The relation between naming and literacy in children with word-finding difficulties

Difficulties with picture naming tasks are associated with literacy problems. Children with dyslexia, when given naming tasks, are slower to produce words and have a higher proportion of errors (Wolf and Bowers, 1999). However, little is known about the relation between literacy and naming in other populations. This study investigates this relation in 20 children (aged 6:6 – 7:11) with word-finding difficulties (WFDs). The children in our sample performed very poorly on assessments of naming, but unlike children with dyslexia, were found to have decoding and spelling abilities within the normal range. In addition, their abilities on phonological awareness tasks were at a similar level to their decoding abilities. In contrast, performance on reading comprehension and language comprehension was significantly worse than for decoding, spelling and rhyme awareness. The implications of our findings for models concerned with understanding the relation between naming speed and literacy abilities are discussed

The relationship of second-grade children's attitude toward reading and achievement.

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit