Common Patterns of Prediction of Literacy Development in Different Alphabetic Orthographies

We are grateful to Brett Kessler for computing the consistency estimates in each of the four languages of this studyPrevious studies have shown that phoneme awareness, letter-sound knowledge, rapid automatized naming (RAN), and verbal memory span are reliable correlates of learning to read in English. However, the extent to which these different predictors have the same relative importance in different languages remains uncertain. In this article, we present the results from a 10-month longitudinal study that began just before or soon after the start of formal literacy instruction in four languages (English, Spanish, Slovak, and Czech). Longitudinal path analyses showed that phoneme awareness, letter-sound knowledge, and RAN (but not verbal memory span) measured at the onset of literacy instruction were reliable predictors, with similar relative importance, of later reading and spelling skills across the four languages. These data support the suggestion that in all alphabetic orthographies, phoneme awareness, letter-sound knowledge, and RAN may tap cognitive processes that are important for learning to read.Grant PITN-215961 – ELDEL from the Marie Curie, Seventh Framework Programm

Supporting first-grade writers who fail to learn: multiple single-case evaluation of a response to intervention approach

We report a multiple-baseline single-case study, based in the response to intervention framework, evaluating transcription-only and transcription-and-planning interventions for young, struggling writers. In a baseline phase, 8 classes of Spanish children at the start of their first year of primary (elementary) education completed short, probe writing tasks twice-weekly over the first 120 days of their school career. During this period, all students received researcher-developed classroom instruction in spelling, handwriting, and text-planning. Students then completed a battery of tests including measures of spelling, handwriting and composition quality. On the basis of writing probe tasks and test scores we identified 12 struggling writers for whose written composition performance was below the 15th percentile, relative to the full sample, whose spelling performance was below 25th percentile, and whose handwriting was poor. For the next 72 days, these students received twice-weekly, parent-delivered training in transcription skills (handwriting and spelling) or transcription skills plus text planning. Researcher-developed classroom instruction and regular probe tasks continued during this phase. All students, in both intervention conditions, showed improvement in handwriting quality relative to Phase 1. 10 students also showed improvement in composition quality, with 8 performing, post intervention, within normal range relative to peers. Our findings demonstrate the value of a response-to-intervention approach to identification and remediation for struggling writes in their first school year

Different patterns,but equivalent predictors, of growth in reading in consistent and inconsistent orthographies

All alphabetic orthographies use letters in printed words to represent the phonemes in spoken words, but they differ in the consistency of the relationship between letters and phonemes. English appears to be the least consistent alphabetic orthography phonologically, and, consequently, children learn to read more slowly in English than in languages with more consistent orthographies. In this article, we report the first longitudinal evidence that the growth of reading skills is slower and follows a different trajectory in English than in two much more consistent orthographies (Spanish and Czech). Nevertheless, phoneme awareness, letter-sound knowledge, and rapid automatized naming measured at the onset of literacy instruction did not differ in importance as predictors of variations in reading development among the three languages. These findings suggest that although children may learn to read more rapidly in more consistent than in less consistent orthographies, there may nevertheless be universal cognitive prerequisites for learning to read in all alphabetic orthographies

Dissociable effects of grammatical class in acquired dysgraphia: Evidence from Spanish

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Contacto precoz y humanización de las cesáreas

INTRODUCCIÓN.El contacto piel con piel (CPP) tras el parto y el amamantamiento pre-coz favorecen el establecimiento y la duración de la lactancia, ademástiene grandes beneficios para la madre y el recién nacido(1). En las cesá-reas, existen dificultades para su puesta en práctica, pero en nuestrohospital se ha protocolizado y se aplica en quirófano, evitando la sepa-ración y facilitando el inicio precoz de la lactancia o la participación delos padres si el CPP con la madre no es posible MATERIAL Y MÉTODO. Estudio descriptivo retrospectivo mediante encuesta telefónica a lasmujeres de las cesáreas realizadas entre junio y noviembre de 2008. Serecogieron datos sobre cómo se realizó el CPP, el tiempo hasta la pri-mera toma y el tipo de lactancia al alta. RESULTADOS. Durante el período de estudio hubo 317 partos, de los cuales 69 (21,7%)fueron cesáreas. Se han incluido 63 casos. El tipo de anestesia fue gene-ral o epidural con sedación en 13 (21%) y epidural en 50 (79%), deéstas, en 39 (78%) se hizo el CPP en quirófano (15±10 min). Estuvieronen la sala de reanimación con la madre 13 de los 63 recién nacidos. Elpadre tuvo al niño en CPP en 38 casos (76%). No se separaron de lamadre 9 niños (1,3%) y 12 se ingresaron por diversas causas. El tiempohasta la primera toma fue 138±65 min. La lactancia al alta fue maternaexclusiva en el 69,84%, artificial en el 11,11% y tomaron algún suple-mento de LA el 19%.Todas las madres que realizaron CPP lo valoraroncomo una experiencia muy positiva y los padres expresaron su satisfac-ción por sentirse partícipes (puntuación media 4,5 sobre 5). CONCLUSIONES.En la mayoría de las cesáreas es posible realizar CPP en quirófano. Esnecesaria la formación y motivación de todos los servicios implicados.En nuestro hospital se ha llevado a cabo un gran cambio en la atencióna las cesáreas que se ha consolidado a lo largo de 2009, disminuyendoel tiempo de separación madre-hijo y favoreciendo la participación delos padres