The ReadFree tool for the identification of poor readers: a validation study based on a machine learning approach in monolingual and minority-language children

: In this study, we validated the "ReadFree tool", a computerised battery of 12 visual and auditory tasks developed to identify poor readers also in minority-language children (MLC). We tested the task-specific discriminant power on 142 Italian-monolingual participants (8-13 years old) divided into monolingual poor readers (N = 37) and good readers (N = 105) according to standardised Italian reading tests. The performances at the discriminant tasks of the "ReadFree tool" were entered into a classification and regression tree (CART) model to identify monolingual poor and good readers. The set of classification rules extracted from the CART model were applied to the MLC's performance and the ensuing classification was compared to the one based on standardised Italian reading tests. According to the CART model, auditory go-no/go (regular), RAN and Entrainment100bpm were the most discriminant tasks. When compared with the clinical classification, the CART model accuracy was 86% for the monolinguals and 76% for the MLC. Executive functions and timing skills turned out to have a relevant role in reading. Results of the CART model on MLC support the idea that ad hoc standardised tasks that go beyond reading are needed

The Daily Linguistic Practice Interview: A new instrument to assess language use and experience in minority language children and their effect on reading skills

The increasing number of primary students with varying degrees of exposure to a family minority language requires a reflection on whether specific aspects of their daily language experience influence their learning. Indeed, Minority Language Children (MLC) often report difficulties in reading that must be better investigated to exclude neurodevelopmental conditions such as developmental dyslexia.To this aim, we developed a new instrument, the Daily Linguistic Practice Interview. It allows for collecting information about the linguistic practice and use in the family (Scale A) and extra-family context (Scale B), and about the child's linguistic preferences and habits (Scale C). The Interview further provides analogic quantitative measures of minority language active speaking with mother, father, and passive listening, in the form of clocks to paint.The relationship between these linguistic aspects and reading skills was investigated on 79 MLC aged 8 to 11 y.o.through a correlational approach and regression models. Our results show that family and extra-family language use influence accurate lexical recognition, moreover a “mother effect” broadly affects reading skills in the majority language.Our findings suggest that MLC deserve a more careful evaluation of learning disorders with ad hoc standardized tests, that incorporates information about the family language exposure

The Daily Linguistic Practice Interview: a new instrument to assess language use and experience in minority-language children and their effect on reading skills.

The increasing number of primary students with different degrees of exposure to a family minority language requires a reflection on whether and how specific aspects of their daily language experience influence their learning skills. Indeed, Minority Language Children (MLC) often report difficulties in fluent and accurate reading that must be better investigated to exclude neurodevelopmental conditions such as dyslexia. To this aim, we developed a new instrument, the Daily Linguistic Practice Interview (in Italian, the "Prassi Linguistiche Quotidiane" – PLQ Interview). It allows to collect information about the linguistic practice and use in the family (Scale A) and extra-family context (Scale B) and about the child’s linguistic preferences and habits (Scale C). The Interview further provides analogic quantitative measures of minority language active speaking with mother, father, and passive listening, in the form of clocks to paint. The relationship between all these linguistic aspects and reading skills was investigated on 79 MLC aged 8 to 11 y.o. through a correlational approach and several regression models. Our results show that family and extra-family language use influence accurate lexical recognition. At the same time, a “mother effect” broadly affects reading skills in the majority language. In line with these findings, promoting balanced bilingualism in school is relevant for supporting learning skills. Moreover, according to our data, a more careful evaluation of learning disorders should be done on MLC with ad hoc standardized tests and by also considering family language exposure

The ReadFree tool for the identification of poor readers: a validation study based on a machine learning approach in monolingual and minority-language children

In this study, we validated the “ReadFree tool”: a computerized battery of 12 hierarchically organized tasks in the visual and auditory modalities, which do not imply reading. The tool has been developed to identify poor readers irrespective of their specific language background, thus, to be also suitable for Minority-Language Children (MLC). Each task's discriminant power was tested on 142 Italian-monolingual participants (8-13 years-old) that either presented a reading deficit (i.e., monolingual poor readers (mPR); N = 37) or not (i.e., monolingual good readers (mGR); N = 105). The performances at the discriminant tasks were analysed by means of a multivariate machine learning approach based on a classification and regression tree (CART) model to classify mPR versus mGR. To test the diagnostic accuracy of the ReadFree tool in MLC, we first compared reading and ReadFree tool performances in MLC (N = 68) with those in monolingual readers (mGR + mPR; N = 142). The two groups did not show any significant differences, suggesting that (i) the two samples had the same distribution of good and poor readers and (ii) the ReadFree tool can be used to test MLC without introducing any systematic bias associated with their language use experience and exposure. Secondly, the MLC’s CART classification of good and poor readers was compared to the one obtained by adopting clinical reading tests standardized on Italian monolingual children. Interestingly, the percentage of MLC evaluated as poor readers through the standardized reading tests was higher than the one produced by the ReadFree tool. This evidence supports the idea that reading tasks standardized also on MLC population are needed

RAN as a universal marker of developmental dyslexia in Italian monolingual and minority language children

Rapid Automatized Naming (RAN) is considered a universal marker of developmental dyslexia (DD) and could also be helpful to identify a reading deficit in minority-language children (MLC), in which it may be hard to disentangle whether the reading difficulties are due to a learning disorder or a lower proficiency in the language of instruction. We tested reading and rapid naming skills in monolingual Good Readers (mGR), monolingual Poor Readers (mPR), and MLC, by using our new version of RAN, the RAN-Shapes, in 127 primary school students (from 3rd to 5th grade). In line with previous research, MLC showed, on average, lower reading performances as compared to mGR. However, the two groups performed similarly to the RAN-Shapes task. On the contrary, the mPR group underperformed both in the reading and the RAN tasks. Our findings suggest that reading difficulties and RAN performance can be dissociated in MLC; consequently, the performance at the RAN-Shapes may contribute to the identification of children at risk of a reading disorder without introducing any linguistic bias, when testing MLC