Cognitive precursors of reading : A cross-linguistic perspective

In this paper, we survey current evidence on cognitive precursors of reading in different orthographies by reviewing studies with a cross-linguistic research design. Graphic symbol knowledge, phonological awareness, morphological awareness, and rapid automatized naming were found to be associated with reading acquisition in all orthographies investigated. However, apart from rapid naming, this association is mostly interactive, meaning that young children develop their symbol knowledge, and phonological and morphological awareness during reading development. Especially for phonological awareness, cross-linguistic evidence involving phonologically transparent orthographies, both alphabetic and non-alphabetic, suggests that it may be less of a hurdle than in the complex English orthography. Cross-linguistic research designs can be a useful methodological approach to test limits of reading theories that were initially developed for alphabetic orthographies

The Recruitment and Description of UniversityStudents who Self-Report Difficulty Acquiring Early Reading Skills

Self-report is a time- and cost-efficient screening measure that has the potential to be useful as a stand-alone means of recruiting adults for participation in reading research.We report on a sample of university students (N = 46) recruited using the Adult Reading History Questionnaire – Revised, half of whom reported early difficulty with reading acquisition. As a group, those reporting early difficulty with reading had poorer current reading skills than those who did not. Some (n = 13) of those who reported early reading difficulty appear to have compensated for this. We conclude that self-report has the potential to be used as an effective screening measure in research targeting adults with a history of early reading difficulties

Theory-Based Prediction of Early Reading

This article presents a theory of the cognitive processes involved in learning to read and examines the degree to which measures derived from this theory are able to predict success in reading. Measures were selected to address five phonological processing constructs (naming speed, memory, rhyming, phonological synthesis, and phonological analysis), letter knowledge, and the ability to pronounce words by analyzing them into smaller parts (decoding). Measures of these constructs and several measures of reading achievement were administered to an initial sample of 161 kindergarten children and then readministered to as many of the same children as possible in grades 1 and 2; in grade 3 the reading achievement tests were administered. Principal components analyses were used to derive factor scores for the phonological constructs in kindergarten and grades 1 and 2. In grade 2 five factors were found, but in kindergarten and grade 1 the phonological synthesis and analysis measures formed one phonological awareness factor. The factor scores, letter knowledge, decoding, and the reading achievement scores for each grade were used as predictors of reading achievement in subsequent grades in a series of hierarchical regression analyses. Results supported the proposed theory, with phonological awareness (or analysis), naming speed, and letter recognition being the most frequent significant predictors and R2s ranging from .69 to .89. The constructs identified in the theory are argued to be important targets for both assessment and instruction. The value of theoretical models of achievement is discussed.Cet article présente une théorie sur les processus cognitifs impliqués dans l'apprentissage de la lecture et étudie à quel point les mesures qui en découlent peuvent prédire le succès dans la lecture. Les mesures ont été sélectionnées pour refléter cinq éléments de traitement phonologique (vitesse de dénomination, mémoire, rime, synthèse phonologique et analyse phonologique), la connaissance des graphèmes et la capacité de prononcer les mots en les découpant en plus petites unités (décodage). On a mesuré ces cinq éléments et, à plusieurs reprises, le rendement en lecture d'un échantillon initial de 161 enfants à la maternelle. Plus tard, on a refait l'analyse avec autant de ces enfants que possible alors qu'ils étaient en première et deuxième années. Quand ils sont arrivés en troisième année, on a administré des tests de rendement en lecture. Des analyses de composantes principales ont servi dans la dérivation des scores factoriels pour les éléments phonologiques à la maternelle et dans les deux premières années. Chez les enfants en deuxième année, on a retrouvé cinq facteurs, mais chez ceux â la maternelle et en première année, les mesures de synthèse et d'analyse phonologiques constituaient un facteur de reconnaissance phonologique. Les scores factoriels, la connaissance des graphèmes, le décodage et les résultats des tests de rendement en lecture pour chaque niveau scolaire ont servi de valeurs prédictives du rendement en lecture dans les années scolaires subséquentes pour une série d'analyses de régression hiérarchicales. Les résultats appuient la théorie proposée, les valeurs prédictives les plus significatives étant la reconnaissance (ou l'analyse) phonologique et la connaissance des graphèmes. Les R2 va-riaient entre 0,69 et 0,89. Il est proposé que les éléments identifiés par la théorie représentent des cibles importants tant pour l'évaluation que pour l'enseignement. On discute de la valeur des modèles théoriques de rendement

Do reading and arithmetic fluency share the same cognitive base?

We examined the role of different cognitive-linguistic skills in reading and arithmetic fluency, and whether the effects of these skills are mediated by reading and arithmetic accuracy. One hundred twenty-six English-speaking Grade 1 children (67 females, 59 males; Mage = 6.41 years) were followed from the beginning of Grade 1 (Time 1) to the end of Grade 1 (Time 2). At Time 1, they were assessed on measures of non-verbal IQ, speed of processing, working memory, phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming (RAN), and number sense. At Time 2, they were assessed on measures of reading and arithmetic accuracy as well as on measures of reading and arithmetic fluency. Results of path analysis showed first that when reading and arithmetic fluency were included in the model as separate outcomes, RAN was predictive of both and that speed of processing and working memory were predictive of only arithmetic fluency. Second, RAN, speed of processing, and working memory had both direct and indirect effects (via reading and arithmetic accuracy) on the covariation of reading and arithmetic fluency. Irrespective of how reading and arithmetic fluency were treated in the analyses, the effects of non-verbal IQ, phonological awareness, and number sense were all indirect. Taken together, these findings suggest that reading and arithmetic fluency draw on a broader network of cognitive-linguistic skills, whose effects can sometimes be indirect through reading and arithmetic accuracy

Moving the Needle on Literacy: Lessons Learned from a School Where Literacy Rates Have Improved Over Time

Literacy is the most important skill children are required to master during their early school life. At the same time, much has been written about both the inadequate preparation of teachers to teach reading and the ever-increasing number of poor readers in our schools. In this study, we examined teachers’ perceptions of the factors that have contributed to their school’s success in improving children’s literacy scores. We used a sequential explanatory mixed methods research design where Phase 1 involved collecting quantitative data to document the improvement in reading and asking the teachers to fill out a questionnaire, while Phase 2 comprised gathering qualitative data where the principal and a language arts teacher commented on the findings from Phase 1. The results revealed three important themes that teachers perceive contributing to their school’s success. First, teachers collaborate weekly on their own learning, plan instruction together, and provide support for each other. Second, formative assessments are shared within each grade and data are used to inform areas of growth, not to evaluate teachers’ performance. Third, the school focuses on improving reading and believes in the child’s continuous growth. Taken together, the findings of our study suggest that teachers perceive success to be a team effort grounded on theory and the principles of collaborative learning. Keywords: children, literacy, mixed methods, reading, professional development. La littératie constitue l’habileté la plus importante que les enfants doivent maitriser pendant leurs premières années à l’école. Parallèlement, on a beaucoup écrit sur la préparation inadéquate des enseignants en matière d’enseignement de la lecture et sur le nombre croissant d’élèves avec des compétences insuffisantes en lecture. Dans cette étude, nous avons examiné les perceptions qu’ont les enseignants des facteurs ayant contribué à la réussite de leur école dans l’amélioration des compétences des élèves en lecture. Nous avons employé un modèle exploratoire et séquentiel de recherche à méthodes mixtes. Pendant la première phase, nous avons recueilli des données quantitatives afin de documenter l’amélioration en lecture et avons demandé aux enseignants de compléter un questionnaire. La deuxième phase a consisté en la cueillette de données qualitatives ou le directeur de l’école et l’enseignant de langue ont commenté les résultats de la première phase. Les résultats ont révélé trois thèmes importants relatifs aux perceptions des enseignants quant à la réussite de leur école. En premier lieu, les enseignants collaborent de façon hebdomadaire sur leur propre développement, planifient les cours ensemble et s’appuient mutuellement. Deuxièmement, on partage les évaluations formatives entre enseignants de la même année et on étudie les données pour identifier les aspects à améliorer, pas pour évaluer la performance des enseignants. Troisièmement, l’école mise sur l’amélioration de la lecture et croit en l’épanouissement continu des élèves. Globalement, les résultats de notre étude indiquent que les enseignants perçoivent la réussite comme découlant d’un effort collectif ancré dans la théorie et les principes de l’apprentissage collaboratif. Mots clés : enfants, littératie, méthodes mixtes, lecture, développement professionne

University Students with a Significant Historyof Reading Difficulties:What Is and Is Not Compensated?

This study examined the status of current reading, spelling, and phonological processing skills of 28 university students who reported a history of reading acquisition problems. The results indicated that 21 of these participants were currently able to comprehend text at a level expected for university students, although only 8 at a rate comparable to that of university students without a history of reading acquisition problems. In addition, all but two participants showed current problems in two or more of the additional areas examined, including word reading, decoding, spelling, and phonological processing. The performance of ten participants who had a recent diagnosis of reading disability was mostly indistinguishable from the performance of participants without such diagnosis, except on the phonological processing tasks

The growth trajectories of morphological awareness and its predictors

The purpose of this study was to examine the early growth of morphological awareness and its predictors. We followed 172 English-speaking Canadian children (82 girls, 90 boys, Mage = 75.56 months at the first assessment point) from Grade 1 to Grade 3 and assessed them on nonverbal IQ, phonological short-term memory, phonological awareness, letter knowledge, and vocabulary at the beginning of Grade 1 and on morphological awareness at the end of Grade 1, beginning and end of Grade 2, and beginning of Grade 3. Results of growth curve modeling showed different growth patterns for Word Analogy and Sentence Analogy. In addition, vocabulary and phonological awareness were associated with the initial status of morphological awareness, and phonological awareness and letter knowledge predicted the growth rate of morphological awareness. These findings suggest that code-related skills drive the development of morphological awareness during the early years of literacy instruction

Compensating for Reading Difficulties:A Qualitative Investigation of University Students’ Experiencesof Influential Personal Characteristics

This study involved a qualitative examination of the personal characteristics that university students saw as important in helping them to compensate for their reading difficulties at various stages of their education. The sample consisted of 10 undergraduate students or recent graduates who reported a significant history of reading difficulties. Data were collected using in-depth, open-ended interviews with each participant. These data were then analyzed using a form of whole text analysis and resulted in four major themes: seeking assistance from others, de-veloping positive relationships with others, being highly motivated to achieve, and maintaining a belief in one’s abilities. The findings highlight the broad range of factors that can influence motivation and self-concept and the wide variety of people who can be involved in providing assistance to individuals with reading difficulties. The implications of the findings for educational practice and for fur-ther research are discussed

Preventative reading interventions teaching direct mapping of graphemes in texts and set-for-variability aid at-risk learners

We evaluated two experimenter-delivered, small-group word reading programs among at-risk poor readers in Grade 1 classes of regular elementary schools using a two-arm, dual-site-matched control trial intervention. At-risk poor word readers (n = 201) were allocated to either (a) Direct Mapping and Set-for-Variability (DMSfV) or (b) Current or Best-Practices small-group reading programs, typically for 10–11 hr over 10 weeks. Students were matched on baseline reading and language abilities, parent demographic measures, and observed regular classroom teaching quality. Results of hierarchical data modeling showed advantages for the DMSfV program (p < .05 for word reading and spelling at posttest and word reading and sentence comprehension at 5-month delayed posttest), with discernible valued added for the DMSfV condition across all follow-up measures. Results support the use of small-group preventative literacy intervention models that teach both direct mapping of grapheme–phoneme correspondences in text and set-for-variability

Connecting teachers’ language knowledge, perceived ability and instructional practices to Grade 1 students’ literacy outcomes

We examined the associations between teachers’ knowledge of language and literacy constructs, perceived ability to teach early literacy skills, instructional practice, and students’ early reading outcomes. The results showed that teacher knowledge predicted quality of instruction, but neither quality of instruction nor teacher knowledge were associated with stronger decoding or word reading outcomes once earlier decoding skills were controlled. Differentiation of instruction was observed more in classrooms with lower initial decoding skills, and it contributed to better decoding at Time 2. Finally, perceived ability predicted decoding and years of experience predicted word reading at Time 2