Prosodic sensitivity and phoneme awareness as predictors of reading fluency in German
In this study, we examined whether prosodic sensitivity makes a unique contribution to different reading outcomes in German after controlling for the effects of phonological awareness. Word reading, nonword reading and sentence reading as well as phonological awareness (PA), prosodic sensitivity (PS), and nonverbal IQ were assessed in a sample of N = 207 8- to 10-year-old German-speaking children in third grade. Results showed that after controlling for PA, PS was predictive of only sentence reading. A commonality analysis further showed that PS and PA share a bout 22% of the explained variance (R2 = .13) in senten...
Source: Reading and Writing - May 27, 2022 Category: Child Development Source Type: research
Early reading skills in Chinese children with autism spectrum disorder
AbstractResearch has shown that children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) tend to exhibit enhanced perceptual functioning (EPF) and pay close attention to detail and some children with ASD have precocious word reading skills. The present study examined the cognitive and linguistic profiles of Chinese children with ASD, comparing those who showed an early advantage in reading skills before receiving formal literacy instruction with those who showed no such advantage. Seventy-one (N = 71) Chinese young children with ASD (Mage = 54.36 months, 54 boys) were assessed on character recognition, rapid automatized namin...
Source: Reading and Writing - May 25, 2022 Category: Child Development Source Type: research
Exploring the relation between the structure strategy and source attention in single expository text comprehension: a cross-sectional study in secondary education
This study addressed three gaps in prior research about these topics: (1) whether organisational signals were useful for 12 –14/14–16-year-old students reading causal and sequential texts, (2) the role of sources in single-text understanding, and (3) the relationship between sensitivity to organisational signals (rhetorical competence) and attention to sources. Participants read causal and sequential texts with or wi thout these metatextual cues and wrote a summary. Summary quality was considered an indicator of understanding and using the structure strategy. The number of sources translated into the summaries was cons...
Source: Reading and Writing - May 23, 2022 Category: Child Development Source Type: research
Assessing handwriting: a method for detailed analysis of letter-formation accuracy and fluency
AbstractEducationally-oriented measures of handwriting fluency – tasks such as written alphabet recall and sentence copying – conflate graphomotor skill and various higher-level abilities. Direct measurement of pen control when forming letters requires analysis of pen-tip velocity associated with the production of sub-letter features that, in a skilled hand writer, are typically produced in a single, smooth movement. We provide a segmentation and coding scheme that identifies these features in manuscript letters and gives criteria for whether or not a feature is accurately formed. We demonstrate that, in skilled handwr...
Source: Reading and Writing - May 22, 2022 Category: Child Development Source Type: research
Examining teachers ’ early writing knowledge and practices
This study examined preschool teachers ’ writing knowledge and how this knowledge relates to classroom writing practices. Head Start teachers (N = 47) across two states participated by completing a knowledge questionnaire in which they responded to three vignettes and samples of preschool children’s writing. Teachers’ writing practices were gathered and coded from half-day video observations. Questionnaire responses were iteratively coded, first, using a set of a priori developed codes, derived from well-established theories of writing and including subcomponents of writing: handwriting, spelling, composing, and ...
Source: Reading and Writing - May 14, 2022 Category: Child Development Source Type: research
General and special education teachers ’ knowledge about reading comprehension processes and instructional practices
AbstractThe study investigated teachers ’ knowledge of reading comprehension processes and reading comprehension instruction. The study was carried out among teachers (N = 65) in Estonia. The content analysis classified qualitative data from semi-structured interviews as quantitative data. The results showed that teachers’ content knowledge about reading comprehension processes and pedagogical knowledge of reading comprehension instruction were considerably v ariable yet mostly limited. Special education teachers (n = 37) mentioned a wider range of reading strategies than classroom teachers (n = 28). When d...
Source: Reading and Writing - May 13, 2022 Category: Child Development Source Type: research
Correction to: What do upper ‑elementary and middle school teachers know about the processes of text comprehension?
(Source: Reading and Writing)
Source: Reading and Writing - May 10, 2022 Category: Child Development Source Type: research
Word and child characteristics in vocabulary learning of native English speakers and bilingual learners
This study investigated how word and child characteristics affect children's ability to learn the meanings of novel words. Participants were fourth- and fifth-graders representing native English speakers (NE) and bilingual learners with fluent English proficiency (FEP) and designated English Learners (EL). Students were taught the meanings of a series of novel words that were either morphologically related or unrelated. Results showed that compared to the EL group, the NE and FEP groups were better able to learn the meanings of morphologically related words than morphologically unrelated words. The effect of morphological ...
Source: Reading and Writing - May 7, 2022 Category: Child Development Source Type: research
Relation between digital tool practices in the language arts classroom and reading comprehension scores
AbstractConcerns about the negative effects of digitalization on students ’ reading comprehension, empirically backed by recent meta-analyses, question the efficacy of digital tools in the language arts classroom. By analyzing data from 4 and 8th grade US students from NAEP 2017, we aimed to test the generalization of the negative association between screens use and rea ding comprehension test scores within language arts classrooms, and to identify teachers’ practices to support comprehension, which could reduce such a negative relationship. We used data from 149,400 4th grade and 144,900 8th grade students to predict ...
Source: Reading and Writing - May 7, 2022 Category: Child Development Source Type: research
Teaching writing in primary education (grades 1 –6) in Australia: a national survey
AbstractProviding adequate writing instruction and practice in schools is an essential cornerstone of writing development and it affords a diagnostic approach for teachers. But what writing instruction is being practiced in Australian primary schools? The aim of this study was to survey a sample of teachers (n = 310) about their instructional practices for writing and their preparation and self-efficacy to teach writing. The majority of the teachers surveyed indicated they allocated on average less than three hours per week for writing practice in their classrooms, with findings further showing a lar ge variability in...
Source: Reading and Writing - May 5, 2022 Category: Child Development Source Type: research
Print referencing during e-storybook reading on a SMART board for kindergartners to promote early literacy skills
This study examined the effects of a classroom-focused intervention on different domains of early literacy. The intervention consisted of shared e-book reading combined with a print referencing technique done via a SMART board. The specific goal of the study was to examine whether children could be instructed simultaneously in print knowledge, phonological awareness, and vocabulary, without a loss of impact on the development of either skill. Results revealed significantly larger gains with high effect sizes in print knowledge ( ηp2 = .474) and phonological awareness (ηp2 = .370) when children received the print ...
Source: Reading and Writing - May 3, 2022 Category: Child Development Source Type: research
Pilot study of online training modules to improve speech-language pathology students ’ explicit syntax knowledge
AbstractChildren with developmental language disorder (DLD) exhibit weaknesses in the syntactic aspects of language that affect their spoken language (i.e., speaking and listening) and written language (i.e., reading and writing). Speech-language pathologists (SLP) who work with children with DLD are the team member with the greatest expertise in syntax. However, emerging data suggest that speech-language pathology (SLP) students and SLPs have limitations in their explicit syntax knowledge that may affect how they assess and treat the language and literacy knowledge and skills of children with DLD. Additionally, there is...
Source: Reading and Writing - April 30, 2022 Category: Child Development Source Type: research
The use of advanced planning among emerging writers
AbstractThis descriptive study examined differences in children ’s text production as a function of the advanced planning strategies they used. A sample of 117 third-grade children engaged in independent advanced planning and then composed a compare-and-contrast essay both before and after receiving a six-week text production fluency intervention. Analyses of variance showed that engaging in advanced planning was associated with higher rates of text production pre-intervention when basic writing skills were not automatized; however, as the children developed greater fluency with text production over the course of interve...
Source: Reading and Writing - April 28, 2022 Category: Child Development Source Type: research
The heterogeneity and interrelationships among theory of mind, executive function, and reading comprehension deficits in Hong Kong Chinese children with Autism
AbstractReading comprehension difficulties exhibited by children with autism are related to executive function (EF) and theory of mind (ToM) deficits. However, the potential heterogeneity of ToM, EF, and reading comprehension abilities, and their interrelationships, among Chinese children with autism remains unclear. Using comprehensive sets of ToM and EF tasks, the present study assessed basic and advanced ToM, EF, and reading comprehension skills for 36 seven- to nine-year-old Hong Kong Chinese children with autism and 36 typically developing (TD) peers. Despite comparable age, intelligence, and working memory, children ...
Source: Reading and Writing - April 27, 2022 Category: Child Development Source Type: research
Chinese adolescents learning to read in English: How do different types of morphological awareness contribute to vocabulary knowledge and comprehension?
In this study, we investigated how different types of morphological awareness in Chinese and English contributed to English vocabulary and reading comprehension for English as Foreign Language (EFL) students. Eighth-grade Chinese EFL students (n = 49) completed researcher-designed assessments of derivational and compound awareness in both Chinese and English, as well as standardized tasks of vocabulary and reading comprehension in English. Measures were administered twice in a six-month interval. We used hierarchical linear regression to investigate contributions of Chinese and English morphological awareness to Englis...
Source: Reading and Writing - April 26, 2022 Category: Child Development Source Type: research
