Orthographic and Phonological Processes in Reading

Investigations of reading have focussed largely on two component processes, phonological processing and orthographic processing. However, a number of unresolved issues have hampered progress in the investigation of these abilities. Three such issues that formed the focus of the present study were (1) the extent to which tasks used to operationalise orthographic processing measure the same construct, (2) the extent to which tasks from a range of phonological processing domains measure the same construct, and (3) the degree to which orthographic processing tasks reflect orthographic processes independent of extraneous phonological operations, and conversely, phonological processing tasks measure phonological processes independent of orthographic processes. To address these questions, a variety of tasks used to evaluate orthographic processing (orthographic verification, homophone verification, nonlexical choice, irregular word reading, irregular word spelling), phonological processing (phoneme deletion, phonological choice, nonword reading, nonword spelling) and related domains (e.g., word identification, IQ) were administered to 177 children from Grades 3, 4 and 5. Factor analysis conducted using accuracy data revealed that orthographic processing tasks congregate along a single factor, while phonological processing tasks congregate along another, separate factor, viewed as evidence for the construct validity of orthographic processing and phonological processing, respectively. When response-time data were analysed, these same tasks did not differentiate on the basis of their orthographic and phonological demands, but rather in terms of their more general task demands. Additionally, results reveal that some phonological processing and orthographic processing tasks measure their respective construct with a greater degree of purity than do others. It is recommended that these tasks be used in future research.     

Effects of reading and writing on cerebral laterality in good readers and children with dyslexia.

The present study evaluated the idea that the hemisphere-specific cognitive demands of reading and writing may induce task-specific maladaptive patterns of language lateralization in children with dyslexia. Situation-specific lateralization was examined in a repeated measures design under three dichotic listening conditions: baseline, concurrent reading, and concurrent writing. Twelve males with phonological dyslexia, 8 to 12 years old, were compared to 12 age-matched and 12 younger reading-matched good readers. Lateralization patterns were examined for condition-specific relationships to pseudoword decoding, word recognition, reading comprehension, spelling, and arithmetic. The results show that dyslexia is not related to incomplete lateralization or to a failure to inhibit verbal processing in the right hemisphere during reading and writing. Reading increased the lateralization of the children with dyslexia, which had a negative relation to arithmetic; writing caused a decrease in lateralization, which was linked specifically to deficits in phonological decoding and visual word recognition. The results suggest that children with dyslexia suffer from a selective linguistic vulnerability to left-hemisphere interference from the idiosyncratic attentional and processing demands of particular school tasks. Dyslexia is a much more dynamic and environmentally sensitive disorder than previously thought.     

Diagnosing word decoding problems: A process-analytic approach

In this article we attempt to demonstrate the theoretical and practical limitations of traditional subgroup classifications of acquired and developmental dyslexia. As an alternative, we suggest a process-analytical approach. A variant of a dual-route model for word processing is presented. The model guided the design of a computerized test battery for assessing strategies in word decoding and processes underlying each strategy. The usefulness of the approach was demonstrated on two cases, which according to traditional criteria, were classified as auditory dyslexics. Although both cases displayed marked deficiencies in the phonological route for word decoding, they differed in terms of underlying processes. In one case the primary problem could be located to phonological synthesis, whereas the other case had poor access of letters (phonological recoding). Such individual processing characteristics are not normally revealed by the traditional subgrouping approach.     

汉语发展性阅读障碍儿童词汇阅读的眼动研究

采用眼动研究方法,考察汉语发展性阅读障碍儿童在词汇阅读过程中的眼动特征,来确认他们在语素理解、语音和正字法加工中缺陷的眼动表现。结果显示:发展性阅读障碍儿童在多种任务上的正确率显著低于普通儿童,多项眼动指标的结果都有体现。这表明汉语发展性阅读障碍儿童语素理解、语音意识和正字法意识缺陷得到了眼动数据的支持。     

Phonological and visual processing deficits can dissociate in developmental dyslexia: Evidence from two case studies

The present study describes two Frenchteenagers with developmental reading andwriting impairments whose performance wascompared to that of chronological age andreading age matched non-dyslexic participants.Laurent conforms to the pattern of phonologicaldyslexia: he exhibits a poor performance inpseudo-word reading and spelling, producesphonologically inaccurate misspellings butreads most exception words accurately. Nicolas,in contrast, is poor in reading and spelling ofexception words but is quite good atpseudo-word spelling, suggesting that hesuffers from surface dyslexia and dysgraphia.The two participants were submitted to anextensive battery of metaphonological tasks andto two visual attentional tasks. Laurentdemonstrated poor phonemic awareness skills butgood visual processing abilities, while Nicolasshowed the reverse pattern with severedifficulties in the visual attentional tasksbut good phonemic awareness. The presentresults suggest that a visual attentionaldisorder might be found to be associated withthe pattern of developmental surface dyslexia.The present findings further show thatphonological and visual processing deficits candissociate in developmental dyslexia.     

Verbal memory and phonological processing in dyslexia

This study examines whether two frequently reported causes of dyslexia, phonological processing problems and verbal memory impairments, represent a double‐deficit or whether they are two expressions of the same deficit. Two‐hundred‐and‐sixty‐seven Dutch children aged 10–14 with dyslexia completed a list‐learning task and several phonological tasks, together with a number of reading and spelling tests. The results indicate that phonological deficits and verbal memory impairments in dyslexia stem from the same root, which seemingly reflects an inaccurate encoding of the phonological characteristics of verbal information. This phonological encoding deficit is a negative predictor for both the reading and spelling skills of dyslexic children.     

Children's literacy environments and early word recognition subskills

First-grade children completed a battery of tasks that included standardized measures of word recognition and spelling, measures of phonological and orthographic processing skill, and a short indicator of exposure to print via home literacy experiences. Phonological and orthographic processing skill were separable components of variance in word recognition. Orthographic processing ability accounted for variance in word recognition ability even after the variance in three phonological processing measures had been partialed. Additionally, variance in orthographic processing ability not explained by phonological abilities was reliably linked to differences in print exposure. The print exposure measure was not, however, linked to the measures of phonological processing. This finding was unexpected but it is consistent with some previous research. The theoretical implications of this result are discussed.     

Individual Differences in Categorical Perception Are Related to Sublexical/Phonological Processing in Reading

This article examines the relationship between individual differences in speech perception and sublexical/phonological processing in reading. We used an auditory phoneme identification task in which a?/ba/-/pa/?syllable continuum measured sensitivity to classify participants into three performance groups: poor, medium, and good categorizers. A lexical decision task manipulated syllable and word frequency. We found that the two tasks were associated. Poor categorizers did not present the typical syllable frequency effect; however, the other groups were sensitive to phonological information to differing degrees and showed the inhibitory syllable frequency effect only for low-frequency words. These results suggest that auditory phoneme identification efficiency may be related to the sublexical processes involved in reading words.     

A technique for group screening of dyslexia among adults

This paper reports on the development of a battery of phonological processing tasks to screen adults with dyslexia. The battery consisted of tasks tapping reversed spoonerism, phonological choice, working memory, and vocabulary with confusable alternatives. A self-report questionnaire consisting of two scales, one examining symptoms of dyslexia and the other reading interests, was also constructed. All these tasks showed high discrimination between a group of adults with dyslexia and a control group, all recruited from adult education centers. The tasks also correlated highly with word recognition. The results of the study show that it is possible to develop a sensitive battery of “nonvocalized” tasks to screen adults with dyslexia on a group basis and that self-reports add to the screening. The group administration is both time-saving and cost-effective.     

An evaluation of the discrepancy definition of dyslexia.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether children with dyslexia, that is, children whose reading levels were significantly lower than would be predicted by their IQ scores, constituted a distinctive group when compared with poor readers, that is, children whose reading scores were consistent with their IQ scores. The performance of children with dyslexia, poor readers, and normally achieving readers was compared on a variety of reading, spelling, phonological processing, language, and memory tasks. Although the children with dyslexia had significantly higher IQ scores than the poor readers, these two groups did not differ in their performance on reading, spelling, phonological processing, or most of the language and memory tasks. In all cases, the performance of both reading disabled groups was significantly below that of nondisabled readers. The findings were similar whether absolute difference or regression scores were used. Reading disabled children, whether or not their reading is significantly below the level predicted by their IQ scores, experience significant problems in phonological processing, short-term and working memory, and syntactic awareness. On the basis of these data, there does not seem to be a need to differentiate between individuals with dyslexia and poor readers. Both of these groups are reading disabled and have deficits in phonological processing, verbal memory, and syntactic awareness.     

Establishing word representations through reading and spelling: comparing degree of orthographic learning

Skilled reading involves rapid and automatic word recognition. Through a self‐teaching process, phonological decoding during reading is thought to establish the word‐specific representations in memory that support efficient word reading. Much is known about orthographic learning during reading; less is understood about this process during spelling. Here, we compared the degree of orthographic learning that occurs during reading and spelling. Forty‐eight children in Grade 2 practised reading or spelling nonwords within stories. Orthographic learning was measured using spelling recognition, spelling production and word naming tasks. Both readers and spellers showed evidence of orthographic learning; however, spellers outperformed readers on all tasks. Overall, results suggest that spelling sets up a higher quality representation in memory and highlight the importance of spelling in the development of word reading efficiency.     

Developmental dyslexia: Related to specific or general deficits?

The present study was designed to examine the question of whether developmental dyslexia in 12-year-old students at the beginning of secondary education in the Netherlands is confined to problems in the domain of reading and spelling or also is related to difficulties in other areas. In particular, hypotheses derived from theories on phonological processing, rapid automatized naming, working memory, and automatization of skills were tested. To overcome the definition and selection problems of many previous studies, we included in our study all students in the first year of secondary special education in a Dutch school district. Participants were classified as either dyslexic, garden-variety, or hyperlexic poor readers, according to the degree of discrepancy between their word recognition and listening comprehension scores. In addition, groups of normal readers were formed, matching the poor readers in either reading age or chronological age. A large test battery was administered to each student, including phonological, naming, working memory, speed of processing, and motor tests. The findings indicate that dyslexia is associated with deficits in (1) phonological recoding, word recognition (both in their native Dutch and in English as a second language), and spelling skills; and (2) naming speed for letters and digits. Dyslexia was not associated with deficits in other areas. The results suggest that developmental dyslexia, at the age of 12, might be (or might have become) a difficulty rather isolated from deficiencies in other cognitive and motor skills.     

Spelling difficulties in Spanish-speaking children with dyslexia / Dificultades de escritura en niños españoles con dislexia

In addition to reading difficulties, a significant proportion of developmental dyslexics have spelling problems, which persist into adulthood. Studies carried out in languages with opaque orthographies have found that dyslexics frequently make phonological substitutions when spelling and have difficulties in developing orthographic representations of irregular words. Those errors seem to derive from an excessive use of phonological codes when writing. Minimal research in Spanish (relatively transparent orthography) about the relationship between dyslexia and spelling difficulties has been carried out to date. In this study, 19 Spanish-speaking developmental dyslexics (from 7 to 11 years old) and 28 controls (from 6 to 11 years old, distributed in two groups, one matched for age and the other for reading level with the dyslexics) performed a dictation task of 80 stimuli with different levels of orthographic consistency, in order to discover the codes they use in the writing process. Results showed that Spanish children with dyslexia made significantly more spelling errors, especially among the ruled and irregular words. These findings are consistent with the idea that these children have difficulties in developing orthographic representations and use phonological codes more frequently than non-dyslexics, resulting in phonologically plausible errors when writing irregular words. These results have important implications for the treatment of spelling difficulties in children with dyslexia, highlighting the need to focus on the correct acquisition of grapheme-phoneme conversion rules as well as the development of appropriate orthographic representations.     

Amplitude envelope perception, phonology and prosodic sensitivity in children with developmental dyslexia

Here we explore relations between auditory perception of amplitude envelope structure, prosodic sensitivity, and phonological awareness in a sample of 56 typically-developing children and children with developmental dyslexia. We examine whether rise time sensitivity is linked to prosodic sensitivity, and whether prosodic sensitivity is linked to phonological awareness. Prosodic sensitivity was measured by two reiterant speech tasks modelled on Kitzen (2001). The children with developmental dyslexia were significantly impaired in the reiterant speech tasks and in the phonological awareness tasks (onset and rime awareness). There were significant predictive relations between basic auditory processing of amplitude envelope structure (in particular, rise time), prosodic sensitivity, phonological awareness, reading, and spelling. The auditory processing difficulties that characterise children with developmental dyslexia appear to impair their sensitivity to phrase-level prosodic cues such as metrical structure as well as to phonology, but in this study phonological and prosodic sensitivity made largely independent contributions to reading.     

Converging evidence for the concept of orthographic processing

Six different measures of orthographic processing (three different letter string choice tasks, two orthographic choice tasks, and a homophone choice task) were administered to thirty-nine children who had also been administered the word recognition subtest of the Metropolitan Achievement Test and a comprehensive battery of tasks assessing phonological processing skill (four measures of phonological sensitivity, nonword repetition, and pseudoword reading). The six orthographic tasks displayed moderate convergence – forming one reasonably coherent factor. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that a composite measure of orthographic processing skill predicted variance in word recognition after variance accounted for by the phonological processing measures had been partialed out. A measure of print exposure predictedvariance in orthographic processing after the variance in phonologicalprocessing had been partialed out.     

The Development of Invented Spelling

Ninety-three children were tested on a variety of reading-related skills, including Tangel and Blachman's (1992) invented spelling measure, four times over 1.5 years. Results revealed that this measure of invented spelling was 1) stable, 2) highly associated with traditional phonological awareness tasks, and 3) substantially predictive of standardized spelling and word and nonword decoding tests over time. A measure of orthographic processing, as well as phonological processing, was significantly associated with time 4 invented spelling, suggesting that both orthographic and phonological processes are involved in invented spelling. These results indicate that this measure of invented spelling may be an optimal diagnostic tool for researchers and educators interested in predicting subsequent reading ability/disability in early development. Invented spelling administered in early kindergarten may be an even better predictor of subsequent decoding skills than are traditional phonological awareness tasks, for American school children.     

The Development of Invented Spelling

Ninety-three children were tested on a variety of reading-related skills, including Tangel and Blachman's (1992) invented spelling measure, four times over 1.5 years. Results revealed that this measure of invented spelling was 1) stable, 2) highly associated with traditional phonological awareness tasks, and 3) substantially predictive of standardized spelling and word and nonword decoding tests over time. A measure of orthographic processing, as well as phonological processing, was significantly associated with time 4 invented spelling, suggesting that both orthographic and phonological processes are involved in invented spelling. These results indicate that this measure of invented spelling may be an optimal diagnostic tool for researchers and educators interested in predicting subsequent reading ability/disability in early development. Invented spelling administered in early kindergarten may be an even better predictor of subsequent decoding skills than are traditional phonological awareness tasks, for American school children.     

Relationships among rapid digit naming, phonological processing, motor automaticity, and speech perception in poor, average, and good readers and spellers

In this article, we explore the relationship between rapid automatized naming (RAN) and other cognitive processes among below-average, average, and above-average readers and spellers. Nonsense word reading, phonological awareness, RAN, automaticity of balance, speech perception, and verbal short-term and working memory were measured. Factor analysis revealed a 3-component structure. The first component included phonological processing tasks, RAN, and motor balance. The second component included verbal short-term and working memory tasks. Speech perception loaded strongly as a third component, associated negatively with RAN. The phonological processing tests correlated most strongly with reading ability and uniquely discriminated average from below- and above-average readers in terms of word reading, reading comprehension, and spelling. On word reading, comprehension, and spelling, RAN discriminated only the below-average group from the average performers. Verbal memory, as assessed by word list recall, additionally discriminated the below-average group from the average group on spelling performance. Motor balance and speech perception did not discriminate average from above- or below-average performers. In regression analyses, phonological processing measures predicted word reading and comprehension, and both phonological processing and RAN predicted spelling.