Dyslexia and the Phono‐Graphix reading programme

The study reported here set out to investigate the effectiveness of the Phono‐Graphix? reading programme with ten learners, aged 9–11 years, assessed as having specific learning difficulties/dyslexia. Testing was carried out via initial and final analysis of the students' phonological processing skills and reading/spelling ability over an 8‐month intervention period. The students were instructed on a one‐to‐one basis and each received an average of 24.3 hours of instruction. Findings suggest that the Phono‐Graphix programme did appear to help improve students' phonological processing skills. They further show that a majority of the students recorded an average gain in reading age of 21 months and an average gain in spelling age of 12 months at the end of the training period. Qualitative findings from the study also show overall positive perceptions of the Phono‐Graphix intervention among the parents and class teachers involved. The study reported here adds to the sum of knowledge on UK trials of the Phono‐Graphix approach and makes a useful contribution to the literature on remediation strategies for dyslexic students.     

Just when you thought it was safe: synthetic phonics and syncretic literacy practices

Until just recently one might have been forgiven for considering the ‘Reading’ debate to have been amicably resolved, with, at the end of the twentieth century, a negotiated consensus reached comprised of all sides in the debate agreeing on a balanced approach to the teaching of initial reading. However, the recent intervention of the House of Commons Education and Skills Committee with its report, Teaching Children to Read, and its advocacy of synthetic phonics, has once again brought the teaching of reading in UK schools to public attention. This paper seeks to provide an interesting comparative example of a UK literacy context where synthetic phonics is employed regularly and systematically. Thousands of British schoolchildren attend mosque schools on a daily basis where they learn how to read the Classical Arabic of the Qur'an. They are taught how to decode the text accurately and fluently using synthetic phonics methods. This literacy practice is described and suggestions are made about what it might have to contribute to the discussion around the adoption of synthetic phonics in mainstream schools     

Teaching our Traveller children to read: an action research project

In both Ireland and the UK, Traveller children reportedly suffer the lowest rates of educational attainment of any group. This study aimed to promote evidence‐based practice in the teaching of reading to Traveller children and thereby to raise their levels of achievement. This involved teachers delivering an evidence‐based intervention over a specified time frame (three months) and collecting pre‐ and post‐intervention data. The project involved 11 teachers in ten settings. There were seven primary and two secondary schools and one Youthreach project involved in the study. Participants were in the age range 6–17 years. Research findings indicated that participants made very significant gains in reading, and their rates of progress compared well with best international standards. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

How linguistically‐informed are phonics programmes?

Successive UK government policies have strengthened the phonics element of the National Curriculum for English in England. The policies have included inviting publishers to submit completed self‐assessments of their systematic phonics programmes. The self‐assessment criteria focus on what is deemed to be ‘high‐quality provision’, as defined in the Independent Review of the Teaching of Early Reading chaired by Jim Rose. The programmes whose self‐assessments were judged to be accurate by small panels of independent evaluators have been subsequently listed on a central government website. The authors have acted as independent evaluators in this process and, between them, had the opportunity to inspect the content of over 100 phonics programmes. They have noted that many of these programmes (most of which did not meet the Rose criteria) contained numerous linguistic inaccuracies, particularly in relation to the English spelling system and its grapheme‐phoneme correspondences. The existence, number and range of these errors jeopardise policy implementation and National Curriculum delivery and pose risks for the quality of teaching and learning. The article suggests some reasons for these findings in related published debates and in policy documents, and that phonics programmes need to be more linguistically‐informed. The article concludes with some implications for practice.     

Learning to read: where should early childhood educators begin?

Learning to read is a process that begins well before children commence formal schooling and well before children learn to decode print. Children's early reading skills are, first and foremost, foundationally contingent upon children's oral language and phonological awareness proficiencies – skills that can be mapped across a continuum of development from speech‐to‐print. Nine educators from Victoria, Australia, were interviewed, asked to share their understandings and planning for literacy learning when working with 2–3‐year‐old children. Findings showed that the educators exposed children to opportunities to develop their communication and oral language skills, privileging general conversation and storybook reading. However, some educators appeared unaware of the various stages of phonological awareness and/or appeared to privilege phonics over and above earlier stages of development. The authors recommend that educators, managers and course designers seeking to support young children's emergent literacy development use a framework such as the one presented in this paper to evaluate their knowledges/practices/programmes and that further, larger scale research be conducted that compares educators' interview data with what they do in practice.     

阅读元认知策略对学生数学成绩的影响--基于PISA2018数据分析

研究阅读元认知策略对学生数学成绩的影响具有一定的价值和意义。基于PISA2018测试数据,从理解与记忆策略、信息概述策略、信息评鉴策略3个维度,利用多元线性回归模型和分位数回归模型,分析阅读元认知策略对学生数学成绩的影响。研究发现:理解与记忆策略、信息概述策略、信息评鉴策略对学生数学成绩均存在显著的正向影响,其中信息评鉴策略对学生数学成绩的影响最大;理解与记忆策略、信息概述策略、信息评鉴策略对不同能力水平学生数学成绩的影响存在显著的差异性;信息评鉴策略显著扩大了家庭经济社会文化背景对25%分位点及75%分位点处的学生数学成绩的影响。     

Using the Phono‐Graphix reading programme as a literacy support intervention strategy

The study outlined here was an attempt to investigate the effectiveness of using the Phono‐Graphix reading programme with a group of four struggling readers/non‐readers. The children selected were in Primary 2 and had already had one‐and‐a‐half years of mixed reading instruction strategies – primarily Jolly Phonics with a ‘look and say’ approach. The children were taught in twice weekly ‘pull out’ sessions in addition to learning with their peers in their normal, daily classroom lessons. Results showed that they had improved in all literacy sub‐skills being assessed. Two of them also improved on standardised assessments. All children were observed to be reading (and spelling) more accurately than at the beginning of the project.     

Is systematic synthetic phonics enough? Examining the benefit of intensive teaching of high frequency words (HFW) in a year one class

A comparative analysis of systematic synthetic phonics (SSP) and the intensive teaching of high frequency words (HFW) revealed the latter had greater impact on pupils’ reading attainment and fluency. Data were collected using multiple methods, including miscue analysis, Salford Reading Test, a phoneme skills test and HFW audits.     

A Study of the Effectiveness of Using Computers to Assess the Phonic Knowledge of Pre-Service Teachers

Abstract

This study addressed the following question: Does a computerized test with an auto-score feature enhance students' test performance of phonic content compared to an existing paper-and-pencil test? Students in two four-semester-credit courses (teaching reading in the elementary school) formed the two treatment groups. The results indicate that on the one hand the two groups did not differ on performance-the computer group did not outperform the paper-and-pencil group. However, on the other hand, the use of the computerized assessment can be a valid, cost-effective replacement for the pencil-and-paper version.     

外语阅读焦虑与阅读成绩的关系

为了研究外语阅读焦虑与阅读成绩的关系,利用外语阅读焦虑量表,对随机抽查的150名英语专业的大学生进行测试,并就阅读焦虑与阅读课程成绩和阅读理解成绩进行研究。结果表明：同非英语专业学生一样,英语专业学生普遍存在英语阅读焦虑;英语阅读焦虑与英语阅读学业成绩及阅读理解回顾成绩之间存在显著性负相关,阅读焦虑与阅读理解多项选择成绩之间没有显著性负相关关系。     

The assessment has become the curriculum: Teachers’ views on the Phonics Screening Check in England

The Phonics Screening Check (PSC) was introduced in England in 2012 for Year 1 children (aged 5 and 6). There have been criticisms of the check in relation to its reliability and appropriateness as an assessment for early reading, although advocates of the check see it as a valuable tool in securing progress in early reading. This mixed methods study sought to evaluate the intended and possible unintended consequences of the PSC, foregrounding the voices of children and their teachers. This article reports on findings from the teachers’ data. The study focused initially on questionnaire data from 14 schools (59 teachers) selected for their diversity in relation to attainment data (PSC and reading) and socio-economic status. Focus groups in seven of the schools (25 teachers) enabled a more in-depth exploration of teachers’ views and practices in relation to the PSC. The study identified the ‘negative backwash’ of assessment. The PSC was seen as an end in itself, rather than a way of securing progress in one of the skills of reading. It found that, the assessment had become the curriculum, to the detriment of specific groups of learners (higher-attaining readers and children with English as an Additional Language). Teachers were found to use the assessment processes of the PSC as objectives for teaching rather than using them as the tools of assessment.     

Benefits of computer‐assisted instruction for struggling readers in middle school

This study investigated the benefits of computer‐assisted instruction (CAI) for middle‐school students attending remedial reading classes. As a supplement to a strong language‐based reading curriculum, a CAI programme that works on strengthening phonics word identification skills was provided to students in the treatment group. These students were compared with control students taught by the same teacher but without CAI support. Students in the treatment group showed greater reading gains than control students. Group differences in gain scores were significant in the area of decoding skills. These results show that a skills‐based CAI programme can boost decoding for struggling readers in middle school.