Phonological Awareness and Rapid Automatized Naming as Longitudinal Predictors of Reading in Five Alphabetic Orthographies with Varying Degrees of Consistency

ABSTRACT

Although phonological awareness (PA) and rapid automatized naming (RAN) are confirmed as early predictors of reading in a large number of orthographies, it is as yet unclear whether the predictive patterns are universal or language specific. This was examined in a longitudinal study across Grades 1 and 2 with 1,120 children acquiring one of five alphabetic orthographies with different degrees of orthographic complexity (English, French, German, Dutch, and Greek). Path analyses revealed that a universal model could not be confirmed. When we specified the best-fitting model separately for each language, RAN was a consistent predictor of reading fluency in all orthographies, whereas the association between PA and reading was complex and mostly interactive. We conclude that RAN taps into a language-universal cognitive mechanism that is involved in reading alphabetic orthographies (independent of complexity), whereas the PA–reading relationship depends on many factors like task characteristics, developmental status, and orthographic complexity.     

The Relationship Between Phoneme Awareness and Rapid Serial Naming Skills and Literacy Acquisition: The Role of Developmental Period and Reading Ability

This study investigates the relationship between phoneme awareness and rapid naming skills and subsequent reading and spelling ability in two developmental periods: kindergarten to Grade 1 and Grade 1 to Grade 2. Two groups of children participated in the study: children at high and children at low familial risk of developmental dyslexia. The results are consistent with previous findings that both phoneme awareness and rapid naming play an important role in early literacy acquisition in an alphabetic writing system. However, relative to phoneme awareness, rapid naming plays a modest role. In this study, an unambiguous specific effect for rapid naming was found only among the children in the high-risk group. Furthermore, even among these children, the effect of rapid naming was limited to rapid naming of letters and digits and to the second developmental period investigated. The implications of these results for understanding the role played by rapid naming and phoneme awareness in alphabetic literacy acquisition are discussed.     

What Discrete and Serial Rapid Automatized Naming Can Reveal About Reading

Serial rapid automized naming (RAN) has been often found to correlate more strongly with reading than discrete RAN. This study aimed to demonstrate that the strength of the RAN–reading fluency relationship is dependent on the format of both RAN and the reading task if the reading task consists of sight words. Seventy-one first-grade, 74 second-grade, and 127 fourth-grade children were administered discrete and serial measures of RAN and word reading. The results showed that in second- and fourth-grade readers similar formats of RAN and reading were more strongly related than dissimilar formats. However, in first-grade readers serial RAN was more strongly related to reading than discrete RAN, irrespective of the format of the reading measure. Implications of these results are discussed for the interpretation of RAN and the tracking of the use of sight word reading.     

Phonological Awareness and Rapid Automatized Naming Predicting Early Development in Reading and Spelling: Results from a Cross-Linguistic Longitudinal Study

In this study, the relationship between latent constructs of phonological awareness (PA) and rapid automatized naming (RAN) were investigated and related to later measures of reading and spelling in children learning to read in different alphabetic writing systems (i.e., Norwegian/Swedish vs. English). 750 U.S./Australian children and 230 Scandinavian children were followed longitudinally between kindergarten and 2nd grade. PA and RAN were measured in kindergarten and Grade 1, while word recognition, phonological decoding, and spelling were measured in kindergarten, Grade 1, and Grade 2. In general, high stability was observed for the various reading and spelling measures, such that little additional variance was left open for PA and RAN. However, results demonstrated that RAN was more related to reading than spelling across orthographies, with the opposite pattern shown for PA. In addition, tests of measurement invariance show that the factor loadings of each observed indicator on the latent PA factor was the same across U.S./Australia and Scandinavia. Similar findings were obtained for RAN. In general, tests of structural invariance show that models of early literacy development are highly transferable across languages.     

Rapid Naming and Phonemic Awareness: Contributions to Reading,Spelling, and Orthographic Knowledge

The double-deficit hypothesis suggests that deficient skills on two dimensions, rapid naming and phonemic awareness, are associated with poor reading. We studied the reading, spelling, and orthographic skills of Grade 3 children who met our criteria for double asset (DA), single phonological deficit (PD), single naming speed deficit (NSD), and double deficit (DD) groups. Analyses of variance revealed main effects of each factor, oftentimes modified by significant interactions, on the varied achievement measures. All deficit groups performed below the DA children. Compared to children with NSD, children with PD (a) were less accurate decoders, (b) were faster readers, (c) had weaker spelling dictation, and (d) had comparably poor spelling recognition scores. Children with DD showed a mixed pattern of stronger, equal, or weaker skills compared to younger reading level controls.     

Comparing the Relationships Among Two Different Versions of Alphanumeric Rapid Automatized Naming and Word Level Reading Skills

This study investigated whether two different versions of the serial rapid automatized naming (RAN) task, using similar alphanumeric stimuli, would differentially predict performance on word level reading skills (i.e., word recognition, nonword reading, and orthographic processing). To accomplish this, a subset of the Colorado Learning Disabilities Research Center twin sample (N = 307) was administered two different versions of serial RAN (traditional and alternative), and the relationship among these measures and word level reading skills was examined using an extension of multiple regression analysis known as dominance analysis (Budescu, 1993). The traditional RAN task (RAN-T) involved rapidly naming a visual array of 50 items, consisting of 5 symbols in a given category that are presented 10 times in random order in 5 rows (Denckla & Rudel, 1976). In the alternative RAN task (RAN-A), participants were presented with a similar set of 6 symbols in 5-item rows but asked to name as many items as possible in 15 sec. Results of dominance analysis indicate that the RAN-A measure explained significantly more unique variance in word recognition and orthographic-processing skills than the RAN-T task. In the case of word recognition skill, RAN-A was found to dominate RAN-T. Several explanations for this pattern of results across the two versions of RAN are explored.     

The Influences of Syllable Structure and Reading Ability on the Development of Phoneme Awareness: A Longitudinal,Cross-Linguistic Study

Effects of syllable structure and of alphabetic reading skills on the development of phoneme awareness were investigated in a longitudinal study. Awareness of phonemes in syllable onsets and codas was examined in first graders speaking Czech (n = 45) and German (n = 33). Czech children showed higher awareness of phonemes in onsets than in codas, whereas the reverse was true for German children. The patterns of behavioral data largely reflected distributional differences in corpus data between these languages. The effects were present among prereaders and persisted to the end of Grade 1. In sum, children's experience with the syllable structure of their native language plays an important role in shaping phoneme awareness from early in development and predates influences of alphabetic reading skills.     

Rapid Naming Components and Their Relationship With Phonological Awareness,Orthographic Knowledge,Speed of Processing,and Different Reading Outcomes

This study examines (a) how rapid automatized naming (RAN) speed components—articulation time and pause time—predict reading accuracy and reading fluency in Grades 2 and 3, and (b) how RAN components are related to measures of phonological awareness, orthographic knowledge, and speed of processing. Forty-eight children were administered RAN tasks in Grades 1, 2, and 3. Results indicated that pause time was highly correlated with both reading accuracy and reading fluency measures and shared more of its predictive variance with orthographic knowledge than with phonological awareness or speed of processing. In contrast, articulation time was only weakly correlated with the reading measures and was rather independent from any processing skill at any point of measurement.     

The Relative Predictive Contribution and Causal Role of Phoneme Awareness,Rhyme Awareness,and Verbal Short-Term Memory in Reading Skills: A Review

The acknowledgement that educational achievement is highly dependent on successful reading development has led to extensive research on its underlying factors. A strong argument has been made for a causal relationship between reading and phoneme awareness; similarly, causal relations have been suggested for reading with short-term memory and rhyme awareness alike. Here a meta-analysis is presented that seeks to determine spuriousness in these factors' relationships with reading by examining each factor's unique predictive value. The results show that phoneme awareness is the strongest unique predictor. Since the meta-analysis is based on concurrent data, it is unsuited to enlighten time-order relationships, but longitudinal and experimental studies both support the notion of a causal relationship between phoneme awareness and reading, in contrast to rhyme awareness and verbal short-term memory.     

Phonological Awareness and Rapid Naming Skills of Children with Reading Disabilities and Children with Reading Disabilities Who Are At Risk for Mathematics Difficulties

Limited research has examined the skills of children with a reading disability (RD) and children with RD and a mathematics disability (MD). Even less research has examined the phonological awareness (PA) and rapid automatized naming (RAN) skills in these two groups of children and how these skills relate to reading and math achievement. Additionally, various classification criteria are frequently implemented to classify children with MD. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to examine the PA and RAN skills in children who met different criteria for RD only and children with RD who are at risk for mathematics difficulties (MDR). Participants were 114 second‐ or third‐grade students with RD from public elementary schools in three large metropolitan areas. Students were classified as at risk for mathematics difficulties utilizing a 25th‐percentile cutoff and a 15th‐percentile cutoff as assessed by the KeyMath‐Revised Test ( Connolly, 1988 ). A series of PA and RAN measures were administered along with a range of reading and mathematics measures. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that children with RD only evidenced a different pattern of results compared to children with RD + MDR. Additionally, using a more stringent criterion to classify children at risk for mathematics difficulties resulted in a differential pattern of results when compared to a less stringent classification criterion.     

Awareness of Cultural Differences in English Learning

This paper attempts to analyze the cultural difference in three perspectives.It is hoped that through what has been discussed,Chinese learners of English are made aware of the importance of studying the culture of the target country and of studying the language in the cultural context.     

个体差异与外语学习

在外语学习过程中,学生个体存在有诸多的特征差异,其外部表现有年龄、性别、民族、习惯等方面;其内部差别有学习动机、能力倾向、认知风格以及情感状态等。重点就内部差异进行探究。     

化学教学中的合作学习及合作意识、能力培养

合作学习是以生生互动为主要途径促进学生学习的教学活动和学习策略。结合我国基础教育改革的发展和新课程标准的实施,从合作学习的基本理念入手,探索在化学课堂教学、化学实验教学、课外学习的活动中引导学生学会尊重与欣赏,培养自信心与团队精神,营造合作学习氛围,创设实验条件,增加课外实验,深入社会实际生活,实施合作学习,培养合作意识和合作能力。通过对教学评价的调整,实现教学评价的科学化,提高学生对合作的内涵和价值的认识,促进合作意识的形成。     

学习和记忆的个体差异研究进展

个体差异的实验室研究历来在学习和记忆领域占有较为重要的地位，生理缺陷、智力水平、年龄等因素都可能引起学习和记忆的个体差异，它们一方面体现了学习和记忆的相关特征，一方面也促使学习和记忆向更细化的方向发展。从内隐学习、内隐记忆、前瞻记忆和错误记忆四个领域展开讨论并集中分析个体差异的主要影响因素以及它对学习和记忆多重加工机制的促进作用，这种思路和方法在未来的研究中是至关重要的。     

浅谈英语快速阅读能力培养与实践

阅读理解能力是英语学习中重点培养的内容,是英语考试中一个重要题型,分值高、题量大,直接决定着考试成绩分值的高低。阅读理解能力的重要标志是阅读速度和理解力的正确率,本人结合自身学习的经历与体会,浅谈英语快速阅读能力的培养与实践,以飨读者。     

Common Neural Basis of Motor Sequence Learning and Word Recognition and Its Relation With Individual Differences in Reading Skill

ABSTRACT

To investigate the neural basis of a common statistical learning mechanism involved in motor sequence learning and decoding, we recorded brain activation from participants during a serial reaction time (SRT) task and a word reading task using functional magnetic resonance imaging. In the SRT task, a manual response was made depending on the location of a visual cue, and the order of the locations was either fixed or random. In the word reading task, visual words were passively presented. In the inferior frontal gyrus pars triangularis (IFGpTr) and the insula, differences in activation between the ordered and random condition in the SRT task and activation to printed words in the word reading task were correlated with the participants’ decoding ability. We speculate that extraction of statistically predictable patterns in the IFGpTr and insula contributes to both motor sequence learning and orthographic learning, and therefore predicts individual differences in decoding skill.     

Is Statistical Learning Ability Related to Reading Ability,and If So,Why?

ABSTRACT

Previous studies found a relationship between performance on statistical learning (SL) tasks and reading ability and developmental dyslexia. Thus, it has been suggested that the ability to implicitly learn patterns may be important for reading acquisition. Causal mechanisms behind this relationship are unclear: Although orthographic sensitivity to letter bigrams may emerge through SL and facilitate reading, there is no empirical support for this link. We test 84 adults on two SL tasks, reading tests, and a bigram sensitivity task. We test for correlations using Bayes factors. This serves to test the prediction that SL and reading ability are correlated and to explore sensitivity to bigram legality as a potential mediator. We find no correlations between SL tasks and reading ability, SL and bigram sensitivity, or between the SL tasks. We conclude that correlating SL with reading ability may not yield replicable results, partly due to low correlations between SL tasks.