Analysis of written language of a language learning disabled (dyslexic) college student and instructional implications

This paper examines spontaneous writing of a college student with a history of language learning problems. Writing samples, collected from tests and papers in college courses, were analyzed for syntactic complexity, spelling, grammatical errors, semantic errors, and organization. Metacognitive factors were analyzed by examining student’s responses to questions about his perceptions about writing. Results showed: (a) the dyslexic student produced syntactically complex structures comparable to nondyslexic writers; (b) the student averaged 9% spelling errors per essay and 17 grammatical errors per essay; (c) primary semantic errors were inappropriate word choices, incorrect determiners, and overuse of “so” as a transition; (d) major problem with organization involved difficulties with expanding an idea beyond “saying the same thing in a different way;” (e) metacognitive strategies included difficulties with separating self from writing and recognizing ambiguity in writing. The paper then describes six instructional strategies to assist in remediation of the student’s writing problems. Paper presented at the Second Miami University Sentence Combining Conference, October, 1983.     

From oral to written language: a developmental and interventional perspective

The article discusses relations between early oral language abilities and reading and writing development as reflected in longitudinal research. The observation that poor reading is less accurately predicted than superior reading is documented, and developmental characteristics of poor readers and superior readers, respectively, are described. The importance of early intervention is emphasized both by reference to experimental research and by a documented high consistency between reading at grades 2–3 and reading in adolescence.     

Narratives: A window on the oral substrate of written language disabilities

Oral precursors underlying competence with literacy activities are approached through a review of studies on narrative comprehension and production in children identified as language learning disabled (LLD). Areas addressed include a general overview of narrative types, the kinds of narrative knowledge that are acquired, the nature of story organization, and developmental acquisitions in story recall and generation. Nine studies on the oral comprehension and production of language learning disabled children are then compared with respect to methodological issues and patterns of performance. Implications from these studies are discussed in terms of their potential insight for subtypes of a LLD including the value of oral narratives in identifying precursors for competence with written language.     

A study of handwriting in written stories of normal and learning disabled children

Written stories of normally achieving and learning disabled children in grades one through three were compared, using a Handwriting Evaluation Scale designed for this study. The subjects also were given tests for receptive language, figure copying and spelling. The Non-LD and LD groups differed on figure copying, spelling and written productivity, but not receptive language. The Non-LD grade level groups differed significantly on two components of the handwriting scale (Letter Size and Control), while the LD grade level groups differed on three components (Letter Formation, Alignment and Spacing, and Letter Size). The most pronounced differences between the LD and normally achieving children were on Formation and Size. A separate analysis of the third grade stories revealed that handwriting was less related to productivity than spelling and visual-motor skills. Nevertheless, the results indicated that many LD students have weak visual-spatial-motor skills. Implications for intervention are discussed.     

An evaluation of the written texts of children with SLI: the contributions of oral language, reading and phonological short-term memory

In this study, we performed a fine grained analysis of writing by children with a specific language impairment (SLI) and examined the contribution of oral language, phonological short-term memory (STM), nonverbal ability, and word reading to three writing constructs (productivity, complexity and accuracy). Forty-six children with SLI were compared with 42 children matched for chronological age, receptive vocabulary (N = 46) and reading decoding (N = 46) on a measure of narrative writing. The SLI group performed worse on all measures compared to children of a similar chronological age. The SLI group produced a greater proportion of orthographic spelling errors than children with similar receptive vocabularies, but were comparable to children matched for reading decoding. The children with SLI showed specific difficulties in the omission of whole words (e.g. auxiliary verbs and subject nouns) and omissions of grammatical morphology (e.g. past tense—ed) reflecting the difficulties shown in their oral language. Receptive grammar made a significant contribution to writing complexity and accuracy. Phonological fluency contributed to writing productivity, such as the production of diverse vocabulary, ideas and content and writing fluency. Phonological STM and word reading explained additional variance in writing accuracy over and above the SLI group’s oral language skills.     

Modeling the development of written language

Alternative models of the structure of individual and developmental differences of written composition and handwriting fluency were tested using confirmatory factor analysis of writing samples provided by first- and fourth-grade students. For both groups, a five-factor model provided the best fit to the data. Four of the factors represented aspects of written composition: macro-organization (use of top sentence and number and ordering of ideas), productivity (number and diversity of words used), complexity (mean length of T-unit and syntactic density), and spelling and punctuation. The fifth factor represented handwriting fluency. Handwriting fluency was correlated with written composition factors at both grades. The magnitude of developmental differences between first grade and fourth grade expressed as effect sizes varied for variables representing the five constructs: large effect sizes were found for productivity and handwriting fluency variables; moderate effect sizes were found for complexity and macro-organization variables; and minimal effect sizes were found for spelling and punctuation variables.     

英语国家学生副词"就"的偏误分析

虚词是外国学生汉语学习的难点，副词“就”是其中的难点之一。本文拟在汉语本体及第二语言习得理论研究成果的基础上，以偏误分析等理论为依据，探究母语为英语的学习者学习副词“就”时的表现，以及学习策略一母语迁移、过度泛化等对学习者偏误的影响。     

Evaluation of oral language disorders in children

Summary This paper has reviewed some approaches to the evaulation of oral language and indicated how different views influence our assessment and management of oral language problems. Some systems for classifying responses and input modalities have been discussed. Suggestions for evaluating receptive and expressive language and some skills of auditory analysis and synthesis have been presented. This paper is adapted from a presentation at a workshop at the 28th Annual Conference of The Orton Society in Dallas, Texas, November 1977.     

Exploring the dimensionality of kindergarten written composition

Reading and Writing - Despite increasing pressure for children to learn to write at younger ages, there are many unanswered questions about composition skills in early elementary school. The goal...     

Exploring the effects of a 14 week person-centred counselling intervention with learning disabled children

Abstract

This study evaluates the effects of a person-centred counselling intervention on the learning disabled child's self-concept. The participants are children who attend a London borough school for moderate learning difficulties. The study is qualitative and incorporates two parts: (1) practitioner research via a 14 week person-centred counselling intervention; (2) exploration of teachers’ views of the child's self-concept via a pre- and post-intervention questionnaire. The study used person-centred art therapy as an adjunct to counselling. A projective technique was used to measure the child's self-concept.Three out of four child participants indicated an improved self-concept. However, only one out of four teachers’ questionnaires indicated a positive movement within the child. This article explores the difficulties encountered as well as highlighting positive paths, and supposes that the results support carrying out this research project over an extended period and with a larger research group.     

Occurrence and pattern of impaired reading and written language in children with attention deficit disorders

The purpose of this study was to investigate the occurrence and severity of reading, spelling, and written language impairment in children clinically referred for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Specific questions involved 1) whether ADD subgroups with and without hyperactivity differ in reading, spelling, and written language achievement, 2) whether age and gender interact with ADD sub-group class to affect reading/written language achievement, and 3) whether prevalence of impaired reading/written language in these subgroups is consistent with previous reports in heterogeneous samples. Subjects were 115 ADD children aged 6-12 who were subclassified as ADD + H(72 percent) and ADD - H(28 percent) by objective teacher ratings. Dependent measures included tests of single word recognition and vocabulary, word attack, contextual comprehension, written spelling, written sentence construction, and writing fluency, in addition to a structured behavioral observation, during which aspects of inattention and motor activity were coded. A large fraction of this sample met public school LD criteria (54 percent), and achievement on most measures was globally poorer than the respective test normative groups. The ADD + H subgroup showed significantly poorer word attack skills, while the subgroups did not significantly differ from each other on other reading/written language measures. However, 17 percent of the total ADD sample were ≥ 1.5 SD below the mean in total reading achievement, and 29 percent were ≥ 1.5 SD below the mean on measures of written spelling/language. Gender X age interactions, indicating poorer performance in the middle age group of females, were likely related to lower IQ.     

Evidence-based diagnosis and treatment for specific learning disabilities involving impairments in written and/or oral language

Programmatic, multidisciplinary research provided converging brain, genetic, and developmental support for evidence-based diagnoses of three specific learning disabilities based on hallmark phenotypes (behavioral expression of underlying genotypes) with treatment relevance: dysgraphia (impaired legible automatic letter writing, orthographic coding, and finger sequencing), dyslexia (impaired pseudoword reading, spelling, phonological and orthographic coding, rapid automatic naming, and executive functions; inhibition and rapid automatic switching), and oral and written language learning disability (same impairments as dyslexia plus morphological and syntactic coding and comprehension). Two case studies illustrate how these differential diagnoses can be made within a conceptual framework of a working memory architecture and generate treatment plans that transformed treatment nonresponders into treatment responders. Findings are discussed in reference to the importance of (a) considering individual differences (diagnosis of impaired hallmark phenotypes) in planning and evaluating response to instruction and modifying instruction when a student is not responding; (b) recognizing that teaching may change epigenetic gene expression at one stage of schooling, but not the underlying gene sequences that render individuals still vulnerable as curriculum requirements increase in nature, complexity, and volume in the upper grades; and (c) using evidence-based diagnoses of specific learning disabilities that are consistent across states for free and appropriate education K to 12 and for accommodations throughout higher education and professional credentialing.     

The language of written language: an introduction to the special issue

This special issue includes five articles dealing with selected aspects of writing disorders, crafted by key contributors to the literature on written language. Articles addressing definitional issues and diagnostic questions, assessment strategies, selected neurodevelopmental components of written expression, the manifestation of writing problems in children and young adults, direct intervention, training for elementary teachers in the early grades in the area of literacy, and brain-behavior linkages are presented. This introduction provides an overview of these articles tied to specific issues confronting the field of written language. Some thoughts and directions for the future are articulated.     

关于周世勋编《量子力学教程》一书的两点错误

对周世勋编《量子力学教程》一书的两点错误进行了讨论.