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.     

儿童汉语语音意识发展之研究

语音意识是心理学界与语言学界共同关注的课题,探讨儿童汉语语音意识发展的影响因素、测量方法以及培养策略,可以为教育与研究者提供一定的参考,促进儿童汉语语音意识的研究与发展。     

语音意识在单词拼写中的作用

英语学习者能否有效地拼写,记忆单词以及其阅读能力的高低与语音意识有着直接的关系。语音意识独立发展假设认为,语音意识结构中各成份的发展取决于儿童在某方面所接受的语言训练,即语音意识的发展与学习者的特殊语言经历有关。语音意识可以培养,语音意识的提高有益于单词拼写能力的提高。该文以语音意识在单词拼写中的作用为核心,着重论述语音意识在单词拼写过程中的影响作用;同时,文章还以辩证唯物主义观点出发,指出单词拼写能力的提高反过来也可以促进语音意识的提高。     

Spelling Dutch Doublets: Children's Learning of a Phonological and Morphological Spelling Rule

This study addresses the question of why spellings determined by morphology are relatively hard to acquire by presenting a latent class model of children's acquisition of a doublet of consonants in the spelling of Dutch verbs. This spelling pattern can be determined either by a phonological rule (after a short vowel, a doublet is spelled) or a morphological rule (doublets are spelled in past-tense forms). The results show that the youngest group of spellers identified by latent class analysis predominantly used an alphabetic strategy. They did not spell doublets at all. The latent class model further shows that the acquisition of phonologically determined spellings occurred at a lower average age than the acquisition of morphologically determined spellings. The latter led to overgeneralizations, and a U-shaped developmental pattern was found as a consequence of these overgeneralizations. Children over generalized doublets for different reasons. At younger ages, overgeneralizations of doublets occurred because children treated the doublet as a phonological alternative to the singleton, whereas at older ages, overgeneralizations of doublets were confined to homophones, indicating lexical effects.     

儿童英语语音意识能力的培养策略

语音意识是儿童早期阅读发展的关键因素.大量研究证实,语音意识训练对儿童语音意识能力提升有显著效果.因此,有必要对语音意识发展不佳儿童给予及早介入.提升英语语音意识能力的基本训练程序主要有基于建立音形联系、音素分解和合成理念之上的五步训练法.以及计算机辅助的视听训练.此外,读唱儿歌、童谣和带有押韵的英文童书、玩语音操弄游戏等趣味训练方法对儿童提升语音意识能力也很有帮助.     

儿童视觉加工能力与其语音意识的相关性

本研究通过考察儿童对无意义简单图形、汉语生字和英语生词的视觉辨别记忆能力,探讨视觉加工对儿童语音意识发展的可能作用,并通过方言-普通话双语儿童(简称方言被试)和普通话单语儿童(简称普通话被试)的对比,进一步探讨方言被试和普通话被试在语音意识维度上的差异是否会在视觉记忆能力中反映出来.结果显示,方言语音经验并不影响与汉字学习有关的视觉记忆能力;但不同刺激类型的视觉记忆能力和语音意识的相关性随着年级的变化而变化.回归分析显示,在二年级时,图形和汉字的视觉记忆能力能够预测儿童的语音意识水平,而到了四年级和六年级,英语生词的视觉记忆能力是语音意识的唯一预测变量.由于汉语拼音和英语在形态上的一致性,结合系列研究的其他结论,本实验结果显示:汉语拼音的学习和巩固,使语音的形式化成为可能,而语音的形式化易化了语音加工过程,这个易化过程反映为语音意识测量成绩的提高.     

Developmental Changes in the Relations Between RAN,Phonological Awareness,and Reading in Spanish Children

We examined the developmental relations of phonological awareness (PA) and rapid automatized naming (RAN) with reading in a cross-sectional study with 874 Spanish children from Grades 2 to 6. Our main prediction was that the RAN–reading relationship would decrease due to a gradual change in reading strategy, from serial decoding to sight word reading. Therefore, in contrast to most previous studies, we used discrete reading tasks. Serial RAN tasks for objects, colors, digits, and letters were included. First, we examined whether the RAN tasks loaded on the same constructs across time. An alphanumeric and a nonalphanumeric factor were identified, which were invariant over time. In subsequent multigroup structural equation models we found that the PA–reading relationship was low but slightly increased in the higher grades. As predicted, the RAN–reading relationship decreased for words, whereas the relationship remained stable for pseudowords.     

Phonological Spelling and Reading Deficits in Children With Spelling Disabilities

Spelling errors in the Wide Range Achievement Test were analyzed for 77 pairs of children, each of which included one older child with spelling disability (SD) and one spelling-level-matched younger child with normal spelling ability from the Colorado Learning Disabilities Research Center database. Spelling error analysis consisted of a percent graphotactic-accuracy (GA) score based on syllable position and existence in English, and a phonological accuracy score (PA). The SD group scored significantly worse in the PA measure and nonsignificantly better than controls on the GA measure. The Group × Measure interaction was significant. Spelling matched pairs had very similar scores for word recognition and orthographic coding, but the SD group exhibited significant deficits in reading measures of phonological decoding and in language measures of phonological awareness.     

Phonological Awareness and Naming Speed in the Prediction of Dutch Children's Word Recognition

Influences of phonological awareness and naming speed on the speed and accuracy of Dutch children's word recognition were investigated in a longitudinal study. The speed and accuracy of word recognition at the ends of Grades 1 and 2 were predicted by naming speed from both the beginning and end of Grade 1, after control for autoregressive relations, kindergarten letter knowledge, and vocabulary knowledge. Phonological awareness at the beginning of Grade 1 predicted only the accuracy of word recognition at the end of Grade 1. No evidence was found for reciprocal influences of word recognition skills on later phonological awareness or naming speed.     

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.     

Examining the Relationship Between Emergent Literacy Skills and Invented Spelling in Prekindergarten Spanish-Speaking Dual Language Learners

The purpose of the present study was to examine associations among English and Spanish emergent literacy skills of prekindergarten (pre-K) Spanish-speaking dual language learners in relation to their English invented spelling. Study participants included 141 Spanish-speaking 4-year-old children enrolled in state-funded pre-K programs in a large urban city located in the Southeast. All children were receiving English-only instruction. Children’s Spanish and English receptive vocabulary and code-related skills were assessed in the fall and spring of their pre-K year, but their invented spelling was assessed only in the spring. Research Findings: Analyses revealed significant correlations among children’s English and Spanish receptive vocabulary as well as English and Spanish early code-related skills in the fall and spring of the school year. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed direct contributions of children’s English vocabulary and growth in Spanish code-related skills across the year to children’s English invented spelling in the spring of the school year. This analysis also revealed that associations between children’s English code-related skills and invented spelling appear to work through Spanish code-related skills. Practice or Policy: In order to promote young dual language learners’ English invented spelling skills, early childhood educators should seek to support children’s English vocabulary and English and Spanish code-related emergent literacy skills.     

“阅读战争”的启示—关于儿童早期的语音意识及其培养

围绕"如何有效指导儿童早期阅读",北美阅读教育历史上曾爆发过一场持续十年之久的论争,被称为"阅读战争"。"战争"过后,语音意识概念得到加强,语音意识培养被作为最新的研究成果在全北美得到推广。文章主要介绍了北美阅读教育和指导儿童早期阅读的教学方法——全语言和自然拼读,并通过阐述语音意识和阅读能力的密切关系,提出了语音意识训练和培养是语言学习者进行有效学习的必经之路。     

Relations Between Dialect Variation, Grammar, and Early Spelling Skills

Relationships among African American English (AAE), linguistic knowledge, and spelling skills were examined in a sample of 92 children in grades one through three whose speech varied in the frequency of morphosyntactic AAE features. Children were separated into groups of high (AAE speakers) and low (standard American English, SAE, speakers) use of AAE features in speech, and asked to produce, recognize, and spell four inflected grammatical morphemes because variable omission of these endings in speech is a morphosyntactic characteristic of AAE. The groups differed in their spelling and elicited spoken production of inflections, but not recognition of these forms. AAE speakers omitted the inflections more often at each grade. Density of morphosyntactic AAE features in speech was related directly to spelling inflections, but this effect was mediated by children’s understanding of standard grammatical forms.     

On the Relations Between Parents' Ideals and Children's Autonomy

In this article Doret J. de Ruyter and Anders Schinkel argue that parents' ideals can enhance children's autonomy, but that they may also have a detrimental effect on the development of children's autonomy. After describing the concept of ideals and elucidating a systems theoretical conception of autonomy, de Ruyter and Schinkel explore the ways in which the ideals of parents may play a role in the development of their children's autonomy. They show that abstract and complex ideals of parents (be it ideals for their children, ideals with regard to their parenthood, or their personal ideals) are most likely to enhance their children's autonomy. They also explain that an authoritative parenting style is most conducive to autonomy, although whether or not it does benefit children's autonomy also depends on the types of ideals pursued by parents.     

瑶族儿童汉语语音意识与阅读能力的相关研究

选取桂北24名瑶族和28名汉族三年级小学生,采用声母、韵母、声调的语音意识测试和拼音补词、读句指错、读句改错、语段阅读的阅读能力测试,探讨瑶族儿童的汉语语音意识与阅读能力及其相关的问题。结果发现：瑶族儿童汉语语音意识能力与汉族儿童相当,并未受普通话的使用率与熟练程度的影响,而有可能受元语言能力以及母语正迁移的积极影响;瑶族儿童阅读能力低于汉族儿童,这与处于学习第二语言汉语早期阶段有关,也与汉语书面阅读经验有限有关;瑶族儿童汉语语音意识与阅读能力存在相关,拼音补词与声母意识、韵母意识、声调意识相关显著;语段阅读与韵母意识相关显著。因此,应重新审视少数民族的语言价值,看到和发挥母语对于第二语言汉语语音意识和阅读能力的正迁移作用。     

小学生汉英语音意识、句法意识在双语语篇阅读中的作用

通过系列实验,对比小学生的汉语和英语语音意识、句法意识与语篇阅读的关系,发现汉语句法意识是汉语语篇阅读水平的显著预测指标,英语句法意识是英语语篇阅读水平的显著预测指标。通过实验研究发现,虽然语音意识对双语的语篇阅读也有独立的预测作用,但是句法意识对阅读的预测能力更为显著。     

Children's Thoughts About Reading and Spelling

Most current psychological research on children's reading concentrates either on the various abilities that children need to read or write or on the relative success of different kinds of instruction. Very little attention is being paid to the ways in which children learn orthographic rules. I argue that children typically go through 3 steps in learning a new rule. First they apply a rule that is already in their repertoire but is inadequate. Next, when they realize that this rule is inadequate, they try to extend and adjust it to cover these inadequacies. This adjustment leads them into new experiences that allow them to take the third and final step, which is to form a new and more adequate rule. These steps are similar to the theoretical sequence proposed by Piaget for children's construction of logical rules.     

Measures of Kindergarten Spelling and Their Relations to Later Spelling Performance

Learning the orthographic forms of words is important for both spelling and reading. To determine whether some methods of scoring children’s early spellings predict later spelling performance better than do other methods, we analyzed data from 374 U.S. and Australian children who took a 10-word spelling test at the end of kindergarten (M age = 6 years 2 months) and a standardized spelling test approximately 2 years later. Surprisingly, scoring methods that took account of phonological plausibility did not outperform methods that were based only on orthographic correctness. The scoring method that is most widely used in research with young children, which allots a certain number of points to each word and which considers both orthographic and phonological plausibility, did not rise to the top as a predictor. Prediction of Grade 2 spelling performance was improved to a small extent by considering children’s tendency to reverse letters in kindergarten.     

Development of Bilingual Phonological Awareness in Spanish-Speaking English Language Learners: The Roles of Vocabulary,Letter Knowledge,and Prior Phonological Awareness

Theories concerning the development of phonological awareness place special emphasis on lexical and orthographic knowledge. Given the large degree of variability in preschool classrooms that house Spanish-speaking English language learners (ELL), this study controlled for classroom effects by removing classroom means and covariances based on 158 children from 40 classrooms. Path analyses of the child-level covariance matrices tested the extent to which vocabulary and letter knowledge in each language predicted growth in English and Spanish phonological awareness of 130 preschool-age, Spanish-speaking ELLs. Results supported cross-linguistic effects of prior phonological awareness and Spanish vocabulary in the development of bilingual phonological awareness. Implications for theory, instruction, and research methods are discussed.