The Role of Statistical Learning in Word Reading and Spelling Development: More Questions Than Answers

ABSTRACT

This special issue bundles a set of eight empirical studies and one review article that explore the role of statistical learning (SL) mechanisms (both domain-specific and domain-general) in supporting word reading and spelling development, and vice versa. In this introduction to the special issue, we worked to summarize the extent to which studies support our hypotheses relating SL to reading and spelling development while pointing out inconsistencies across studies that require us to refine and rethink our hypotheses.     

Younger and Older learners' Advantages on Language Acquisition in Different Learning Settings

The question of whether, and how, age affects L2 outcomes has been a major issue in SLA for several decades, and a number of recent publications provide reviews from different points of view. The author has made a comprehensive survey on the researches on the relationship between age and attainment in second language acquisition. Based on age differences theory, the author agrees the opinion that younger learners are more successful in informal and naturalistic L2 learning contexts, and older learners are more successful in formal instructional settings. Then, the younger learners' and older learners' advantages are discussed and put into contrastive analysis. Therefore, in second language teaching and learning, it is necessary to exert the learning advantages of different age groups, have a specific focus on listening, speaking, reading and writing, select teaching strategies suitable for different ages, and make a scientific teaching and learning plan.     

Learning English Spellings: strategies employed by primary school boys

Abstract The use of visual and auditory information in learning to spell is explored, together with the effect, if any, of semantic information. One hundred boys aged from seven to eleven were tested, using eight nonsense words with contrived meanings. It was expected that visual information would be helpful in spelling irregular words and that, with age, use of strategies would become more flexible, incorporating semantic (along with visual and phonological) information. Contrary to expectations, it was only with the 10‐ and 11‐year‐olds that visual information produced better results than auditory presentation alone but for them, in conjunction with oral responses, it did aid spelling. Such a finding is in keeping with Ehri's Amalgamation Theory (1980) which suggests that, in order to be able to manipulate printed words, the learner must draw on several strategies and accepts that no single strategy can be used to overcome all irregularities in written English.     

The Relationship of Spelling Recognition, RAN, and Phonological Awareness to Reading Skills in Older Poor Readers and Younger Reading-Matched Controls

The role of spelling recognition was examined in word reading skills and reading comprehension for dyslexic and nondyslexic children. Dyslexic and nondyslexic children were matched on their raw word reading proficiency. Relationships between spelling recognition and the following were examined for both groups of children: verbal ability, working memory, phonological measures, rapid naming, word reading, and reading comprehension. Children’s performance in spelling recognition was significantly associated with their skills in word reading and reading comprehension regardless of their reading disability status. Furthermore, spelling recognition contributed significant variance to reading comprehension for both dyslexic and nondyslexic children after the effects of phonological awareness, rapid naming, and word reading proficiency had been accounted for. The results support the role of spelling recognition in reading development for both groups of children and they are discussed using a componential reading fluency framework.     

Effect of U-Pace Instruction on Academic Success,Learning, and Perceptions in Younger and Older Undergraduates

A randomized controlled trial was conducted to determine the efficacy of U-Pace instruction for older undergraduates, ages 25 and older, and younger undergraduates, ages 18 to 24. Additionally, change in learner perceptions across the semester, an outcome not reported in the literature on U-Pace instruction, was investigated. In both younger and older undergraduates U-Pace instruction produced greater learning, greater academic success, and sustained or improved students’ perceptions of themselves as learners compared with Face-to-Face instruction. The findings provide strong support for the efficacy of U-Pace instruction in younger and older students and highlight a possible mechanism underlying U-Pace instruction’s effects on learning and academic success.     

Older and Wiser?: A Comparison of the Learning and Study Strategies of Mature Age and Younger Teacher Education Students

‘Non‐traditional’ students are increasingly a part of university populations. This study examined differences between mature age and younger university students in their learning and study strategies as measured by the Learning and Study Strategies Inventory (LASSI). Subjects were 21 mature age and 104 younger teacher education students enrolled in The Bachelor of Teaching (Primary) course at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. Significant correlations were found between the students' LASSI scores and both their self‐reported level of global skill and their perceptions of how difficult the course was. There were significant differences between the two groups in terms of their learning and study strategies, with mature age students reporting themselves to be using effective strategies more often, on average, than younger students. The validity and implications of these findings in terms of student learning, support and instruction in study and learning and in predicting academic success are discussed.     

More Than Minutes: Teachers' Roles in Designing Homework

Traditional reviews and previous meta-analyses of self-concept interventions have underestimated effect sizes by using an implicitly unidimensional perspective that emphasizes global self-concept. In contrast, this research employed a synergistic blend of meta-analysis and multidimensional construct validation to evaluate the impact of self-concept interventions for children in 145 primary studies (200 interventions). Overall, interventions were significantly effective (d = .51, 460 effect sizes). However, in support of the multidimensional perspective, interventions targeting a specific self-concept domain and subsequently measuring that domain were much more effective (d = 1.16), suggesting sole reliance on global self-concept is inappropriate for evaluating interventions designed to enhance a specific component of self-concept. Other moderators (e.g., feedback, experimental design, target population groups) also influenced effect sizes in ways useful to the design of new interventions. Methodologically, this research also demonstrates the use of both fixed and random effects models and incorporation of multiple outcomes from the same study.     

International Approaches to Learning Disabilities: More Alike or More Different?

This special issue deals with the identification and remediation criteria/practices employed in several countries regarding learning disabilities (LD). An analysis of the identification criteria suggests that most countries follow early law mandates of the United States (e.g., PL 94–142) regarding the definition of the disorder and use the classical discrepancy between potential and achievement model for identification purposes (with few exceptions). Several countries reported the absence of standardized assessments and experts who can deal with the disorder, a fact that is more prominent in countries that have to deal with the education of minority/immigrant groups. Multicultural, political, linguistic, and economic factors seemed to influence both the identification practices and also the remediation services (quality and availability). By closely examining the factors deemed important for students with LD, it was obvious that most authors pointed to the importance of socio‐emotional variables. I concluded that these latter factors may be accountable, to a large extent, for the experience of students with LD at school and close attention needs to be paid to them.     

Learning about Spelling Sequences: The Role of Onsets and Rimes in Analogies in Reading

Children's phonological awareness, especially their awareness of rhyme, is known to be importnat for later reading development. However, the exact nature of the connection between phonological skills and reading is not yet known. One possibility is that when children analyze written words in reading, they find it relatively easy to learn about spelling sequences within these words that reflect phonological categorizations such as rhyme. This hypothesis implies that learning to read words is not a purely visual process. For example, spelling sequences that reflect the intrasyllabic linguistic units of onset (initial consonants) and rime (vowel and final consonants), and thus are connected to rhyme, may be easier to learn about than other spelling sequences. In Experiment 1, children learned more about shared consonant blends at the beginnings of words ( tr im- tr ap), which constituted the onset, than at the ends of words (wi nk -ta nk ), which broke up the rime. In contrast, Experiment 2 showed that when words shared a vowel as well as a consonant blend, more was learned about spelling sequences at the ends of words (w ink -p ink ), which now reflected the rime, than at the beginnings of words ( tr im- tr ip), where the vowel extended the onset. So intrasyllabic phonological knowledge does seem to play a role in learning about spelling sequences in reading.     

An Atlas Has More Than One Map: A Reply to Our Commentators

Current trends in research on motivation in the classroom are based on theories that focus on the individual's intrapsychological traits or his or her cognitive and/or affective functioning. In contrast to this individualistic perspective, social constructivist theory provides a framework for conceptualizing motivation as socially negotiated by the participants in the classroom. In such a conceptualization, motivation is inseparable from the instructional process and the classroom environment. The culturally determined joint activity between student and social context results in an internal state of interest and cognitive and affective engagement, and motivated behaviors, both of which can be considered cultural norms. Implications of this perspective for understanding motivation, classroom instruction, and research are discussed.     

Students' Experiences in Sport-Based Physical Education: More Than] Apologies are Necessary

Those of us who have been participants in sport for much of our lives often find it a time-consuming and irrelevant task to defend the joys and rewards of physical activity to the uninformed or the uninitiated. Some physical education teachers are amazed at the energy they must spend motivating students to dress and participate in physical activity at the lowest intensity levels (Ennis, 1995). Even physiologists are modifying the “criteria” for health-enhancing exercise to make it more palatable for the majority of Americans who enjoy a sedentary lifestyle and are unconcerned with target heart rate zones. While many Americans watch sport, far fewer participate in sport as aphysical activity. Corlett, in his efforts to focus on the benefits of sport, glazes over the problems insidious in some sporting contexts. I will focus on problems plaguing sport-based, public school physical education that lead to discriminatory and abusive practices. I am most concerned with the policies used to perpetuate discriminatory sporting practices in schools, and believe disenfranchised individuals deserve an apology.     

学重于教:两种教学法的比较研究

本文试图介绍并比较当今流行的两种创新教学法，即默示教学法(the silent way)和暗示教学法(suggestopedia)在理论基础和设计上的不同。本文的目的不在于比较二者的优劣，而在于揭示他们研究的深度及尚未解决的问题。     

Strategic Keyboard Training and Spelling Improvement among Children with Learning Disabilities and Mental Retardation

The aim of the study was to investigate the effectiveness of a strategic keyboard training program for improving the spelling performance of children with mild disabilities. The sample consisted of 36 mildly disabled students divided into two groups: 18 learning disabled students, and 18 educable mentally retarded students. The teachers used strategic procedures emphasising awareness of word structure and spelling strategies, combined with keyboard training, for a duration of three months (45‐minute sessions, twice weekly). The results demonstrated a significant decrease in spelling errors, as assessed through computer typing and handwriting. However, the comparisons between the group achievements of the learning disabled and mentally retarded children did not reveal significant differences in the development of the spelling performance. Analysis of the results, and of the four case‐studies, pin‐pointed attention onto the initial individual differences in the spelling performance, and onto the students’ individual learning style during training, emphasising the need for an individualised approach in remedial computerised spelling procedures.     

重视教风学风作风建设培育有特色高素质人才

教风、学风和作风建设是高等学校建设的重要内容,良好的教风、学风和工作作风是在大学的长期发展中积淀而成的,是反映学校办学水平,体现学校品味及格调的重要标志。重视和加强教风、学风和工作作风建设,是提高教学质量,培育优秀人才的重要保证。