Orthographic learning in dyslexic Spanish children

Reading fluency is one of the basic processes of learning to read. Children begin to develop fluency when they are able to form orthographic representations of words, which provide direct, smooth, and fast reading. Dyslexic children of transparent orthographic systems are mainly characterized by poor reading fluency (Cuetos & Suárez-Coalla 2009; Spinelli, De Luca, Di Filippo, Mancini, Martelli, & Zoccolotti, 2005; Wimmer, 1993). Therefore, the main problem for these children could be the difficulty in developing orthographic representations of the words they read. The aim of this study was to test the ability of dyslexic Spanish-speaking children (whose native language is Spanish) to develop orthographic representations and determine if the context helps them. For this, two experiments were conducted with a group of 100 children, 7–12 years of age. The groups were comprised of 20 dyslexics, 40 chronological age-matched controls and 40 reading level-matched controls. In the first experiment, eight unfamiliar words (four short and four long) were presented six times within the context of a story. In the second experiment, eight pseudowords were presented on a computer and the children had to read them aloud. In both experiments, the reading and articulation times of experimental and control stimuli were compared, before and after the training. Children without dyslexia showed a decrease of the influence of length of word on reading speed, indicating a lexical reading, while for dyslexic children, the influence of length remained unchanged. These results appeared when the stimuli were presented in the context of a story as well as when presented in isolation. In short, our results describe that dyslexic children of transparent orthographic systems have problems in developing orthographic representations of words.     

Rorschach responses of dyslexic children

Fifteen dyslexic children between the ages of 8 and 16 were given the Rorschach ink blot test and their responses were compared with those of 12 suitably matched controls. It was found that they made very considerable use of the shape of the cards, but much less use of the other determinants (color, texture, etc.). Unlike the controls they seldom turned the cards around so as to obtain some fresh “view,” and the overall number of responses per person was considerably less, with many of them giving only one response per card. It is suggested that the educational and social pressures on a dyslexic child often make him reluctant to commit himself in a context where “playing safe” is socially acceptable.     

Early syntactic development of dyslexic children

The syntactic development of preschoolers who later became disabled readers was compared to that of children who were similar to the dyslexics in sex, socioeconomic status, and IQ, but who became normal readers. Expressive and receptive syntactic abilities were examined longitudinally from age 30 to 60 months. The dyslexic group was poorer than the control group on all measures until the age of five, at which time both groups exhibited similar syntactic proficiency. The etiological relation of language development to reading disabilities is discussed. This research was supported by grants from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation.     

Implicit sequence learning is preserved in dyslexic children

This study investigates the implicit sequence learning abilities of dyslexic children using an artificial grammar learning task with an extended exposure period. Twenty children with developmental dyslexia participated in the study and were matched with two control groups—one matched for age and other for reading skills. During 3 days, all participants performed an acquisition task, where they were exposed to colored geometrical forms sequences with an underlying grammatical structure. On the last day, after the acquisition task, participants were tested in a grammaticality classification task. Implicit sequence learning was present in dyslexic children, as well as in both control groups, and no differences between groups were observed. These results suggest that implicit learning deficits per se cannot explain the characteristic reading difficulties of the dyslexics.     

Cerebral laterality in dyslexic children: Implications for phonological word decoding deficits

The study evaluated a substantially updated version of Orton's (1937) classical idea of a significant relatonship in dyslexic children between cerebral lateralization and their word decoding deficits. Attentional lateralization was examined under the assumption that covert spatial attention when directed contralaterally interacts with ageinvariant cerebral asymmetries for receptive speech. Thirty dysphonetic dyslexic children were compared to 30 younger normal readers who were matched to the dyslexics in reading comprehension. The children were tested in left ear (LE) and right ear (RE) directed attention dichotic listening (DAD), and in pseudoword decoding, word recognition, reading comprehension, spelling, arithmetic, and in general intelligence (IQ). Group comparisons in DAD failed to show any differences, confirming the mounting evidence that dyslexia is not related to incomplete lateralization. Entering the DAD scores of the dyslexics (LE first, LE second, RE first, RE second) as predictors of achievement revealed that, independently of chronological age (CA) and IQ, their ability to recall items from the LE first produced a negative regression which predicted 42 percent of the variance in pseudoword decoding. Selective report from the LE also produced small but significant negative correlations with visual recognition of real words and spelling; but no relationship to reading comprehension. IQ was related to reading comprehension and to the ability to shift attention from the LE to the RE. Eventhough the dyslexics were lateralized normally, weak lateralization was related specifically to phonological word decoding, a core deficit in dyslexia. However, unlike Orton's concept, these findings suggest that dyslexics suffer from exuberant right hemisphere processing in response to spatial attentional demands that, in turn, interferes transcallosally with the development of the sound-symbol representations that are required for fluent reading. Lateralization, per se, is unaffected by the disorder.     

Dissociation between comprehension and pronunciation in dyslexic and hyperlexic children

Findings from an analysis of the reading performances of three reading-disabled children provide a tentative answer to the controversial issue whether reading-disabled children have a language comprehension deficit or not. Of the three reading-disabled children studied, two were poor in language comprehension but had much better word-reading skill. The third disabled reader had superior listening comprehension but was poor in word-reading skill. The two good word-readers appear to use two different strategies, viz., grapheme—sound association and whole word-pronunciation asssociation to pronounce the written word. It is concluded that pronunciation and comprehension skills are two dissociable components of the reading process and that they follow separate courses of development. Case studies presented in this paper suggest that these two components can be affected independent of each other resulting in different types of reading disabilities. It is concluded that answer to the question whether poor readers are also deficient in language comprehension depends on the type of disabled readers investigated even though educational experience and severity of the reading problem can act as confounding factors.

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计划生育教育:大学生教育的新课题

实行计划生育是我国的一项基本国策,随着我国高校对大学生婚禁令的解除,对大学生开展计划生育教育已是大学生教育的一项新课题.大学生计划生育教育的内容作为一个知识体系,应包括生命与健康教育、生殖健康教育、国家计划生育政策教育、婚恋道德教育、性道德教育、女生教育.通过设置课程、加强师资培训、成立专门的服务学生的计划生育机构等,是解决大学生计划生育教育问题的主要途径.     

加州高等教育总体规划与美国高等教育治理

《加州高等教育总体规划》比较好地处理了各类高校功能的划分、政府和高校的关系,以及满足平等和追求卓越的关系。其出台背景与我国高等教育当前面临的问题和挑战有许多相似之处,可资借学。     

Changes in general education

In recent years the tendency in schools of general education has been towards a broadening of academic education (defined by Soviet educationists as the study of systematic courses in basic scientific principles) by lowering the age at which pupils complete their elementary education and transferring specialized (or vocational) subjects from the general education school to the systems of specialized educational establishments. This trend has led to an increase in the duration of compulsory general education to 8–10 years, to a closer similarity of education in junior and senior secondary schools, and to a fuller reflection in education of the latest developments in science, technology and culture. Director of the Academy's Institute of General and Polytechnic Education and President of the Pedagogical Society of the R.S.F.S.R.     

A new opportunity for general education

Renewed interest in general education has provided colleges and universities with an opportunity to reassess the goals of undergraduate liberal education. Before rushing ahead educators must carefully decide what is to be taught, how it will be taught, and to whom it will be taught. Distribution requirements assure no unity. A team teaching structure with an interdisciplinary orientation synergistically transforms the curriculum and which also considers the needs of different student populations is proposed in this article. This plan is administratively and financially expedient and urges that colleges be willng, at least at the freshman level, to delay specialization and preprofessional training.