The effects of phonological transparency on reading derived words

The purpose of this study was to determine whether poor readers have more pronounced problems than average-reading peers reading derived words the base forms of which undergo a phonological shift when a suffix is added (i.e., shift relations as in “natural”), as compared to derived words whose forms are phonologically and orthographically transparent (i.e., stable relations, as in “cultural”). Two computer-based word recognition tasks (Naming and Lexical Decision) were administered to children with reading disability (RD), peers with average reading ability, and adults. Across tasks, there was an effect for transparency (i.e., better performance on stable than shift words) for both child groups and the adults. For the children, a significant interaction was found between group and word type. Specifically, on the naming task, there was an advantage for the stable words, and this was most noteworthy for the children with RD. On the lexical decision task, trade-offs of speed and accuracy were evident for the child reader groups. Performances on the nonwords showed the poor readers to be comparable to the average readers in distinguishing legal and illegal nonwords; further analyses suggested that poor readers carried out deeper processing of derived words than their average reading peers. Additional study is needed to explore the relation of orthographic and phonological processing on poor readers’ memory for and processing of derived words.     

Identifying children with specific reading disabilities from listening and reading discrepancy scores

A method of identifying children with specific reading disabilities by identifying discrepancies between their reading and listening comprehension scores was validated with disabled and nondisabled readers in Grades 4, 5, and 6. The method is based on a modification of the reading comprehension subtest of the Peabody Individual Achievement Test (Dunn & Markwardt, 1970). In this modification, even-numbered sentences are read by subjects, and odd-numbered sentences are read by the test administrator as subjects listen. The features of this test that reduce demands on working memory, thereby making it suitable for the detection of a discrepancy between reading and listening comprehension in readers with disabilities, are discussed. A significant group-by-modality interaction was obtained. Children with reading disabilities scored significantly lower on reading than on listening comprehension, while nondisabled readers scored slightly higher, but not significantly so, on reading than on listening comprehension. The appropriateness of this method as a substitute for the traditional method, which is based on the detection of a discrepancy between intelligence and reading and which has recently been proscribed in certain school districts, is discussed. Issues concerning the listening comprehension skills of disabled readers are also discussed.     

Productive knowledge of derivational rules in poor readers

The present report with two complementary experiments examined the productive knowledge of derivational morphology in 75 grade 4, 5, and 6 “poor” readers further divided into those performing better, or worse, inboth reading and spelling ((R + S +) or R − S −)), or better in the one or the other (mixed) subgroups. Experiment 1 required individual subjects to vocalize rapidly the derived forms of words when primed with 40 target base words in four derivational conditions or levels embedded in sentence frames shown on the computer screen. Experiment 2 required the reverse process of vocalizing the base forms of words when primed with 40, complex derived forms in the same four morphology conditions embedded in sentence frames shown on the computer screen. Results of the analysis of the reaction times show a developmental trend and that the subgroups of poor readers used different mechanisms in producing derived or base forms of words according to the complexity of the orthographic and/or phonological changes needed in the derivational process. The important role of morphemic structure and origin of words in instruction is emphasized.     

Knowledge of derivational suffixes in students with language learning disabilities

Knowledge of derivational suffix meanings was investigated in 10- to 12-year-old students with language learning disabilities and individually matched chronological- and language-age peers. Students produced derived forms from nonce bases in an elicitation task and selected derived forms in a forced choice task. For instance, students produced a word to label the baby of an invented animal called a TEM (TEMlet, TEMette, TEMkin, etc.) and chose an appropriate label from four options (TEMlet, TEMkin, TEMship, TEMhood). Twenty-eight suffixes (e.g., less, y, ize) conveying seven derivational meanings (e.g., “without X,” “approximately X,” “to make X”) were studied. All groups showed higher accuracy on the forced choice task than on the elicitation task. However, elicitation task accuracy of students with language learning disabilities fell substantially below that of typically achieving students. Suffixes for “agent X,” “character of X,” and “to make X” were produced in the elicitation task with higher accuracy than suffixes for “approximately X,” “diminutive X,” and “state of X.” In both tasks, suffix use was associated with productivity (i.e., regularity of suffix attachment). All groups chose highly productive suffixes (e.g., TEMlet) over less productive suffixes (e.g., TEMkin) to convey each meaning.     

Lexical decision and oral reading by poor and normal readers

The primary goal of this study was to compare a paper-and-pencil version of the lexical decision task, which can be administered groupwise, with reading aloud a differently ordered list of the same words and pseudowords. Participants were first and second graders (“normal readers”) and students from schools for children with learning difficulties. On the average, the latter “poor readers” scored at the same oral reading level as the normal readers, but were older. The correlation between both tasks appeared to be high and both tasks had comparable correlations with third variables, suggesting that performance is determined by the same processes. Because the lexical decision task showed little evidence for guessing, it may be an — even better — alternative for oral reading. No differences between participant groups were found that point to different reading strategies. Error analysis, however, indicates that the poor readers probably have a specific problem in the oral reading of pseudowords.     

Implicit Knowledge of Word Stress and Derivational Morphology Guides Skilled Readers’ Decoding of Multisyllabic Words

In oral language, morphologically conditioned regularities around stress assignment can be found in two classes of derivational suffixes, one that causes lexical stress to shift to the syllable immediately preceding the suffix (ACtive – acTIVity) and one that has no effect on stress (SILLy – SILLiness). In this study, adults listening to spoken “derived” nonwords judged as preferable those wherein the stress placement was consistent with morphological regularities of English. When reading nonwords and a set of nonwords derived from them, readers reliably assigned stress to the syllable predicted by the morphology. This effect was significantly associated with scores on standardized measures of word reading after controlling for nonword reading ability, showing that the relationship was not merely an artifact of decoding skill. These findings support the importance of the interface between morphology and suprasegmental phonology as a key factor in the way English-speaking readers approach multisyllabic, morphologically complex words.     

Reading,metacognition and motivation: A follow-up study of German students in Grades 7 and 8

This follow-up study to van Kraayenoord and Schneider (1999) examined the performance in reading, metacognition and motivation related to reading of students in Grades 7 and 8. Results showed significant correlations between all of the variables. A multivariate analysis of variance showed that “good” and “poor” readers differed in reading self-concept and metacognitive measures related to reading and memory. A stepwise regression analysis suggested that the metacognitive variables were the best predictors of reading. Furthermore, a comparison of the results of the previous study with those of the current investigation revealed that the findings were stable over time. Since the period between the two studies is the time during which students make important decisions related to enrolment in one of three distinct school-types in Germany, we examined the results of various groups of students: those in “Gymnasium” (high educational track), “Realschule” (middle educational track), and “Hauptschule” (low educational track). Students in the Gymnasium scored significantly better than students in the other two groups on almost all variables related to reading. A re-analysis of the data from our first investigation found that the results of the Gymnasium students in the second study could be predicted from their results obtained during elementary school.     

Accuracy and Fluency in List and Context Reading of Skilled and RD Groups: Absolute and Relative Performance Levels

The purpose of this study was to examine (1) the performance levels and the magnitude of performance difference between students with reading disabilities (RD) and skilled readers when reading a typical classroom text; (2) the hypothesis that students with RD have specific difficulty using context in such a way that reading fluency is affected; and (3) whether RD subtypes may be differentiated according to performance on contextual and context‐free reading tasks. Two groups of fourth graders (85 skilled readers and 24 students with RD) completed a standardized test of reading comprehension, read aloud a folktale, and read aloud the folktale's words in a randomly sequenced list. Performance was scored as correct rate and percentage correct. Based on the number of words per idea unit in the passage, we also estimated the rate at which reader groups encountered and processed text ideas. Compared to the RD group, skilled readers read three times more correct words per minute in context, and showed higher accuracy and rates on all measures. Both context and isolated word‐reading rates were highly sensitive to impairment. We found no evidence for RD subtypes based on these measures. Results illustrate differences in reading levels between the two groups, the temporal advantage skilled readers have in linking text ideas, how word reading differs as a function of task format and performance dimension, and how limited word‐identification skills (not comprehension) produce contextual reading difficulties for students with RD.     

The use of morphological knowledge in spelling derived forms by learning-disabled and normal students

Currently popular systems for classification of spelling words or errors emphasize the learning of phoneme-grapheme correspondences and memorization of irregular words, but do not take into account the morphophonemic nature of the English language. This study is based on the premise that knowledge of the morphological rules of derivational morphology is acquired developmentally and is related to the spelling abilities of both normal and learning-disabled (LD) students. It addresses three issues: 1) how the learning of derivational morphology and the spelling of derived words by LD students compares to that of normal students; 2) whether LD students learn derived forms rulefully; and 3) the extent to which LD and normal students use knowledge of relationships between base and derived forms to spell derived words (e.g. “magic” and “magician”). The results showed that LD ninth graders’ knowledge of derivational morphology was equivalent to that of normal sixth graders, following similar patterns of mastery of orthographic and phonological rules, but that their spelling of derived forms was equivalent to that of the fourth graders. Thus, they know more about derivational morphology than they use in spelling. In addition, they were significantly more apt to spell derived words as whole words, without regard for morphemic structure, than even the fourth graders. Nonetheless, most of the LD spelling errors were phonetically acceptable, suggesting that their misspellings cannot be attributed primarily to poor knowledge of phoneme-grapheme correspondences. I am indebted to Laurel Fais and students in the Language Training program at the Forman School in Litchfield, Connecticut, for their participation in this study. The first phase of this research project was sponsored by NICHD grant HD-01994 to Haskins Laboratories and by a Dissertation Fellowship from the University of Connecticut. The final stages of work on this project were completed while I was at American International College.     

Specific deficits in component reading and language skills: genetic and environmental influences

Phonological coding, measured by the oral reading of nonwords, and orthographic coding, measured by the discrimination of words from homophonic nonwords (e.g., rane, rain), were compared for pairs of older children with reading disabilities (RD) and younger nondisabled readers matched on word recognition. Phonological coding was substantially lower for most children with RD, indicating a unique developmental deficit in phonological coding rather than an equal developmental lag across all component reading skills. Data from identical and fraternal twins indicated that the phonological coding deficit of the children with RD was highly heritable and accounted for most of the heritable variance in their word recognition deficits. The deficits of the twins with RD in segmental language skills (rhyming and phoneme segmentation) were related to the heritable variance in their phonological coding deficits. Orthographic coding was not significantly heritable, and it accounted for much of the environmental variance in word recognition deficits. Implications of the results for the remediation of reading disability are discussed.     

The relation between reading ability and morphological skills: Evidence from derivational suffixes

The English orthography represents both phonemes and morphemes, implying that sensitivity to each of these units could play a role in the acquisition of decoding skills. This study offers some new evidence about sensitivity to morphemes and the decoding skills of American children in grades three to six. It focuses on knowledge of derivational suffixes, which is examined with sentence completion and sentence acceptability tasks that manipulate the suffixes in real words (e.g., electric, electricity) and nonsense derived forms (e.g., froodly, froodness). Both written and spoken materials are considered over the course of two experiments in which the children also received various reading tests, as well as tests of phonological awareness, vocabulary and intelligence. The results indicate that knowledge of derivational suffixes increases with grade level, along with decoding ability and phoneme awareness. Path analyses further reveal that, although there is a consistent correlation between performance on the derivational suffix materials and phoneme awareness and decoding ability, performance on the derivational suffix materials makes an independent and increasing contribution to decoding ability throughout the higher elementary grades.     

Morphological Decomposition in the Recognition of Prefixed and Suffixed Words: Evidence From Korean

Korean has visually salient syllable units that are often mapped onto either prefixes or suffixes in derived words. In addition, prefixed and suffixed words may be processed differently given a left-to-right parsing procedure and the need to resolve morphemic ambiguity in prefixes in Korean. To test this hypothesis, four experiments using the masked priming lexical decision paradigm were conducted. Results showed that suffixed primes facilitated responses to their stem targets regardless of the lexicality or interpretability of the primes. In contrast, prefixed primes had a significant effect only when they were real words, and not when they were either interpretable or noninterpretable prefixed pseudowords. These results suggest that there may be two different processing mechanisms for derived words in Korean. One is prelexical morphological decomposition for suffixed words, and the other is the supralexical analysis for prefixed words where decomposition occurs only after the whole word has been accessed.     

Learning novel words by ear or by eye? An advantage for lexical inferencing in listening versus reading narratives in fourth grade

This study examined the ability to infer the meaning of novel made-up words that appeared in 16 short narrative texts, presented in two modalities—reading and listening. Hebrew-speaking 4th grade students (N = 54) were asked to infer the meanings of the made-up words in both modality conditions. In this cross-group design, students were randomly assigned to one of two order conditions: reading first or listening first. Regardless of condition, participants were better able to infer the meaning of the made-up words in the listening condition than in the reading condition. Individual differences in word reading, vocabulary, and reading comprehension mediated novel word learning but working memory did not. Results are discussed in relation to the challenges faced by 4th grade Hebrew readers in the transition from reading a fully pointed (vowelized) shallow orthography to an unpointed, deep orthography. The ability of 4th grade readers to infer novel words appears to be enhanced when listening to animated narration, and is mediated by extant vocabulary knowledge and higher-order comprehension processes, but also by basic decoding skills.     

Orthographic processing abilities of adolescents with dyslexia

This study investigated the orthographic processing abilities of reading disabled adolescents (RD), normal readers matched on chronological age (CA), and younger normal readers matched on reading age (RA). The mean age for the three groups were 14 years 2 months, 13 years 8 months, and 10 years respectively. Four experimental measures were adapted from prior research. These include homophone choice accuracy (after Stanovich, West, and Cunningham 1991), orthographic choice accuracy and speed (after Olson et al. 1989), and rapid serial naming of letters (after Denckla and Rudel 1976). In addition, a new test of orthographic processing is introduced (from Hultquist 1996) which assesses the speed and accuracy of reading high frequency words when presented within strings of consonants (embedded) and when presented alone (nonembedded). The RD group displayed greater difficulty than the CA-matched normal readers on five of the six measures, and performed worse than the RA-matched younger readers on four of the six tasks. Error analyses revealed that the RD group had specific difficulty processing consonant blends when reading embedded words.     

Is there a thing called dyslexia?

A controversy whether developmental dyslexia is qualitatively different from other forms of reading disability has existed among reading specialists for many years because poor readers, regardless of the labels attached to them, resemble each other symptomatically (i.e., in reading achievement). For this reason, it is difficult to establish a priori criteria based on symptoms to identify dyslexia and compare it with other forms of reading disability. One possible solution to this impasse is to see if poor readers differ in the etiology of their reading disability and, if they do, then to see whether one group of poor readers fits the traditional definition of dyslexia. This strategy was adopted in the present study. In this paper, it was hypothesized that the etiology of dyslexia is different from that of other forms of reading disability because there is a difference in the components that malfunction in dyslexia and other forms of reading disability. Studies have shown that the two components that account for a large proportion of variance in reading are decoding and comprehension. Previous studies also indicate that dyslexic children are deficient in decoding skills but not necessarily in comprehension. In this study, reading-disabled children were divided into two groups on the basis of their listening comprehension. Children whose listening comprehension was at or above grade level were placed in one group; poor readers with below-grade-level listening comprehension were placed in the second group. Both groups, however, were matched for reading comprehension. The two groups and a control group of normal readers were administered a number of tasks that were designed to assess the efficiency of the components of reading. It was found that poor readers with normal listening comprehension were deficient in tasks that involved grapheme-phoneme conversion (Component I, decoding). When tested on tasks that minimized decoding requirements, their reading comprehension was comparable to that of normal readers. In contrast, the group with sub-average listening comprehension was poor in measures of reading comprehension, even when decoding requirements were minimal. With the exception of very few children, this group also had adequate decoding skills. Because poor readers with normal listening comprehension had average or above average IQ, they conform to the traditional definition of dyslexia. Poor readers with below average listening comprehension had below average IQ and could be considered as “general reading backward.” It was, therefore, concluded that the etiology of developmental dyslexia is different from that of general reading backwardness. In this paper, the termetiology refers to proximal causal factors such as decoding and comprehension and not to distal causal factors such as genetic and neurological characteristics.     

Evidence for phonological processing deficits in less-skilled readers

Although weaknesses in metaphonological skills are well-documented in poor readers, prior studies have yielded inconsistent findings as to whether less-skilled readers also have deficits in the more primary phonological processes entailed in verbal working memory and speech production tasks. The present study was designed to examine this issue by comparing less-skilled third-graders readers (n=30) with younger children at the same reading level (n=30) and with more-skilled agemates (n=30) on a variety of tasks that require phonological processing (i.e., three “verbal memory” tasks [word span, span with concurrent processing, pseudoword imitation] and three “speech production” tasks [word-pair repetition, tongue twisters, rapid naming]). The results were striking: the less-skilled third-grade readers had significantly lower accuracy scores than both their agemates and the younger normal readers on the word span, pseudoword imitation, word-pair repetition, and tongue twister tasks. Measures of accuracy were more related to reading ability than were measures of speed. Performance on a pseudoword imitation task was the variable most strongly linked to reading achievement.     

The Talking Drawings Strategy: Using Primary Children’s Illustrations and Oral Language to Improve Comprehension of Expository Text

Listening and reading comprehension can be assessed by analyzing children’s visual, verbal, and written representations of their understandings. “Talking Drawings” (McConnell, S. (1993). Talking drawings: A strategy for assisting learners. Journal of Reading, 36(4), 260–269 is one strategy that enables children to combine their prior knowledge with the new information derived from an expository text and “translate” those newly-acquired understandings into other symbol systems, including an oral discussion with a partner, a more detailed drawing, and written labels for the drawing. The Talking Drawings strategy begins by inviting children to create pre-learning drawings. These initial drawings are a way of taking inventory of a child’s current content knowledge about a particular topic. After pre-learning drawings are created and shared, children listen to or read an expository text (e.g., information book, passage from a textbook) on the same topic as their drawing. Pairs of students discuss the information and either modify their pre-learning drawings to be more detailed or create completely new drawings that reflect the recently-acquired information. Students are encouraged to label their drawings with words in a diagram or schematic fashion. By evaluating the “before” and “after” artwork, educators can identify advances in students’ reading and listening comprehension of the terminology, facts, and principles on a particular topic.     

Development of dyslexic subgroups:

There is a consensus that dyslexia is on a continuum with normal reading skill and that dyslexics fall at the low end of the normal range in phonological skills. However, there is still substantial variability in phonological skill among dyslexic children. Recent studies have focused on the high end of the continuum of phonological skills in dyslexics, identifying a “surface” dyslexic, or “delayed” profile in which phonological skills are not out of line with other aspects of word recognition. The present study extended this work to a longitudinal context, and explored differences among subgroups of dyslexics on a battery of component reading skills. Third grade dyslexics (n=72) were classified into two subgroups, phonological dyslexics and delayed dyslexics, based on comparisons to younger normal readers at the same reading level (RL group). The children were tested at two points (in third and fourth grade). The results revealed that the classification of dyslexics produced reliable, stable, and valid groups. About 82 percent of the children remained in the same subgroup category when retested a year later. Phonological dyslexics were lower in phoneme awareness and expressive language. Delayed dyslexics tended to be slower at processing printed letters and words but not at rapid automatic naming of letters, and relied more heavily on phonological recoding in reading for meaning than did phonological dyslexics. A subset of the delayed dyslexics with the traditional “surface dyslexic” pattern (relatively high pseudoword and low exception word reading) was also identified. The surface subgroup resembled the RL group on most measures and was not very stable over one year. The results are discussed in light of current models of dyslexia and recent subgrouping schemes, including the Double-Deficit Hypothesis.     

Assessing comprehension during reading with the Reading Strategy Assessment Tool (RSAT)

Comprehension emerges as the results of inference and strategic processes that support the construction of a coherent mental model for a text. However, the vast majority of comprehension skills tests adopt a format that does not afford an assessment of these processes as they operate during reading. This study assessed the viability of the Reading Strategy Assessment Tool (RSAT), which is an automated computer-based reading assessment designed to measure readers’ comprehension and spontaneous use of reading strategies while reading texts. In the tool, readers comprehend passages one sentence at a time, and are asked either an indirect (“What are your thoughts regarding your understanding of the sentence in the context of the passage?”) or direct (e.g., why X?) question after reading each pre-selected target sentence. The answers to the indirect questions are analyzed on the extent that they contain words associated with comprehension processes. The answers to direct questions are coded for the number of content words in common with an ideal answer, which is intended to be an assessment of emerging comprehension. In the study, the RSAT approach was shown to predict measures of comprehension comparable to standardized tests. The RSAT variables were also shown to correlate with human ratings. The results of this study constitute a “proof of concept” and demonstrate that it is possible to develop a comprehension skills assessment tool that assesses both comprehension and comprehension strategies.     

Eye-movement patterns and reader characteristics of students with good and poor performance when reading scientific text with diagrams

This study investigated the cognitive processes and reader characteristics of sixth graders who had good and poor performance when reading scientific text with diagrams. We first measured the reading ability and reading self-efficacy of sixth-grade participants, and then recorded their eye movements while they were reading an illustrated scientific text and scored their answers to content-related questions. Finally, the participants evaluated the difficulty of the article, the attractiveness of the content and diagram, and their learning performance. The participants were then classified into groups based on how many correct responses they gave to questions related to reading. The results showed that readers with good performance had better character recognition ability and reading self-efficacy, were more attracted to the diagrams, and had higher self-evaluated learning levels than the readers with poor performance did. Eye-movement data indicated that readers with good performance spent significantly more reading time on the whole article, the text section, and the diagram section than the readers with poor performance did. Interestingly, readers with good performance had significantly longer mean fixation duration on the diagrams than readers with poor performance did; further, readers with good performance made more saccades between the text and the diagrams. Additionally, sequential analysis of eye movements showed that readers with good performance preferred to observe the diagram rather than the text after reading the title, but this tendency was not present in readers with poor performance. In sum, using eye-tracking technology and several reading tests and questionnaires, we found that various cognitive aspects (reading strategy, diagram utilization) and affective aspects (reading self-efficacy, article likeness, diagram attraction, and self-evaluation of learning) affected sixth graders’ reading performance in this study.