The adolescent dyslexic: Strategies for spelling

The adolescent dyslexic student’s problems with spelling are very different from those of a young dyslexic child, as he already has considerable knowledge of the English spelling system. But this knowledge is very often random and confused, so he needs to acquire a logical structure which will enable him to generate spelling for himself and to communicate effectively in writing. It will be suggested that accuracy is not always attainable, but the student can be taught to recognize and use the main components of the spelling system and can learn to employ all available resources. The general aim is to provide the dyslexic adolescent with the tools he needs to cope with his spelling requirements, both in school and outside; to make informed deductions; to think for himself. In short, to spell independently and logically.     

Story comprehension and recall in dyslexic students

This article is an extension of work reported earlier in this journal (Weaver 1978). In that paper, we echoed the commonly suggested need for examining reading difficulties in relation to higher-order language processes and offered a schema-theoretical framework for guiding such an examination. In this article we report the findings and implications of an empirical investigation into the characteristics of story recall abilities in students with dyslexia or severe reading disabilities.     

Spelling improvement for college students who are dyslexic

Academic problems of the dyslexic child often persist in adult life. Such problems as spelling can interfere with the performance of such adult learners in college. Federal legislation requires reasonable accommodation for these students. At some colleges, this consists of allowing use of tape recorders in lectures and sometimes allowing extra time on examinations. Remediation of reading, writing, and spelling among dyslexic college students is often not addressed. This study reports the use of a modified Orton-Gillingham approach in comparison with a nonphonetic approach and with a group receiving no remediation. The results indicate a significant increase in spelling performance for the group receiving the modified Orton-Gillingham remediation. This contrasts with no significant change in the group receiving nonphonetic remediation and in the control group (no remediation), and indicates that adulthood is not too late for appropriate intervention for the dyslexic student. Colleges offering such intervention and the students receiving it will benefit from improved performance.     

The relationship between the phonological strategies employed In reading and spelling

This paper summarises a longitudinal study which examined the relationship between the abilities of young children to read and spell phonologically. Empirical evidence of Bryant and Bradley (1980) and Cataldo and Ellis (1988) to show that children acquire the ability to use a phonological strategy for spelling before the ability to use an equivalent strategy for reading is confirmed. Implications for the teaching of reading are discussed.     

A synthesis of spelling and reading interventions and their effects on the spelling outcomes of students with LD

Previous research studies examining the effects of spelling and reading interventions on the spelling outcomes of students with learning disabilities (LD) are synthesized. An extensive search of the professional literature between 1995 and 2003 yielded a total of 19 intervention studies that provided spelling and reading interventions to students with LD and measured spelling outcomes. Findings revealed that spelling outcomes were consistently improved following spelling interventions that included explicit instruction with multiple practice opportunities and immediate corrective feedback after the word was misspelled. Furthermore, evidence from spelling interventions that employed assistive technology aimed at spelling in written compositions indicated positive effects on spelling outcomes.     

Patterns of spelling in young deaf and hard of hearing students

The study examined the invented spelling abilities demonstrated by kindergarten and first-grade deaf and hard of hearing students. The study included two parts: In Part 1, the researcher compared three groups (deaf, hard of hearing, and hearing) using posttesting only on the Early Reading Screening Inventory, or ERSI (Morris, 1998), and in part 2 collected and analyzed samples of the spelling of deaf students in a Total Communication program. Analysis showed that the deaf group performed significantly differently in three areas: concept of word, word recognition, and phoneme awareness (invented spelling; Read, 1971). The deaf group outperformed the hearing and hard of hearing groups in concept of word and word recognition. But in phoneme awareness, the deaf group performed significantly less well than the hearing group. Therefore, the deaf group's spelling was followed for 1 year. Deaf students' spelling patterns were not the same as those of hearing and hard of hearing students. Deaf students' spelling miscues were directly related to the cueing systems of lipreading, signing, and fingerspelling.     

Fourth grade follow-up of reading and spelling skills of French immersion students

Twenty-one French immersion and traditional English program students, originally assessed in first grade, were retested on single-word reading and spelling in fourth grade. The immersion students, who had shown equivalence with the control students on most written language measures in first grade, maintained their equivalence in fourth grade. Furthermore, they demonstrated slight superiority over the English program students in reading non-words. Their first-grade advantage in linguistic analysis ability may have helped their written English skills to develop comparably to those of the control subjects despite much less exposure to, and instruction in, written English. It is suggested that although no other advantage was seen at this time from their early heightened linguistic analysis ability, the French immersion subjects may surpass the English program students once they can join their linguistic analysis skill to greater expereince with written English.This research was funded by Grant A2008 from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. We would like to thank Dr. Barry Vail and the principals, staffs, and students of the Durham Board of Education, Ontario, for their generous cooperation in this study.     

论大学生文化素质教育的实施策略

高校要通过加强大学生文化素质教育,提升大学生全面素质和社会适应力,使之成为适应社会发展的有用人才,已经成为高校人才培养的基本共识。就文化素质教育的理论探讨和实践历程进行相应的思考是十分重要的现实课题。基于此,本文在分析文化素质教育内涵及其在高校实施历程的分析基础上,对其具体实施进行了分析。     

高职院校生源分析及招生对策研究

伴随高等教育大众化阶段的到来,高校招生规模不断扩大与高考考生数量持续减少的矛盾日益突出,高校生源竞争日趋激烈。通过分析石家庄职业技术学院近年来生源情况及所处的环境因素,提出保证生源质量的对策：加大招生宣传力度,加强学院内涵建设,探索多种办学形式,争取多种录取形式。     

Handwriting in signing deaf middle-school students and relationship with text composition and spelling

We set out to (i) assess the handwriting skills of signing deaf students, and (ii) examine the extent to which their text composition and spelling performances are linked to their handwriting efficiency. We asked 15 prelingually and profoundly deaf middle-school students (M = 15.18 years), all sign-language users, and a group of hearing students matched on chronological age (M = 15.32 years) to write the letters of the alphabet and their firstname and surname from memory as a handwriting assessment, and to compose a text describing their bedroom. Results showed that even though the deaf students formed legible letters in both handwriting tasks, they spent more time producing the alphabet letters, and composed shorter texts that were less fluent and contained more phonologically inaccurate spelling errors. Analysis of correlations between handwriting and text production (including spelling) measures revealed strong and significant relationships for the deaf students. This study showed that handwriting difficulties, in terms of executing the letters of their firstname and surname, as well as retrieving the letters of the alphabet from memory, persist in 15-year-old signing deaf students, and represent a constraint during text production, impairing spelling as well as text content richness and word fluency.     

Foreign language reading and spelling in gifted students with dyslexia in secondary education

A few studies suggest that gifted children with dyslexia have better literacy skills than averagely intelligent children with dyslexia. This finding aligns with the hypothesis that giftedness-related factors provide compensation for poor reading. The present study investigated whether, as in the native language (NL), the level of foreign language (FL) literacy of gifted students with dyslexia is higher than the literacy level of averagely intelligent students with dyslexia and whether this difference can be accounted for by the difference in their NL literacy level. The sample consisted of 148 Dutch native speaking secondary school students divided in four groups: dyslexia, gifted/dyslexia, typically developing (TD), and gifted. All students were assessed on word reading and orthographic knowledge in Dutch and English when they were in 7th or 8th grade. A subsample (n = 71) was (re)assessed on Dutch, English, French, and German literacy one year later. Results showed that Dutch gifted students with dyslexia have higher NL literacy levels than averagely intelligent students with dyslexia. As in the NL, a stepwise pattern of group differences was found for English word reading and spelling, i.e., dyslexia < gifted/dyslexia < TD < gifted. However, it was not found for French and German literacy performance. These results point towards compensation: the higher English literacy levels of gifted/dyslexic students compared to their averagely intelligent dyslexic peers result from mechanisms that are unique to English as a FL. Differences in results between FLs are discussed in terms of variation in orthographic transparency and exposure.     

The effects of the copy, cover, compare approach in increasing spelling accuracy with learning disabled students

This study compared the traditional spelling approach of presenting a list of spelling words at the beginning of the week and a final test at the end of the week with a daily copy, cover, and compare spelling approach. Weekly spelling performance of nine special education students was measured in a ABAB single-subject design. Results indicated improved spelling performance during the copy, cover, and compare spelling phase of the experiment. This finding was replicated across all nine students. Questionnaires given to students at the end of the study revealed that all students preferred the copy, cover, and compare spelling method over the more traditional approach to spelling.     

The mathematical abilities of dyslexic 10-year-olds

Seventy-two items testing various aspects of mathematics were given to 12,131 ten-year-old children. Criteria for specific developmental dyslexia (SDD) and for other groupings are specified. Despite the absence of differences in intelligence level, the mean score on the mathematics test for the dyslexics was not only lower than that of the normal achievers but lower also than that of underachievers believed not to be dyslexic. On some of the 72 items, there was little difference in percentage pass rate between the groups; on others, however, there were wide differences. On the basis of ratings carried out “blind” by a panel of experienced teachers of dyslexic children, and in the light of other considerations, some tentative suggestions are put forward as to what it is about certain mathematical items that makes them relatively hard or easy for children with dyslexia.