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.     

Continuities between speech and spelling in a case of developmental dyslexia

This paper explores the relationship between speech and spelling in a single-case study of developmental dyslexia. JM, a developmental dyslexic with a well-documented history of speech, reading and spelling difficulties, was examined when he was 13–14 years old. He still had subtle articulation difficulties causing some disfluency and his use of phonetic voicing was atypical. We argue that these difficulties were recapitulated in his spelling where he was more sensitive to the prosodic aspects of words than normal spellers, exhibiting a strong tendency to spell accurately words which are stressed on the first, rather than the second syllable. He also had more difficulty with phonetic voicing and spelling errors reflected this uncertainty. Thus, when word-specific (orthographic) spelling information is unavailable, JM, like all spellers, must make use of phonological spelling strategies. In his case, these are compromised because of underlying phonological speech problems. It is argued that, while young children make use of a phonological frame on which to organize orthographic information, dyslexics, like JM, who have inadequate phonological representations, are unable to do so. This has a detrimental effect on their acquisition of spelling.     

Derivational morphology and spelling in dyslexia

This exploratory study aimed to evaluate the spelling of derived words by dyslexic adolescents and to verify whether this is associated with lack of vocabulary and/or morphological knowledge. A cross-sectional reading level-design was employed in order to determine differences in spelling, derivational morphology and vocabulary tasks between dyslexic students aged 13+ and age-matched and reading level matched control groups. The study confirmed a profound spelling impairment of dyslexic students in comparison with two control groups but this was not associated with poor vocabulary in relation with their age-peers. In contrast, they exhibited lower levels of morphological knowledge than age-matched controls but equivalent with the reading level controls. These results are interpreted in the light of current developmental models of spelling that support a reciprocal interaction between spelling and metamorphology.     

Word reading and word spelling in French adult literacy students: the relationship with oral language skills

We analysed word reading and spelling in French adults with low levels of literacy (A‐IL). As well as examining phonological and lexical processes, we explored the relationship between literacy and oral language skills. Fifty‐two adult literacy students were compared with reading level‐matched pupils in Years 1–3 of primary school on reading tasks (pseudoword reading, word reading, text comprehension), spelling tasks (pseudoword spelling, text dictation) and oral language tasks. A‐IL scored the same as children on word reading and spelling but less well on pseudoword reading and spelling. They also produced fewer phonologically acceptable errors in the dictation. Regarding oral language skills, as a group A‐IL encountered greater difficulty in phonology than in morphosyntax and semantics, and correlations revealed strong relationships between literacy levels and oral skills, particularly in the domain of phonology. Within their group, however, A‐IL displayed several distinct language profiles. These could reflect different risk factors leading to functional illiteracy and are discussed regarding the cognitive and environmental causes of impaired reading acquisition.     

Reading and spelling gains following one year of Orton‐Gillingham intervention in Singaporean students with dyslexia

Despite the widespread use of Orton‐Gillingham (OG) based approaches to dyslexia remediation, empirical support documenting its effectiveness is lacking. Recently, Chia and Houghton demonstrated the effectiveness of the OG approach for remediation of dyslexia in Singapore. As a conceptual replication and extension of that research, we report results of 39 students with dyslexia aged between six and 14 years enrolled in an OG intervention programme over a period of one year in a single‐subject research (pre‐test/post‐test) design. Analyses of variance showed that students significantly improved in standardised tests of reading and spelling with moderate effect sizes (Cohen's d = 0.52–0.58). Additionally, an inverse relationship was found between students' ages when they began intervention and gains made during the intervention. Results thus indicate the effectiveness of an OG approach in remediating literacy difficulties in students with dyslexia and, taken together with previous studies, further suggest the importance of early identification and intervention.     

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.     

Computer-based learning of spelling skills in children with and without dyslexia

Our spelling training software recodes words into multisensory representations comprising visual and auditory codes. These codes represent information about letters and syllables of a word. An enhanced version, developed for this study, contains an additional phonological code and an improved word selection controller relying on a phoneme-based student model. We investigated the spelling behavior of children by means of learning curves based on log-file data of the previous and the enhanced software version. First, we compared the learning progress of children with dyslexia working either with the previous software (n = 28) or the adapted version (n = 37). Second, we investigated the spelling behavior of children with dyslexia (n = 37) and matched children without dyslexia (n = 25). To gain deeper insight into which factors are relevant for acquiring spelling skills, we analyzed the influence of cognitive abilities, such as attention functions and verbal memory skills, on the learning behavior. All investigations of the learning process are based on learning curve analyses of the collected log-file data. The results evidenced that those children with dyslexia benefit significantly from the additional phonological cue and the corresponding phoneme-based student model. Actually, children with dyslexia improve their spelling skills to the same extent as children without dyslexia and were able to memorize phoneme to grapheme correspondence when given the correct support and adequate training. In addition, children with low attention functions benefit from the structured learning environment. Generally, our data showed that memory sources are supportive cognitive functions for acquiring spelling skills and for using the information cues of a multi-modal learning environment.     

Spelling deficits in dyslexia: evaluation of an orthographic spelling training

Orthographic spelling is a major difficulty in German-speaking children with dyslexia. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an orthographic spelling training in spelling-disabled students (grade 5 and 6). In study 1, ten children (treatment group) received 15 individually administered weekly intervention sessions (60 min each). A control group (n = 4) did not receive any intervention. In study 2, orthographic spelling training was provided to a larger sample consisting of a treatment group (n = 13) and a delayed treatment control group (n = 14). The main criterion of spelling improvement was analyzed using an integrated dataset from both studies. Repeated-measures analysis of variance revealed that gains in spelling were significantly greater in the treatment group than in the control group. Statistical analyses also showed significant improvements in reading (study 1) and in a measure of participants’ knowledge of orthographic spelling rules (study 2). The findings indicate that an orthographic spelling training enhances reading and spelling ability as well as orthographic knowledge in spelling-disabled children learning to spell a transparent language like German.     

Reversing letters and reading transformed text in dyslexia: A reassessment

The visual deficit hypothesis of development dyslexia has largely been abandoned because many of the phenomena that initially motivated it could not be replicated under controlled experimental conditions, while phonological processing deficits were found to provide a better explanation for the replicable phenomena. Nevertheless, many teachers and special educators continue to subscribe to the hypothesis that deficits of visual perception are a major cause of reading failure in dyslexia. As part of a larger family study, we reexamined the questions (1) whether probands and affected relatives in dyslexia families reverse easily confused letters more frequently under experimental conditions than normal readers from the same families, and (2) whether they show unusual facility in reading geometrically transformed text. The findings indicated that young dyslexia students reverse easily confused letters more often than normal readers. Reading group differences of letter reversal were significant in children from 7–10 years but not thereafter; and virtually no subject reversed letters when spelling whole words. Furthermore, dyslexic persons in every age group from 7–60 years actually took longer than normal readers to decode geometrically transformed text; and the time to decode transformed texts increased progressively with age after adolescence in both dyslexic persons and normal readers. Thus, reading group differences in decoding easily confused letters and reading geometrically transformed text do not support the visual deficit hypothesis and probably do not help to clarify the etiology of developmental dyslexia.     

The issues involved in developing a spelling program for adults with dyslexia

The focus of this paper will be the issues involved in developing a spelling program for an adult with dyslexia. Thus a review of research and identification of the implications of such research will be undertaken. It is appropriate to address spelling because it is poor spelling rather than poor reading which remains a weakness for the dyslexic adult (Singleton, 1991). Spelling is also perceived as being more difficult (Miles 1993). Yet another value in teaching specific spelling skills to dyslexic learners is that some research suggests that spelling training given in conjunction with phonological awareness training facilitates reading development at a faster rate (Ehri, 1989). No attempt will be made to develop specific teaching strategies orto evaluate specific methods for the teaching of dyslexic learners, although reference may be made to either or both of these aspects.     

Identifying students with dyslexia in higher education

An increasing number of students with dyslexia enter higher education. As a result, there is a growing need for standardized diagnosis. Previous research has suggested that a small number of tests may suffice to reliably assess students with dyslexia, but these studies were based on post hoc discriminant analysis, which tends to overestimate the percentage of systematic variance, and were limited to the English language (and the Anglo-Saxon education system). Therefore, we repeated the research in a non-English language (Dutch) and we selected variables on the basis of a prediction analysis. The results of our study confirm that it is not necessary to administer a wide range of tests to diagnose dyslexia in (young) adults. Three tests sufficed: word reading, word spelling and phonological awareness, in line with the proposal that higher education students with dyslexia continue to have specific problems with reading and writing. We also show that a traditional postdiction analysis selects more variables of importance than the prediction analysis. However, these extra variables explain study-specific variance and do not result in more predictive power of the model.     

Hans Christian Andersen's spelling and syntax: allegations of specific dyslexia are unfounded

Sources contemporary with Danish author Hans Christian Andersen claimed that he did not master the Danish language, which modern studies interpret as specific dyslexia. A systematic study of his diaries from age 20 to age 70 found a mean spelling error percentage of approximately 1.7 (SD = 1%, range = 0%-4%). A methodologically independent reliability study confirmed these figures. Andersen's error percentages in poems and letters from ages 11 to 19 show a typical initial part of a learning curve that, together with the results from the diaries, gives a life span curve of his spelling development. The diaries, letters, and poems contain only insignificant syntactic errors. Andersen's spelling in the above studies is compared with that of his contemporaries and with data from modern studies. His mean error percentages at different ages are equal to the figures from nondisabled participants, but between 2 and 15 times lower than the mean percentages in studies of individuals with dyslexia. A structural analysis of Andersen's spelling errors shows that they are mainly phonologically plausible from ages 11 to 70, and that the proportions of plausible/implausible errors match those of normal achievers, but not those of individuals with dyslexia.     

Reading and spelling acquisition in French first graders: Longitudinal evidence

This study was aimed at investigating the development of reading and spelling skills in French. First graders were tested twice (in February and in June). Phonological mediation was expected to play a major role at the beginning of reading and spelling acquisition, and thus a regularity effect was predicted. Under the assumption that alphabetical processing is primarily sequential, i.e. letter by letter, a complexity effect was predicted as well. In other words, subjects would read and spell words containing one-letter graphemes more accurately than words containing multi-letter graphemes. Further, processing was assumed to be strictly alphabetical at the beginning of acquisition, no frequency effect was expected. Overall, the role of phonological mediation is confirmed. A complexity effect testifying to sequential alphabetic processing was observed for spelling but not for reading. The hypothesis of a strict reliance on alphabetical processing is not confirmed since a frequency effect was observed in both reading and spelling. These findings are discussed in the light of the Frith, Morton, and Seymour models.     

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.     

Reading and spelling difficulties in high school students: Causes and consequences

Basic skills in reading and spelling and supporting metalinguistic abilities were assessed in ninth and tenth grade students in two school settings. Students attending a private high school for the learning disabled comprised one group and the other comprised low to middle range students from a public high school. Both the LD students and the regular high school students displayed deficiencies in spelling and in decoding, a factor in reading difficulty that is commonly supposed to dwindle in importance after the elementary school years. Treating the overlapping groups as a single sample, multiple regression analysis was used to investigate the contribution of nonword decoding skill and phonological and morphological awareness to spelling ability. The analysis revealed that decoding was the major component, predicting about half of the variance in spelling. The effect of phonological awareness was largely hidden by its high correlation with decoding, but was a significant predictor of spelling in its own right. Morphological awareness predicted spelling skill when the words to be spelled were morphologically complex. An additional study showed that differences in decoding and spelling ability were associated with differences in comprehension after controlling for reading experience and vocabulary. Even among experienced readers individual differences in comprehension of text reflect efficiency of phonological processing at the word level.     

Learning strategies and study approaches of postsecondary students with dyslexia

The present study describes the self-reported learning strategies and study approaches of college and university students with and without dyslexia and examines the relationship of those characteristics with reading ability. Students with (n = 36) and without (n = 66) dyslexia completed tests measuring reading rate, reading comprehension, reading history, learning strategies, and learning approaches. The results indicated that students without dyslexia obtained significantly higher scores than students with dyslexia in their reported use of selecting main ideas and test taking strategies. Students with dyslexia reported significantly greater use of study aids and time management strategies in comparison to students without dyslexia. Moreover, university students with dyslexia were significantly more likely to report a deep approach to learning in comparison to university students without dyslexia. Reading ability correlated positively with selecting main ideas and test taking strategies and negatively with use of study aids. The authors interpret the learning strategy results as consequences of and compensations for the difficulties that students with dyslexia have in word reading.