Modeling the response of normally achieving and at-risk first grade children to word reading instruction

The purpose of this study was to identify important subject characteristics that predicted individual differences in responsiveness to word reading instruction in normally achieving and at-risk first grade children. This was accomplished by modeling individual word and nonword reading growth, and the correlates of change in these skills, in first grade students during two different phases of the school year. In the first phase of the study (October–January), word and nonword reading skill was modeled in normally achieving and at-risk children. Results of growth modeling indicated significant group differences in word and nonword reading growth parameters. A combination of phonemic awareness skill, advanced graphophoneme knowledge, and initial word/nonword reading skill predicted word and nonword reading growth in the control group, whereas, a combination of rapid naming speed, letter sound knowledge, and phonemic awareness skill predicted word and nonword reading growth in the at-risk group. In the second phase of the study (January–April), a subgroup of the at-risk subjects who exhibited limited growth in word reading skills during the first phase of the study was enrolled in 12 weeks of small group reading intervention designed to improve reading skills. Results of growth modeling indicated significant increases in word and nonword reading growth rates in this group during the intervention phase. Only rapid naming speed uniquely predicted word and nonword reading growth in the group of subjects receiving intervention.     

The role of reading comprehension in word meaning acquisition during reading

The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of reading comprehension on the acquisition of word meanings from context and to compare it to the effects of local context characteristics, such as proximity and directness of context clues. The study also examined the effects of prior topic and enabling concept knowledge. Sixth-grade students were pretested on their knowledge of target vocabulary from two expository passages appropriate for their grade and reading level. The students were then familiarized with selected main concepts from one passage and, subsequently, read both experimental passages. Half of the target words appeared in an informative context, while the rest appeared in an less-informative context. A comprehension test and a vocabulary posttest followed the reading of each passage. Hierarchical Regression analyses indicated that reading comprehension level and prior main concept knowledge facilitated vocabulary learning from context. In comparison, the effect of presence or absence of informative context clues was not significant. These findings, underline the need for a reconceptualization of context to take into account the mental representation that readers construct in addition to the printed text that surrounds an unfamiliar word.     

Blending versus whole word approaches in first grade remedial reading: Short-term and delayed effects on reading and spelling words

Twelve very poor readers in May of first grade, including four withdisabilities, were randomly assigned to one of two daily tutoring conditions designed to teach children to read regularly spelled short words by one of two methods: blending sounds to form words, or cumulative introduction of whole words. Both treatments included letter/sound correspondences and spelling words in the reading set. At the end of ten sessions, no differences were found between the treatment outcomes; however, delayed posttests one week later found differences favoring the blending treatment on reading and spelling instructional words, and on transfer to words composed of known letter sounds.     

Effects of repeated reading on the length effect in word and pseudoword reading

In this study the effect of repeated reading on the acquisition of orthographic knowledge was examined. Acquisition of orthographic knowledge was assessed by the effect of word length on reading speed. We predicted that the effect of length in a set of words and pseudowords would decrease after the repeated reading of these (pseudo)words. The study involved fourth and fifth grade dyslexic children, in addition to normal readers in second and fourth grade. Words and pseudowords ranged from four to six letters and were read 16 times. A length effect was found in the dyslexic and younger normal readers, but not in the older normal readers. The length effect did not change from pre‐test to post‐test, although a large overall improvement in reading speed was found in all groups. These results suggest that repeated reading did not alter the predominantly sub‐lexical reading procedure of the dyslexic and younger normal readers. Implications for the interpretation of the length effect and the notion of word‐specific orthographic knowledge are discussed.     

A developmental investigation of word length effects in reading using a new on-line word identification paradigm

Third and fifth grade children (average age 8.6and 10.6 years) and adult participants weretested with printed words of varying length ina new on-line identification task (theluminance increment paradigm, LIP) and aspeeded naming task. Effects of general length(length in letters, phonemes and syllables)were shown to decrease systematically with agein both tasks. Third grade children showedsubstantial effects of word length while theeffect practically disappeared in adults. Ingeneral, this developmental pattern was alsofound when separately examining effects ofphonological length (with length in lettersheld constant) and small unit length (withnumber of syllables held constant), althoughsome differences were observed in performancein the identification and the naming task. Thetwo tasks also showed different developmentalpatterns, with the greatest gain in performancearising between 3rd and 5th grade inthe naming task, and the largest improvementoccurring between 5th grade and adults inthe identification task. The results suggestthat the new luminance increment paradigm canbe usefully applied as an on-line measure ofprinted word perception in beginning readers.     

The role of nonspeech rhythm in Spanish word reading

Recent literacy research shows an increasing interest in the influence of prosody on literacy acquisition. The current study examines the relationship of nonspeech rhythmic skills to children's reading acquisition, and their possible relation to stress assignment in Spanish, a syllable‐timed language. Sixty‐six third graders with no reading difficulties were scored on measures of nonspeech rhythm, word‐level decoding skill, reading fluency and reading with correct assignment of lexical stress. After controlling for verbal intelligence and working memory, hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed that nonspeech rhythm predicted unique variance in reading fluency and correct stress assignment; it did not predict decoding skills. Given that Spanish is a syllable‐timed as opposed to stress‐timed language like English, the association between nonspeech rhythm, reading fluency and stress assignment found in our study suggests that nonspeech rhythm may be a universal factor in reading acquisition, independent of the type of linguistic rhythm.     

The gap between Spanish speakers' word reading and word knowledge: a longitudinal study

This longitudinal study modeled growth rates, from ages 4.5 to 11, in English and Spanish oral language and word reading skills among 173 Spanish-speaking children from low-income households. Individual growth modeling was employed using scores from standardized measures of word reading, expressive vocabulary, and verbal short-term language memory. The trajectories demonstrate that students' rates of growth and overall ability in word reading were on par with national norms. In contrast, students' oral language skills started out below national norms and their rates of growth, although surpassing the national rates, were not sufficient to reach age-appropriate levels. The results underscore the need for increased and sustained attention to promoting this population's language development.     

Rhythm production at school entry as a predictor of poor reading and spelling at the end of first grade

Rhythm plays an organisational role in the prosody and phonology of language, and children with literacy difficulties have been found to demonstrate poor rhythmic perception. This study explored whether students’ performance on a simple rhythm task at school entry could serve as a predictor of whether they would face difficulties in word reading and spelling at the end of grade 1. The participants were 479 Norwegian 6-year-old first graders randomized as controls in the longitudinal RCT on track (n = 1171). Rhythmic timing and pre-reading skills were tested individually at school entry on a digital tablet. On the rhythm task, the students were told to tap a drum appearing on the screen to two different rhythms (2 Hz paced and 1.5 Hz paced). Children’s responses were recorded as they tapped on the screen with their index finger. Significant group differences were found in rhythm tapping ability measured at school entry, when groups were defined upon whether children went on to score above or below the 20th percentile reading and spelling thresholds in national assessment tests at the end of grade one. Inclusion of the school-entry rhythmic tapping measure into a model of classification accuracy for above or below threshold reading and spelling improved accuracy of classification by 6.2 and 9.2% respectively.     

The role of reading self-concept and home literacy practices in fourth grade reading comprehension

This study examined the relationships among reading comprehension, reading self-concept, and home literacy environment (HLE) in a sample (n = 67) of fourth grade children enrolled in an urban school district. Children’s reading comprehension, word reading, and verbal ability were assessed using standardized measures. Reading self-concept was assessed with a child-administered survey that is comprised of three subscales (i.e., competence in reading, perception of ease with reading, attitude towards reading). Information on child and family literacy practices was collected via a questionnaire administered to parents of participating children. Bivariate correlations and multiple regression analyses demonstrated that all three reading self-concept subscales were positively related to reading comprehension after controlling for verbal ability and word reading skills, and aspects of HLE were positively related to aspects of reading self-concept. The findings support the inclusion of psychosocial and family literacy measures in future studies designed to investigate the process of reading comprehension for children beyond the primary grades.

Reading strategies of good and poor readers in word and phrase presentation

This paper reports two experiments which use a micro-computer driven self-paced reading task to examine the reading strategies of good and poor readers. Unlike previous work using this technique the children were able to regress to earlier parts of the texts by pressing the appropriate computer key. The main focus of the experiments is on the relationship between reading strategies, reading ability and the length of the textual units which are presented to the children. Reading ability is found to influence reading strategies differently according to whether text is presented in single words or in phrases. A similar result is found for the time taken to read the texts. The results are discussed in the light of current theories of text processing. However the main point of the paper is to illustrate the use of a potentially powerful diagnostic tool which will operate on computers currently available in schools.     

The association between mathematical word problems and reading comprehension

This study aimed to investigate the interplay between mathematical word problem skills and reading comprehension. The participants were 225 children aged 9–10 (Grade 4). The children’s text comprehension and mathematical word problem‐solving performance was tested. Technical reading skills were investigated in order to categorise participants as good or poor readers. The results showed that performance on maths word problems was strongly related to performance in reading comprehension. Fluent technical reading abilities increased the aforementioned skills. However, even after controlling for the level of technical reading involved, performance in maths word problems was still related to reading comprehension, suggesting that both of these skills require overall reasoning abilities. There were no gender differences in maths word problem‐solving performance, but the girls were better in technical reading and in reading comprehension. Parental levels of education positively predicted children’s maths word problem‐solving performance and reading comprehension skills.     

Beyond first grade: examining word,sentence, and discourse text factors associated with oral reading rate in informational text in second grade

Text complexity in elementary classrooms is typically measured by traditional readability tools, which rely on surface-level measures of word and sentence complexity. Theoretical and empirical work on text complexity, however, indicates that additional measures of semantics, syntax, and discourse structure may be equally important for understanding how young children process texts. This study evaluated the components of two available text analysis tools representing different generations of readability: the Lexile Framework and the Coh-Metrix Text Easability Assessor. Using multilevel modeling, informational passage readings were nested in 5133 second-grade children in 459 schools to identify text variables that predicted changes in oral reading rate. Coh-Metrix dimensions of word concreteness, referential cohesion, and deep cohesion were uniquely associated with oral reading rate after controlling for traditional readability components. A full model including both the Lexile components and three Coh-Metrix dimensions provided the best fit to the data. Results suggest that measures of semantic complexity and text cohesion are needed to improve prediction of text difficulty for young readers and better inform text selection in the early grades. Implications for policy and practice under the Common Core State Standards, which emphasize reading complex texts across the gradespan, are discussed.

     

The role of phonological memory,word recognition,and comprehension skills in reading development: from preschool to grade 2

We examined the relationships among phonologicalawareness, phonological memory, and development ofreading skills in a longitudinal study, by following222 Finnish preschoolers through the grade 2.The main focus was on the role of phonological memoryin word recognition and comprehension. The skillsassessed were verbal abilities, phonological memory,phonological awareness, word recognition, listeningand reading comprehension, altogether comprising themost extensive set of variables so far used in thestudy of phonological memory and reading. We proposeda structural equation model for the developmentalrelationships among the variables. This model waslargely confirmed by the data. The most significantpredictor of word recognition was phonologicalawareness. Phonological memory had only a weak effecton phonological awareness at preschool age, andvia this connection, a weak indirect effect on grade 1 word recognition. Contrary toexpectations, phonological memory also had asignificant, albeit weak effect on grade 2word recognition. Phonological memory did notdirectly affect reading comprehension. However,it was strongly related to listeningcomprehension at preschool, and via the strongeffects of both listening comprehension and wordrecognition on reading comprehension, there weresignificant indirect effects of phonological memory onreading comprehension. The results also underline thestability of development of phonological memory, wordrecognition, and comprehension from preschool to theend of grade 2.     

Enhancing motivation to read and reading abilities in first grade

Abstract

This study examined changes in reading motivation and reading achievement among Hebrew-speaking first graders following an intervention program designed to increase intrinsic reading motivation. The program was delivered by the class teacher and focused on choosing relevant reading materials, providing choices for reading and encouraging social collaboration. Twenty-nine children in the intervention group (IG) were compared with 29 children in the control group (CG) who followed the official reading instruction program. During the year, the IG improved their reading motivation, while the CG declined in self-concept as a reader. Reading achievement improved more in the IG than in the CG. These findings suggest that a reading motivation program should be embedded in the regular reading acquisition curriculum to enhance children's reading motivation and improve their reading skills. Special attention should be paid to prevent a decline in young children's motivation as it may predict their future involvement in reading.     

The role of orthographic flexibility in Chinese word reading among kindergarten children

Abstract

The present study aimed to examine the potential importance of orthographic flexibility for Chinese reading acquisition. Orthographic flexibility is a novel concept that represents the ability to manage and switch attention among multiple aspects of orthographic information. A total of 92 Chinese kindergarten children at age 6 were assessed on measures of orthographic flexibility, orthographic knowledge, executive functions (EF) skills (i.e. cognitive flexibility and working memory) and Chinese word reading. Results of hierarchical regressions showed that orthographic flexibility uniquely and significantly contributed to word reading beyond the effects of established predictors, namely orthographic knowledge and EF skills. Path analysis further indicated that orthographic flexibility significantly mediated the contribution of EF skills to word reading. These findings provided theoretical insights into the linkage between domain-general EF skills and domain-specific reading ability. The present study also provided practical implication that training on orthographic flexibility in addition to orthographic knowledge could be beneficial to early acquisition of Chinese word reading.     

Learning about print: the development of orthographic processing and its relationship to word reading in first grade children in French immersion

As children learn to read, they become sensitive to the patterns that exist in the ways in which their language(s) are represented in print. This skill is known as orthographic processing. We examined the nature of orthographic processing in English and French for children in the first grade of a French immersion program, and the relationship between orthographic processing and reading beyond controls for mother’s education, non-verbal reasoning, English vocabulary and phonological awareness. We found that children showed greater orthographic processing skill to patterns that were common to both of their languages than to those that occurred in just one of their languages. Across both lexical and sub-lexical orthographic processing measures, scores were related to word reading within each language, beyond our control variables. There was some evidence of cross-language relationships between orthographic processing and word reading, both for lexical and sub-lexical language-shared measures of orthographic processing. These findings suggest that children’s attention to features that are common both languages might be one source of transfer of orthographic processing to reading between languages.