Second language learning and reading with the additional load of dyslexia

Students speaking a language at home, which is different from the instructional at home, often face serious literacy problems in their additional language. This article examines the various factors involved in these difficulties and proposes some procedures for determining whether the reading problems are primarily due to linguistic factors, sociocultural factors, or specific learning problems such as dyslexia. The discussion of linguistic factors includes a closer examination of the concept of language proficiency. Dimensions of individual differences in the ability of second language (L2) acquisition are specified. Particular emphasis is given to the role of verbal working memory in L2 acquisition and to neuropsychological aspects. A popular target for recent research has been the orthographic structure of the language, and a general assumption has been that transparent orthographies, such as Italian or Finnish, are easier for a learner to deal with than deep orthographies. The methodological problems involved in the study of this issue are discussed. Some recent large-scale comparative surveys of reading literacy have not been able to demonstrate the impact of orthographic structures, as other, more powerful explanations of achievement variations have masked the possibly small orthographic effects. These explanatory factors are to a large extent related to social and cultural conditions in homes, communities, and schools. A tentative model is proposed where the various factors involved in L2 reading are specified, providing guidelines for assessment strategies.     

Global discourses and power/knowledge: theoretical reflections on futures of higher education during the rise of Asia

This paper re-reads a selection of critical interdisciplinary theories in an attempt to open a space in higher education for cross-cultural dialogue during the rise of Asia. Theories of globalization, deterritorialization, power/knowledge and postcolonialism indicate that students and academics have the ability to re-imagine and influence globalization processes in higher education. The current power effects of global discourses restrict the imaginaries and territories of globalization – leading to specific enactments in ways that prioritize western understandings of higher education. The paper argues for the need to explore hegemonic discursive formations of globalization to uncover processes of “othering” and the subjugation of knowledges. In this regard, a postcolonial perspective can help by opening up scenarios for the future of higher education in the Asian Century.     

Profiles of reading related skills in dyslexic families

The aim of the present study was to investigate patterns of similarity in reading related tasks among dyslexic members of the same family. From a sample of 19 well defined dyslexic students in grade 8, three cases were randomly selected for closer examination with a battery of tasks assumed to be causally related to reading. In all selected cases the fathers reported reading disability and in one case the mother was affected as well. The profiles of performance on the various tasks showed a striking similarity within families suggesting similar mechanisms underlying the reading disability. All cases showed remarkable problems in phonological processing, although functional reading skills were almost intact in some cases. Thus, the phonological tasks might be regarded as marker tasks for identifying genetic dyslexia.Requests for reprints should be sent to Torleiv Høien, Center for Reading Research, Stavanger Teacher College, P.B. 2521, Ullandhaug, N-4004 Stavanger, Norway.     

How immediate is language understanding? Investigating reading in real time

Oral and silent reading was studied for moving-window text displayed on a computer screen. Experiment 1 investigated whether local linguistic properties of text being read aloud affect speed in performing a dual task or the distance which a reader's voice lags behind the text seen. Regression analyses showed that choice reaction time during reading is not predicted by any linguistic properties of the immediate text considered, and that these properties instead predict a measure of eye-voice span. Experiment 2 investigated whether, in silent reading, reference is assigned to expressions in text while, or after, they are being viewed. In nearly all contexts, readers were observed to confirm that a given character in a story was being referred to only after the source expression in text had passed out of view. In general, the results tend to speak against an hypothesis about reading which holds that a reader completes processing of an expression in text while still looking at it.     

The nature of reading difficulties among inmates in juvenile institutions

Dyslexia is assumed to be frequent amonginmates in prisons and in juvenileinstitutions. However, it remains unclearwhether the literacy difficulties observed arereally dyslexic in nature. Seventy inmates injuvenile institutions were studied. In additionto literacy skills, the assessment includedphonological skills, school attendance,cultural background, and self-esteem. Dyslexiain the sense of decoding problems related tophonological deficiencies was observed in 11%of the cases. Most of the inmates withliteracy difficulties had a background, frominfancy and onwards, characterized by severesocial and emotional problems, interfering withpositive experience of literacy and theliterate culture. However, these sub-optimalexperiences of the literate culture do notimply dyslexia. From this perspective, it isunlikely that dyslexia is a determining factorof delinquent behavior.     

Q-Rhetoric and Controlled Equivocation: Revising “The Scientific Study of Subjectivity” for Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration

ABSTRACT

This article offers a revision to an existing social science methodology, Q methodology, through “Q-Rhetoric.” After detailing Q methodology’s theoretical underpinnings and practical method, and persistent critiques of the methodology, the article employs perspectives from rhetorical theory and Amerindian anthropology to suggest a methodological correction. It concludes by detailing the use of Q-Rhetoric to intervene in a Wisconsin stream management controversy, proposing Q-Rhetoric as a pragmatic and theoretically sound methodology for working across disciplinary divides.     

Living the Transition — The Great Mortality Change Through the Lives of the Country Doctors

This paper works alongside other studies claiming the need for further elaboration of the theory of the demographic transition. A number of perspectives on the transition, some of them related to gender, democracy, education, and labour has, according to Tim Dyson, been insufficiently researched by social scientists. The most recently introduced material from the Demographic Database, forms from the Statistical Committee, have been used to chart the demographic transition in the northern-most counties in Sweden during the years between 1800–1850. The hypothesis being that even in these pre-urban and pre-industrialized societies, opportunities to connect with other parts of Sweden could be congruent to a faster progress through the demographic transition. This would lead to lower crude death rates and infant mortality in the coastal parishes. This was true to a certain extent, but this methodologically tentative study also affirms previous research on infant mortality and the need for smallpox vaccination and midwives.     

Curriculum Material Development in a Small Society

Abstract

This article reviews curriculum material development for the compulsory school level in Iceland, the responsibility of the National Centre for Educational Materials (NCEM), a new governmental organization. A brief survey is given of the institutions antecedent to the NCEM, and the organization of the NCEM is described as well as its major activities and future emphasis.     

Development of phonological awareness during the preschool year: the influence of gender and socio-economic status

Phonological awareness is a critical enabling skill in learning to read, often developed outside the context of formal reading instruction. More than 2,000 6-year-old children were tested on phonological awareness at two occasions during the preschool year in two cohorts. Between the assessments, a training program was implemented. A two-level path model was applied. More frequent training sessions were connected to higher gains of test scores especially for children with low initial scores in the first cohort. A clear gender effect was also observed. There were more boys with very low initial scores and more girls among the top scorers. A clear SES-effect indicated the influence of early language stimulation. Children who already at the beginning of the preschool year had grasped the alphabetic code had the highest initial scores on the test.     

Reading Skill and the Processing of Text Structure

Backman, J., Lundberg, I., Nilsson, L.‐G. & Ohlsson, K. 1984. Reading Skill and the Processing of Text Structure. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research 29, 113‐128. Oral reading speed, free recall and summarization of narrative stories presented on videotex were studied as a function of reading skill, text structure and physical factors such as paragraphing and color cueing of clauses on various levels of importance. A total of 144 subjects (13‐14 years old) participated in the experiment, half of them being rated as poor readers and half as good readers. Good readers outperformed poor readers on all dependent variables. Important propositions were better recalled and were more often included in summaries than less important parts of the texts, especially if they were signalled by a different color. However, the impact of graphical cueing depended on reading skill, text type and task. The interactions were discussed in terms of differences in processing strategies and prior knowledge.