Learning to Read in an Intermediate Depth Orthography: The Longitudinal Role of Grapheme Sounding on Different Types of Reading Fluency.

Phonological processing skills, such as phonological awareness, are known predictors of reading acquisition in alphabetic languages with varying degrees of orthographic complexity. However, the role of multi-letter-sound knowledge, an important foundation for early reading development, in supporting reading fluency development remains to be determined. This study examined whether two core foundational skills, phonemic awareness and grapheme sounding, have a predictive role in reading fluency development in an intermediate-depth orthography. The participants were 62 children learning to read in European Portuguese, and they were longitudinally assessed on phonemic awareness, complex grapheme sounding, and reading fluency (decoding, word, and text) from Grade 2 to Grade 3. The results showed that grapheme sounding predicted reading fluency development controlled for nonverbal intelligence and vocabulary, short-term verbal memory, and phonemic awareness. Grapheme sounding plays a prominent role in predicting reading fluency outcomes, whereas phonemic awareness (both accuracy and time per correct item) did not contribute to any of the three types of reading fluency. The fact that grapheme-sounding predicted reading fluency is likely due to complex grapheme-phoneme correspondences being required to achieve proficient reading. These findings provide insights into the cognitive processes underlying reading development in intermediate-depth orthographies and have implications for early literacy instruction.

Dynamic association between phonemic awareness and disordered speech recognition moderated by transcription training.

BACKGROUND: Phonetic transcription of disordered speech samples is especially crucial for the assessment and treatment of functional or organic speech-sound disorders. Previous studies show that students who struggle with the identification and segmentation of speech sounds are more likely to encounter difficulties with clinical phonetic transcription. AIMS: To clarify the connection between phonemic awareness and phonetic transcription in Mandarin-speaking undergraduate students, as well as the improvement of these skills after phonetic transcription training. METHODS & PROCEDURES: A pretest-post-test design was adopted for this study. The experimental group (n = 38) consisted of students majoring in audiology and speech-language pathology who were given 12 weeks of transcription training. The control group (n = 33) consisted of audiology and speech-language pathology majors who completed the same module a year earlier without undergoing the transcription training. Two instruments were used to assess their skills: (1) the Phonemic Awareness Skill Test (PA test) and (2) the Phonetic Transcription Skill Test (PT test) designed for the purposes of the present study. OUTCOMES & RESULTS: Performance on most subtests of the PT and PA tests improved significantly at post-test for the experiment group, although only PT training was provided. After phonetic transcription training, the relationship between phonemic addition abilities and phonetic transcription strengthened. Phonemic identification was found to be a predictor of undergraduate students' PT skills of disordered speech samples. CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS: Results from this study provide insights into the role of phonetic transcription training in improving phonemic awareness and phonetic transcription skills. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS: What is already known on the subject Phonetic transcription of disordered speech samples is especially crucial for the assessment and treatment of functional or organic speech-sound disorders. Phonemic awareness is not only an essential ability for reading alphabetic language but also associated with acquiring phonetic transcription skills. What this paper adds to existing knowledge A dynamically changing association between phonemic transcription and phonetic transcription during transcription training was reported. Phonetic transcription training of disordered speech samples acted as a driving force for deeper relationships between the two skills. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work? Training phonetic recognition and transcription equips future and practising speech-language pathologists with better skills in managing speech-sound disorders. Implications for phonemic awareness training also have the potential to extend to the literacy skills of alphabetic language speakers.

A Real-World Data Study on the Impact of the ReadRx Cognitive Training and Reading Intervention on Cognition, Basic Reading Ability, and Psychosocial Skills for 3527 Children.

Background: The state of reading proficiency among children in the United States continues to be a subject of concern among psychologists, teachers, parents, policy makers, and the education community at large. Despite the widespread use of curricular methods that teach basic reading skills, there remains a large percentage of children that struggle to read. Therefore, novel approaches to reading remediation should be explored. Purpose: The aims of this study were to examine 1) the effect of a multicomponent cognitive and reading intervention on cognitive and reading skills; 2) the role of ADHD, age, sex, IQ score, and individual cognitive skills on the effectiveness of the ReadRx intervention; and 3) parent-reported behavioral outcomes following the ReadRx intervention. Methods: The current study analyzed a large real-world dataset to examine cognitive, reading, and behavioral outcomes for struggling readers (n = 3527) who had completed 24 weeks (120 hours) of intense cognitive training integrated with a structured literacy intervention using ReadRx in a one-on-one clinic setting. Results: Analyses of pretest and post-test scores showed statistically significant changes on all cognitive and reading measures including attention, visual processing, processing speed, long-term memory, working memory, reasoning, phonological awareness, Work Attack, phonetic coding, spelling, comprehension, and overall IQ score with medium to very large effect sizes. The results included an average 4.1-year gain in reading skills including a 6-year gain in phonological awareness. No differences were found based on age, sex, or ADHD status, and minimal differences were found based on pre-intervention IQ score and cognitive test scores. The study also included a qualitative thematic analysis of parent-reported behavioral outcomes revealing themes of improved cognition, academic performance, and psychosocial skills including confidence and perseverance. Conclusion: Our findings were consistent with previous controlled studies on this intervention and offer an encouraging alternative instructional approach to reading remediation that aligns with the Science of Reading and includes intensive remediation of underlying cognitive skills.

Well Played! Promoting Phonemic Awareness Training Using EdTech-GraphoGame Brazil-During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Early literacy skills such as alphabet knowledge and phonemic awareness are made up the foundation for learning to read. These skills are more effectively taught with explicit instruction starting inpreschool and then continuing during early elementary school years. The COVID19 pandemic school closures severely impacted early literacy development worldwide. Brazil had one of the longest school closure periods, which resulted in several children having no access to any educational activities. Education Technology (EdTech) tools can leverage access to pedagogical materials and remediate the consequences of school closure. We investigated the impact of using an early literacy EdTech, GraphoGame Brazil, to foster learning of early literacy skills during the height of COVID19 school closures, in Brazil. We carried out a quasi-experimental, pretest and posttest study with elementary school students who were taking online classes. Participants were pseudo randomly assigned to (1) an experimental group, who played GraphoGame Brazil, and to (2) an active control group, who played an EdTech that focuses on early numeracy skills. The results show a significant positive training effect on word reading accuracy associated with the use of GraphoGame for the children in the experimental group, relative to the control group. We also found statistically significant negative effect in lowercase naming for the control group. We address the consequences of COVID19 school closures, the promise of EdTech and its limitations, and discuss the issue of fostering successful early literacy instruction in countries that have struggled with teaching children to read even before the pandemic.

The Detection of Early Reading Performance and Its Relationship with Biopsychosocial Risk Factors in the Study of Learning Difficulties.

The study of the multiple processes involved in learning how to read can contribute towards the early detection of good and bad readers. However, it is necessary to take into consideration different biopsychosocial risk factors (pre- and perigestational, neonatal, medical, developmental and family-related) that may have a significant impact on neurodevelopment, producing atypical cognitive development that could lead to the presence of reading difficulties. The objective of this study was to identify the main psycholinguistic abilities involved in the early reading performance and analyse their relationship to biopsychosocial risk factors. A total of 110 subjects between the ages of 4 and 7 years old and enrolled in state-run schools in Spain participated in the study. Significant correlations were found between different psycholinguistic abilities and certain biopsychosocial risk factors (having had hyperbilirubinemia, having obtained a score lower than 9 on the Apgar test, having had language problems or a sibling with dyslexia). This relationship should be taken into account in the study of learning difficulties as a potential indicator to predict later reading development and even the presence of developmental dyslexia.

Reading intervention targeting phonemic awareness and symbol imagery in children with sickle cell disease.

Children with sickle cell disease (SCD) frequently have diminished academic attainment and are particularly vulnerable to reading dysfunction. We explored the effectiveness of a multisensory reading intervention offered during the summer to children with SCD at our institution. Subjects with reading deficits were identified through parent report, clinical findings, or school meetings. Summer reading programs utilizing Phonemic Awareness and Symbol Imagery were provided. The Lindamood-Bell Auditory Conceptualization/Phonemic Awareness Test, Third Edition (LAC-3), and the Symbol Imagery Test were used as pre- and postintervention examinations to measure progress. Fifteen students (median age 9.4 years, range 6-14 years, eight females, all African American) received the Phonemic Awareness intervention, two times a week for 6 weeks. The subjects showed statistically significant gains in standard scores derived from the LAC-3 (mean change 7.9 points, p < .001), with associated improvements in age equivalency (AE) and grade equivalency (GE). Twenty-nine students (median age 9 years, range 6-17 years, 13 females, all African American) participated in the Symbol Imagery reading program, also two times a week for 6 weeks. These students showed significant gains in overall standard scores (mean change 9.8 points, p < .001). Although results should be interpreted with caution due to small sample sizes, we found that summer reading clinics for children with SCD improved phonological processing and symbol imagery skills, potentially leading to substantial gains in reading capability.

Reading Specific Small Saccades Predict Individual Phonemic Awareness and Reading Speed.

Small fixational eye-movements are a fundamental aspect of vision and thought to reflect fine shifts in covert attention during active viewing. While the perceptual benefits of these small eye movements have been demonstrated during a wide range of experimental tasks including during free viewing, their function during reading remains surprisingly unclear. Previous research demonstrated that readers with increased microsaccade rates displayed longer reading speeds. To what extent increased fixational eye movements are, however, specific to reading and might be indicative of reading skill deficits remains, however, unknown. To address this topic, we compared the eye movement scan paths of 13 neurotypical individuals and 13 subjects diagnosed with developmental dyslexia during short story reading and free viewing of natural scenes. We found that during reading only, dyslexics tended to display small eye movements more frequently compared to neurotypicals, though this effect was not significant at the population level, as it could also occur in slow readers not diagnosed as dyslexics. In line with previous research, neurotypical readers had twice as many regressive compared to progressive microsaccades, which did not occur during free viewing. In contrast, dyslexics showed similar amounts of regressive and progressive small fixational eye movements during both reading and free viewing. We also found that participants with smaller fixational saccades from both neurotypical and dyslexic samples displayed reduced reading speeds and lower scores during independent tests of reading skill. Slower readers also displayed greater variability in the landing points and temporal occurrence of their fixational saccades. Both the rate and spatio-temporal variability of fixational saccades were associated with lower phonemic awareness scores. As none of the observed differences between dyslexics and neurotypical readers occurred during control experiments with free viewing, the reported effects appear to be directly related to reading. In summary, our results highlight the predictive value of small saccades for reading skill, but not necessarily for developmental dyslexia.

The dimensionality of phonological awareness among Brazilian Portuguese-speaking children: a longitudinal study.

Phonological awareness is one of the most important predictors of reading. However, there is still controversy concerning its dimensionality. This study evaluated the dimensionality of phonological awareness among Brazilian Portuguese-speaking children. A total of 212 children performed six phonological awareness tasks in the last year of kindergarten. Of those children, 177 performed the same tasks when they were in the first grade. The phonological awareness measures differed in both their cognitive demand (detection, blending, segmentation, and elision) and the phonological unit involved (rhyme, syllable, and phoneme). Confirmatory factor analyzes were employed to test several models of phonological awareness dimensionality. The results indicated that the best model was an oblique model of phonological units with two correlated latent factors: phonemic awareness and supraphonemic awareness. This model presented the best fit to the data both in kindergarten and in the first grade. In addition, supraphonemic awareness in the kindergarten predicted phoneme awareness in the first grade; however, phonemic awareness in the kindergarten did not predict supraphonemic awareness in the first grade. These results are compatible with phonological awareness developing from larger phonological units (e.g., syllables) to small phonological units (e.g., phonemes) and the reciprocal relationship between phonological awareness and reading. From a theoretical point of view, these results also suggest that phonological awareness is a one-dimensional construct that can be evaluated by tests employing different phonological units (e.g., syllables, rhymes, phonemes).

Promoting Foundation Reading Skills With At-Risk Students.

This paper presents an early reading intervention program, the PPCL (Programa de Promoção das Competências Leitoras-Promoting Reading Skills Program). PPCL focuses on the promotion of reading foundation abilities-letter-sound, phonemic awareness, decoding, and spelling-with at-risk first graders. This study assessed the impact of PPCL on the reading foundation abilities with 311 first graders (173 boys and 138 girls), divided between intervention and comparative group (respectively, 206 and 105 first graders). Results were analyzed with an inter- (intervention and comparative group) and intra- (pre-and post-test) group design. A mixed two-way Manova indicated the presence of statistically significant differences between the two assessment moments, with the intervention group presenting higher values than the comparative group in all abilities at the post-test and also above the cutoff score in all variables, which indicates that at-risk students eventually concluded the school year with satisfactory levels of reading skills. On the other hand, the comparative group scored below the cutoff score in all variables. The magnitude of the effect on the intervention group was higher than the one observed in the comparative group. Reading promotion with PPCL significantly improved at-risk students reading skills. In future studies, the authors intend to follow up on reading and writing participants' skills.

Supporting Young Students' Word Study During the COVID-19 Quarantine: ABC Scavenger Hunt.

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically affected U.S. schools since March 2020. K-12 schools have put in place various forms of remote learning to continue the education of students. In trying times like these, young students face unique unprecedented challenges. Often, they need parents' and/or guardians' supervision and guidance at home. How can teachers work with young students and their parents or guardians to ensure high-quality and equitable teaching and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic? More specifically, how can teachers support young students' word study from home during trying times? An ABC scavenger hunt can be a great activity to support young students' word study while bridging home and school and fostering a positive home learning environment. We share teaching tips developed by a first-grade teacher over the past several months.

Phonemic Training Modulates Early Speech Processing in Pre-reading Children.

Phonemic awareness and rudimentary grapheme knowledge concurrently develop in pre-school age. In a training study, we tried to disentangle the role of both precursor functions of reading for spoken word recognition. Two groups of children exercised with phonemic materials, but only one of both groups learnt corresponding letters to trained phonemes. A control group exercised finger-number associations (non-linguistic training). After the training, we tested how sensitive children were to prime-target variation in word onset priming. A group of young adults took part in the same experiment to provide data from experienced readers. While decision latencies to the targets suggested fine-grained spoken word processing in all groups, event-related potentials (ERPs) indicated that both phonemic training groups processed phonemic variation in more detail than the non-linguistic training group and young adults at early stages of speech processing. Our results indicate temporal plasticity of implicit speech processing in pre-school age as a function of explicit phonemic training.

How does rapid automatized naming influence orthographic knowledge?

Rapid automatized naming (RAN) is a strong predictor of reading fluency across languages, and some researchers have attributed this to the contribution of RAN to the development of orthographic knowledge, which is predictive of reading fluency. However, to date, it remains unclear whether RAN (alphanumeric and nonalphanumeric) predicts orthographic knowledge (OK) and what skills may mediate their relation. To examine the RAN-OK relations, we assessed 114 Grade 3 Spanish-speaking Mexican children (58 girls; Mage = 7.9 years, SD = 0.3) on RAN (objects and digits), orthographic knowledge (lexical and sublexical; accuracy and response time), speed of processing, multi-element processing, phonemic awareness, and reading fluency. Path analyses showed first that, OK (both lexical and sublexical) partly mediated the effects of RAN on reading fluency. Second, multiple mediation analyses showed an indirect effect of both RAN tasks on lexical and sublexical OK through phonological awareness. In view of Ehri's amalgamation hypothesis and Share's self-teaching hypothesis, our findings suggest that RAN may reflect, in part, the speed with which the phonological representations of letters are accessed and retrieved, which subsequently influences how quickly orthographic representations can be formed and accessed.

The dimensionality of phonological awareness among Brazilian Portuguese-speaking children: a longitudinal study

Abstract Phonological awareness is one of the most important predictors of reading. However, there is still controversy concerning its dimensionality. This study evaluated the dimensionality of phonological awareness among Brazilian Portuguese-speaking children. A total of 212 children performed six phonological awareness tasks in the last year of kindergarten. Of those children, 177 performed the same tasks when they were in the first grade. The phonological awareness measures differed in both their cognitive demand (detection, blending, segmentation, and elision) and the phonological unit involved (rhyme, syllable, and phoneme). Confirmatory factor analyzes were employed to test several models of phonological awareness dimensionality. The results indicated that the best model was an oblique model of phonological units with two correlated latent factors: phonemic awareness and supraphonemic awareness. This model presented the best fit to the data both in kindergarten and in the first grade. In addition, supraphonemic awareness in the kindergarten predicted phoneme awareness in the first grade; however, phonemic awareness in the kindergarten did not predict supraphonemic awareness in the first grade. These results are compatible with phonological awareness developing from larger phonological units (e.g., syllables) to small phonological units (e.g., phonemes) and the reciprocal relationship between phonological awareness and reading. From a theoretical point of view, these results also suggest that phonological awareness is a one-dimensional construct that can be evaluated by tests employing different phonological units (e.g., syllables, rhymes, phonemes).

Corrigendum: Children With Reading Difficulty Rely on Unimodal Neural Processing for Phonemic Awareness.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2019.00390.].

Is Redshirting Beneficial for Reading Acquisition Success?

The controversy around the effect of academic redshirting on reading acquisition continues receiving attention in the international literature. However, few studies are known with non-English speaking children. In this study we intend to understand this phenomenon with 698 Portuguese speaking first graders, 360 girls (51.6%), aged between 5 years old and 8 months and 7 years old and 6 months (M = 6.3 months, SD = 3.9 months). Reading acquisition precursors were assessed namely phonemic awareness and letter-sound knowledge. Results reveal that 5.9% of first graders are redshirted. Clusters analysis indicated two clusters per variable. Cluster 1 with low phonemic awareness and letter-sound knowledge and low socioeconomic status, cluster 2 with high phonemic awareness and letter-sound knowledge and medium-high socioeconomic status. The cluster results suggest a prevalence of 24.5% children at risk of having learning difficulties. The MANOVA indicated that only socioeconomic status has an effect on phonemic awareness and letter-sound knowledge, with children from medium-high level presenting higher results. It is concluded that redshirting did not bring additional advantages for reading acquisition success. Implications about the importance of education in order to lessen those differences, as well as prevent difficulties are presented.

Validity of a nonspeech dynamic assessment of the alphabetic principle in preschool and school-aged children.

Learning to read and spell is an important but difficult achievement for children who have complex communication needs. Given that assessment is a vital part of any intervention program, one major barrier is the lack of reliable and valid assessments for this population. This study evaluated the reliability and validity of Dynamic Assessment of the Alphabetic Principle (DAAP), which does not require spoken responses. For this study, 27 preschool and school-aged children with typical development completed the DAAP and other standard measures of phonemic awareness and early literacy. Results indicated the DAAP had high internal consistency and strong correlations among its subtests, indicating high reliability. Moreover, performance on the DAAP had high correlations with standard measures of phonemic awareness and early literacy, providing evidence of its validity. Consequently, the DAAP represents one approach to fill the important need for assessments of early literacy that do not require speech responses.

How Good Is the Phoneme Elision Test in Assessing Reading, Spelling and Arithmetic-Related Abilities?

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the psychometric properties and diagnostic accuracy of phoneme elision task (PET). METHOD: We assessed cross-sectionally 470 Brazilian children (54.3% girls) aged between 7 and 11 years (mean age = 8.83, sd = 0.85), from the 2nd to 4th grades. Children were assessed in their phonemic awareness ability, as well as intelligence, general school achievement, both verbal and visuospatial working memory, single-word reading, and nonsymbolic magnitude comparison. Beyond the psychometric properties and diagnostic accuracy of PET, we also provided reference values. RESULTS: Our data suggest that PET is composed mainly of one single construct, with high item reliability and precision (KR-20 above 0.90). In general, items have acceptable discriminability, considering item-total correlations. Overall PET is generally a good screening tool for reading and spelling difficulties (SD), as well as to identify children with learning difficulties in the early grades. However, it is not a reliable measure for screening math learning difficulties. Finally, PET shows good convergent and divergent validity. CONCLUSIONS: We provide evidence about the psychometric properties and diagnostic accuracy of a PET. Results contribute to the assessment of phonemic awareness in Brazilian children, in both clinical and research contexts. The PET can be used as a screening tool for reading and SD, which could lead to early interventions.

Neuropsychological and environmental predictors of reading performance in Brazilian children.

Word-level reading is strongly associated with phonological processing. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of cognitive and environmental variables on word reading performance. Our sample consisted of 185 fourth-grade students. Linear regression analyses were used to investigate the role of the following variables as potential predictors of word reading accuracy and fluency: phonological processing (phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming, and phonological memory); verbal fluency; working memory; socioeconomic status and an indicator of school quality (IDEB) in Brazil. Phonological awareness and rapid automatic naming were the best predictors of reading, supporting the role of phonological processing as a key contributor to the lexical aspects of reading, beyond the early years of literacy acquisition. Environmental variables were significant predictors of irregular word reading (socioeconomic status) and fluency (IDEB), corroborating multicomponent models of reading performance. The present findings demonstrate the complex interplay of factors underlying reading performance and highlight the importance of a multidimensional approach to the study of reading.

Children With Reading Difficulty Rely on Unimodal Neural Processing for Phonemic Awareness.

Phonological awareness skills in children with reading difficulty (RD) may reflect impaired automatic integration of orthographic and phonological representations. However, little is known about the underlying neural mechanisms involved in phonological awareness for children with RD. Eighteen children with RD, ages 9-13, participated in a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study designed to assess the relationship of two constructs of phonological awareness, phoneme synthesis, and phoneme analysis, with crossmodal rhyme judgment. Participants completed a rhyme judgment task presented in two modality conditions; unimodal auditory only and crossmodal audiovisual. Measures of phonological awareness were correlated with unimodal, but not crossmodal, lexical processing. Moreover, these relationships were found only in unisensory brain regions, and not in multisensory brain areas. The results of this study suggest that children with RD rely on unimodal representations and unisensory brain areas, and provide insight into the role of phonemic awareness in mapping between auditory and visual modalities during literacy acquisition.

Are Temporal and Tonal Musical Skills Related to Phonological Awareness and Literacy Skills? - Evidence From Two Cross-Sectional Studies With Children From Different Age Groups.

Temporal and spectral auditory processing abilities are required for efficient and unimpaired processing of speech and might thus be associated with the development of phonological and literacy skills in children. Indeed, studies with unselected children have found links between these basic auditory processing abilities and the development of phonological awareness, reading, and spelling. Additionally, associations between the processing of temporal or spectral/tonal information in music and phonological awareness/literacy have been reported, but findings concerning relations between music processing and spelling are rather sparse. To gain more insights into the specific, potentially age-dependent relevance of various temporal (e.g., rhythm, tempo) and tonal (e.g., pitch, melody) musical subdomains for phonological awareness and literacy, we adapted five music-processing tasks (three temporal, two tonal) for use with tablet computers and used them in two cross-sectional studies with German children from two age groups: Study 1 was conducted with preschool children (about 5 years of age; without formal reading and spelling instruction) and focused on associations between music processing and phonological awareness. In Study 2, third-graders (about 8 years of age) were investigated concerning relations between music processing, phonological awareness, reading comprehension, and spelling. In both studies, rhythm reproduction and pitch perception turned out to be significant predictors of phonological awareness in stepwise regression analyses. Although various associations between music processing and literacy were found for third-graders in Study 2, after phonological awareness was accounted for, only rhythm reproduction made a unique contribution to literacy skills, namely, to alphabetic spelling skills. Hence, both studies indicate that temporal (i.e., rhythm reproduction) and spectral/tonal (i.e., pitch perception) musical skills are distinctly and uniquely related to phonological awareness in children from different age groups (preschool vs. Grade 3). The finding that rhythm reproduction, an auditory temporal processing skill integrating perceptual and motor aspects of rhythm processing, was especially tightly linked to phonological awareness and literacy corroborates other findings on associations between rhythm processing and literacy development and is of interest from the viewpoint of current theories of developmental dyslexia. The potential relevance of our results for applied research concerning early diagnosis and training of literacy-related skills is discussed.