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Phonological Processing (phonological + processing)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Psychology	64%
Humanities and Social Sciences	17%

Selected Abstracts

Convergent and concurrent validity of two measures of phonological processing

PSYCHOLOGY IN THE SCHOOLS, Issue 5 2002
J. Michael Havey
The purposes of this study were to determine the degree to which two measures of phonological awareness/ability (Test of Phonological Awareness; Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing) correlate with each other and with a measure of reading (Letter-Word Identification), and to determine which of the individual measures of phonological ability best predict early reading skill in kindergarten children. With one exception, all correlations among measures of phonological awareness/ability were significant. In addition, all correlations among the phonological awareness measures and the reading measure were significant. Multiple regression analyses revealed that the combination of all predictor variables accounted for approximately 51% of the variability in scores on the Woodcock Letter-Word Identification subtest. The Phonological Awareness and the Rapid Naming composites of the CTOPP were the best predictors of performance on the measures of word identification. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source]

Exploring dyslexics' phonological deficit I: lexical vs sub-lexical and input vs output processes

DYSLEXIA, Issue 4 2005
Gayaneh Szenkovits
Abstract We report a series of experiments designed to explore the locus of the phonological deficit in dyslexia. Phonological processing of dyslexic adults is compared to that of age- and IQ-matched controls. Dyslexics' impaired performance on tasks involving nonwords suggests that sub-lexical phonological representations are deficient. Contrasting nonword repetition vs auditory nonword discrimination suggests that dyslexics are specifically impaired in input phonological processing. These data are compatible with the hypothesis that the deficit initially affects input sub-lexical processes, and further spreads to output and lexical processes in the course of language acquisition. Further longitudinal research is required to confirm this scenario as well as to tease apart the role of the quality of phonological representations from that of verbal short-term memory processes. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Visual spatial attention and speech segmentation are both impaired in preschoolers at familial risk for developmental dyslexia

DYSLEXIA, Issue 3 2010
Andrea Facoetti
Abstract Phonological skills are foundational of reading acquisition and impaired phonological processing is widely assumed to characterize dyslexic individuals. However, reading by phonological decoding also requires rapid selection of sublexical orthographic units through serial attentional orienting, and recent studies have shown that visual spatial attention is impaired in dyslexic children. Our study investigated these different neurocognitive dysfunctions, before reading acquisition, in a sample of preschoolers including children with (N=20) and without (N=67) familial risk for developmental dyslexia. Children were tested on phonological skills, rapid automatized naming, and visual spatial attention. At-risk children presented deficits in both visual spatial attention and syllabic segmentation at the group level. Moreover, the combination of visual spatial attention and syllabic segmentation scores was more reliable than either single measure for the identification of at-risk children. These findings suggest that both visuo-attentional and perisylvian-auditory dysfunctions might adversely affect reading acquisition, and may offer a new approach for early identification and remediation of developmental dyslexia. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Dichotic listening and school performance in dyslexia

DYSLEXIA, Issue 1 2008
Turid Helland
Abstract This study focused on the relationship between school performance and performance on a dichotic listening (DL) task in dyslexic children. Dyslexia is associated with impaired phonological processing, related to functions in the left temporal lobe. DL is a frequently used task to assess functions of the left temporal lobe. Due to the predominance of the contralateral neuronal pathways, a right ear advantage in the DL task reflects the superior processing capacity for the right ear stimulus in the left hemisphere (Kimura, 1963). Previous studies using DL in dyslexia are, however, inconclusive, and may reflect degree of severity of dyslexia. The aim of the present study was therefore to investigate lateralized processing in two sub-groups of dyslexia, differing in symptom severity. Two groups of dyslexic 12-year-old children and an age-matched control group were tested with a consonant,vowel DL task. The two dyslexia groups differed in severity through how they responded to training efforts being made in their schools, while otherwise being matched for age, IQ and diagnosis. The D1 (respondent group) group showed a DL performance pattern similar to the control group, i.e. a right ear advantage, while the D2 (non-respondent) group failed to show a right ear advantage on the DL task. The performance on the DL task by the two dyslexia groups may provide better insight as to the degree of reading and writing impairment in dyslexia. ,Cracking the code' and acquiring automatized literacy skills may seem harder for the D2 group children compared to the D1 children. Also, the present study points to the use of DL as a valid assessment tool in clinical work to improve differential diagnoses, particularly in relation to measures of school performance. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Language-related differences between discrepancy-defined and non-discrepancy-defined poor readers: a longitudinal study of dyslexia in New Zealand

DYSLEXIA, Issue 1 2007
William E. Tunmer
Abstract Language-related differences between discrepancy-defined and non-discrepancy-defined poor readers were examined in a three-year longitudinal study that began at school entry. The discrepancy-defined (dyslexic) poor readers (n = 19) were identified in terms of poor reading comprehension and average or above average listening comprehension performance, and the non-discrepancy-defined (non-dyslexic) poor readers (n = 19) in terms of both poor reading and listening comprehension performance. The two poor reader groups and a group of normally developing readers (n = 55) were given several oral language, phonological processing, and reading performance measures at six testing occasions. Results indicated that in addition to expected differences on the oral language measures, the non-discrepancy-defined poor readers also showed greater phonological processing deficits than the dyslexic poor readers. The results are discussed in terms of the lack of official recognition of dyslexia in New Zealand, the whole language orientation of classroom reading instruction, and the inadequacy of Reading Recovery for minimizing reading problems. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

The contribution of phonological awareness and visual attention in early reading and spelling

DYSLEXIA, Issue 1 2007
Monique Plaza
Abstract We examined the development of phonological processing, naming speed, and visual attention in kindergarten and addressed the question of their contribution to reading and spelling in grade 1. Seventy five French-speaking children were administered seven tasks at the two phases of the study, and reading and spelling were assessed in grade 1. The major findings revealed that syllable awareness and visual attention were the most important predictors of early reading and spelling, and confirm the influence of naming speed and phoneme awareness on specific skills. These observations strongly suggest that written language acquisition relies on linguistic, perceptual and cognitive cross-modal skills and highlight the need for diversifying written language measures and analyzing their specific predictors. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Exploring dyslexics' phonological deficit I: lexical vs sub-lexical and input vs output processes

Working memory: Its role in dyslexia and other specific learning difficulties

DYSLEXIA, Issue 3 2004
Sharman Jeffries
Abstract This paper reports a study contrasting dyslexic children against a control group of children without special educational needs (SEN) and a group with varied SENs. Children's abilities were compared on tasks assessing phonological processing, visuo-spatial/motor coordination and executive/inhibitory functioning; being targeted for assessment based on theoretical proposals related to the working memory model. Primary and secondary school level children were tested: 21 assessed as dyslexic with no comorbid difficulties, 26 children assessed with difficulties including dyspraxia, emotional/behavioural problems and attention deficits, 40 children with no known education-related deficits were controls. Results indicated both SEN groups performed worse than controls on working memory phonological loop measures. However, SEN groups could only be differentiated on phonological awareness measures: the dyslexics showing lower scores. Dyslexics performed as well as controls on working memory visuo-spatial scratch pad measures and one of two additional visual,motor coordination tasks, whereas the performance of the other SEN children was lowest on the majority of these measures. Central executive and interference measures engendered mixed performances, both SEN groups showing evidence of deficits in one or more of these areas of functioning, although, of the two SEN groups, the dyslexics seem to have performed the worse when digit name processing was required. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Age-related improvements in auditory temporal resolution in reading-impaired children

DYSLEXIA, Issue 1 2003
Michael J. Hautus
Abstract Individuals with developmental dyslexia show impairments in processing that require precise timing of sensory events. Here, we show that in a test of auditory temporal acuity (a gap-detection task) children ages 6,9 years with dyslexia exhibited a significant deficit relative to age-matched controls. In contrast, this deficit was not observed in groups of older reading-impaired individuals (ages 10,11 years; 12,13 years) or in adults (ages 23,25 years). It appears, therefore, that early temporal resolution deficits in those with reading impairments may significantly ameliorate over time. However, the occurrence of an early deficit in temporal acuity may be antecedent to other language-related perceptual problems (particularly those related to phonological processing) that persist after the primary deficit has resolved. This result suggests that if remedial interventions targeted at temporal resolution deficits are to be effective, the early detection of the deficit and early application of the remedial programme is especially critical. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Children with dyslexia are slow to articulate a single speech gesture

DYSLEXIA, Issue 4 2002
Angela J. Fawcett
Abstract In addition to their well-established problems in phonological processing, children with dyslexia show reduced speed of articulation. Two groups of children with dyslexia, mean ages 13 and 16 years, participated together with two groups of normally achieving children matched for age and IQ, with 33 participants in total. Participants were asked to articulate repeatedly, as fast as they could, either a single articulatory gesture /p/ /t/ or /k/ or the sequence ,putuku'. The waveforms generated were analysed in two ways; the time per gesture excluding inter-articulatory pauses (articulatory duration); and the mean time including the pauses (gesture duration). No age effects were found, but dyslexic groups were significantly slower on all tests. Deficits were greater in relative magnitude for gesture duration than articulatory duration. The results suggest that children with dyslexia have significant problems in articulation, not only in gesture planning, but also in the speeded production of single articulatory gestures. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Surface and phonological subtypes of adult developmental dyslexia

DYSLEXIA, Issue 3 2002
Claire Zabell
Abstract In order to assess the efficacy of phonological versus surface dyslexia subtyping within an adult dyslexic population, 45 adult dyslexics were assessed on the Castles and Coltheart (1993) irregular word and non-word reading tasks. Based on the performance of a matched group of 28 non-dyslexics, between 62 and 75% of the dyslexics were divided into phonological and surface subtypes. Phonological dyslexics were those individuals who presented evidence of relatively poor or inefficient non-word reading, whereas the surface dyslexics were those who indicated relative difficulties with irregular word reading. The proportions of dyslexics within each subtype varied according to the use of accuracy-based or latency-based procedures, but were consistent with previous findings with children. Subsequent comparisons between the groups on measures of phonological processing, lexical access and word knowledge/recognition indicated few differences between the two subtypes and, in particular, no differences on measures of phonological ability. The lack of observed differences on such measures casts doubt on the efficacy of this procedure for explaining individual differences amongst adult dyslexics and as a practical procedure for diagnosis and intervention. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Relationship between L1 and L2 word-level reading and phonological processing in adults learning English as a second language

JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN READING, Issue 4 2007
Gina L. Harrison
Word-level reading and phonological processing measures were administered in English and Chinese to adult ESL students whose first language (L1) was Mandarin and whose second language (L2) was English. Instructors also identified students who may be at risk for L2 reading difficulties based on specific identification criteria. L2 phonological processing measures were related to L2 word-level reading and there was a cross-linguistic relationship between L1 and L2 phonological processing measures. Students considered at risk for L2 reading difficulties also differed significantly from those students not at risk on one L1 and several L2 phonological processing measures. Results are discussed in relation to contemporary theory on the assessment and identification of reading difficulties in English language learners. [source]

On the association between serial naming speed for letters and digits and word-reading skill: towards a developmental account

JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN READING, Issue 4 2005
Judith A. Bowey
The current study examined several alternative explanations of the association between serial naming speed within fourth-grade children by determining the extent to which the association between word reading and naming speed for letters and numbers is mediated by global processing speed, alphanumeric symbol processing efficiency and phonological processing ability. Children were given multiple measures of key constructs, i.e. word-level reading, serial naming of both alphanumeric and non-alphanumeric items, phonological processing ability, articulation rate and global processing speed. The robust association between alphanumeric naming speed and reading within fourth-grade children was largely mediated by phonological processing ability. Markedly different patterns of results were observed for naming speed for letters and digits and naming speed for colours and pictures in children of this age. Relative to the latter, alphanumeric naming speed better assesses an underlying phonological processing ability that is common to word-reading ability. We argue that item identification processes contribute little to individual differences in alphanumeric naming speed within relatively proficient readers and that the extent to which alphanumeric naming speed primarily reflects phonological processing is likely to vary with the level of overlearning of letters and numbers and their names. [source]

Predictors of Grade 2 Word Reading and Vocabulary Learning from Grade 1 Variables in Spanish-Speaking Children: Similarities and Differences

LEARNING DISABILITIES RESEARCH & PRACTICE, Issue 1 2008
Alexandra Gottardo
We examined the components of first (L1) and second language (L2) phonological processing that are related to L2 word reading and vocabulary. Spanish-speaking English learners (EL) were classified as average or low readers in grades 1 and 2. A large number of children who started out as poor readers in first grade became average readers in second grade while vocabulary scores were more stable. Binary logistic regressions examined variables related to classifications of consistently average, consistently low, or improving on reading or vocabulary across grades. Good L2 phonological short-term memory and phonological awareness scores predicted good reading and vocabulary scores. L1 and L2 measures differentiated consistently good performers from consistently low performers, while only L2 measures differentiated children who improved from children who remained low performers. Children who are EL should be screened on measures of pseudoword repetition and phonological awareness with low scorers being good candidates for receiving extra assistance in acquiring L2 vocabulary and reading. This study suggests measures that can be used to select children who have a greater likelihood of experiencing difficulties in reading and vocabulary. [source]

Suppressing Inner Speech in ESL Reading: Implications for Developmental Changes in Second Language Word Recognition Processes

MODERN LANGUAGE JOURNAL, Issue 4 2009
SHIGEO KATO
The effect of articulatory suppression on second language (L2) visual sentence comprehension and its relation to L2 reading proficiency and lower level processing efficiency were investigated in a series of experiments using 64 college-level Japanese English as a second language learners as participants. The results supported the hypothesis that increased reading proficiency requires developmental changes in lower level skills; namely a greater degree of L2 reading proficiency requires greater orthographic processing skills. This is especially pronounced for the groups comprising proficient and less proficient readers. With regard to proficient readers, there were significant intercorrelations among sentence processing performance under suppression, reading comprehension score, and orthographic skills; however, none of these relationships were significant with less proficient readers. In contrast, phonological processing continued to make a significant contribution with proficient readers under suppression. This confounding outcome implies that a simple choice between phonological and direct-visual coding strategies does not fully explain the L2 reading process under articulatory suppression. [source]

Convergent and concurrent validity of two measures of phonological processing

Specificity and characteristics of learning disabilities

THE JOURNAL OF CHILD PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHIATRY AND ALLIED DISCIPLINES, Issue 10 2005
Natasha Eisenmajer
Background:, The specificity of impairments in specific reading disabilities (SRD) and specific language impairments (SLI) has recently been questioned, with many children recruited for studies of SRD and SLI demonstrating impairments in both reading and oral language development. This has implications for the results of SRD and SLI studies where both reading and oral language skills are not assessed. Thus there is a need to compare the profiles of children with both oral language and reading impairments to groups of children with SRD and SLI. Methods:, The reading, oral language, short-term auditory memory, phonological processing, spelling, and maths abilities of 151 children (aged between 7 and 12 years) drawn from a Learning Disabilities Clinic were assessed. Results:, Five groups were identified, including children who demonstrated either a specific reading disability or a specific language impairment and children who showed evidence of both reading and oral language impairments. Differences were found between the groups on maths, phonological processing, short-term auditory memory, and spelling measures, with the children displaying both language and reading deficits generally performing at a lower level than the children with specific reading or language deficits. Conclusions:, It was concluded that more careful screening needs to be conducted in both clinical and research settings to accurately identify the nature of deficits in children with reading and oral language difficulties. Furthermore, a third and separate category of children with a mixed pattern of impairments needs to be considered. [source]