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Letter Strings (letter + string)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Psychology	60%

Selected Abstracts

Spelling as a self-teaching mechanism in orthographic learning

JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN READING, Issue 1 2008
Daphna Shahar-Yames
The present study examined the possibility that spelling fulfils a self-teaching function in the acquisition of orthographic knowledge because, like decoding, it requires close attention to letter order and identity as well as to word-specific spelling,sound mapping. We hypothesised that: (i) spelling would lead to significant (i.e. above-chance) levels of orthographic learning; (ii) spelling would actually result in superior learning relative to reading owing to the additional processing demands invoked when spelling; (iii) there would be stronger outcomes for post-test spelling production compared with spelling recognition; and (iv) relative to reading, spelling would produce superior orthographic learning in the case of later-occurring orthographic detail compared with information appearing earlier in the letter string. In a fully within-subjects design, third grade Hebrew readers were exposed to novel letter strings presented in three conditions: spelling, reading and an unseen control condition. With the exception of the position by condition interaction (our fourth hypothesis), which, although in the expected direction, failed to attain significance, all hypotheses were supported. These data highlight yet another dimension of reading,writing reciprocity by suggesting that spelling offers a powerful self-teaching tool in the compilation of word-specific orthographic representations. [source]

Rapid processing of letters, digits and symbols: what purely visual-attentional deficit in developmental dyslexia?

DEVELOPMENTAL SCIENCE, Issue 4 2010
Johannes C. Ziegler
Visual-attentional theories of dyslexia predict deficits for dyslexic children not only for the perception of letter strings but also for non-alphanumeric symbol strings. This prediction was tested in a two-alternative forced-choice paradigm with letters, digits, and symbols. Children with dyslexia showed significant deficits for letter and digit strings but not for symbol strings. This finding is difficult to explain for visual-attentional theories of dyslexia which postulate identical deficits for letters, digits and symbols. Moreover, dyslexics showed normal W-shaped serial position functions for letter and digit strings, which suggests that their deficit is not due to an abnormally small attentional window. Finally, the size of the deficit was identical for letters and digits, which suggests that poor letter perception is not just a consequence of the lack of reading. Together then, our results show that symbols that map onto phonological codes are impaired (i.e. letters and digits), whereas symbols that do not map onto phonological codes are not impaired. This dissociation suggests that impaired symbol-sound mapping rather than impaired visual-attentional processing is the key to understanding dyslexia. [source]

The incidence of dyslexia among young offenders in Kuwait

DYSLEXIA, Issue 2 2009
Gad Elbeheri
Abstract This paper investigates the incidence of dyslexia among young offenders in Kuwait. A total of 91 children/young adults from 8 juvenile delinquent welfare centres across Kuwait were interviewed and tested. A measure of non-verbal reasoning ability was used to exclude those with low general ability. The remaining 53 participants were tested on their ability to identify alliteration and rhyme, retain and manipulate sequences of digit and letter names, decode novel letter strings and identify words within letter chains. Participants' reading accuracy, rate of reading, reading comprehension and ability to spell correctly dictated text were also assessed. These measures were used to determine those with indicators of dyslexia. The results indicated that the percentage of individuals presenting evidence of dyslexia was much larger (greater than 20%) in this population of young offenders than would be expected based on the national average (around 6%) of dyslexics in Kuwait derived from a nationwide study (A survey study of dyslexia in Kuwait, Kuwait Dyslexia Association: Kuwait City; 2002). These findings replicate previous evidence for an increased frequency of dyslexia among young offenders. The implications of such findings are discussed in terms of dyslexia awareness, socio-cultural factors, education and intervention, particularly in Kuwait juvenile delinquent welfare centres. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Phonological processing skills as predictors of literacy amongst Arabic speaking Bahraini children

DYSLEXIA, Issue 4 2005
Haya al Mannai
Abstract This paper reports a study of the reading and spelling skills of grades 1,3 Arabic-speaking children in Bahrain. Children were tested on their literacy skills (single word reading and spelling), their ability to decode letter strings (non-word reading) and measures of phonological awareness, short-term memory, speed of processing and non-verbal ability. These tests were included to identify the best predictors of literacy skills amongst Arabic young readers. The results were consistent with the literature based on tests of English-speaking children in that measures of phonological skills (decoding and awareness) were the best predictors of variability in reading and spelling among the Bahraini children. The results are discussed in terms of the literacy experiences of the children and the use of short vowels in Arabic writing. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]