Showing papers on "Written language published in 2003"

Examining the literacy component of science literacy: 25 years of language arts and science research

Abstract: This review, written to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the International Journal of Science Education, revealed a period of changes in the theoretical views of the language arts, the perceived roles of language in science education, and the research approaches used to investigate oral and written language in science, science teaching, and learning. The early years were dominated by behavioralist and logico-mathematical interpretations of human learning and by reductionist research approaches, while the later years reflected an applied cognitive science and constructivist interpretations of learning and a wider array of research approaches that recognizes the holistic nature of teaching and learning. The early years focus on coding oral language into categories reflecting source of speech, functional purpose, level of question and response, reading research focused on the readability of textbooks using formulae and the reader's decoding skills, and writing research was not well documented since the advo...

Dyslexia in Different Languages: Cross-Linguistic Comparisons

Abstract: Introduction, cross--linguistic studies of dyslexia -- an overview of current research. Cross--linguistic assessment of reading difficulties in English--Afrikaans bilingual children. Learning to spell in French: How spoken and written language influence the acquisition of spelling skills of Quebec--French speaking children. Reading disability in Norwegian children. Dyslexia in German--speaking children. The manifestation of developmental reading disorders in a regular orthographic system: the Greek language. Reading and reading difficulties in Polish. Identifying developmental dyslexia in Arabic -- a review of the literature. Developmental dyslexia in Chinese. Dyslexia in English and Japanese and a Hypothesis of Granularitya . Literacy problems in braille. Dyslexia in different languages -- what next?

Developmental, gender, and practical considerations in scoring curriculum-based measurement writing probes

Abstract: The present study focused on CBM written language procedures by conducting an investigation of the developmental, gender, and practical considerations surrounding three categories of CBM written language scoring indices: production-dependent, production-independent, and accurate-production. Students in first- through eighth-grade generated a three-minute writing sample in the fall and spring of the school year using standard CBM procedures. The writing samples were scored using all three types of scoring indices to assess the trends in scoring indices for students of varying ages and gender and of the time required to score writing samples using various scoring indices. With only one exception, older students outperformed younger students on all of the scoring indices. Although at the middle school level students' levels of writing fluency and writing accuracy were not closely associated, at the younger grade levels the CBM indices were significantly related. With regard to gender differences, girls outperformed boys on measures of writing fluency at all grade levels. The average scoring time per writing sample ranged from 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 minutes (depending on grade level). © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 40: 379–390, 2003.

Do Beez Buzz? Rule–Based and Frequency–Based Knowledge in Learning to Spell Plural –s

Abstract: There has been much discussion about whether certain aspects of human learning depend on the abstraction of rules or on the acquisition of frequency-based knowledge. It has usually been agreed, however, that the spelling of morphological patterns in English (e.g., past tense -ed) and other languages is based on the acquisition of morphological rules, and that these rules take a long time to learn. The regular plural -s ending seems to be an exception: Even young children can spell this correctly, even when it is pronounced /z/ (as in bees). Reported here are 3 studies that show that 5- to 9-year-old children and adults do not usually base their spellings of plural real-word and pseudo-word endings on the morphological rule that all regular plurals are spelled with -s. Instead, participants appeared to use their knowledge of complex but untaught spelling patterns, which is based on the frequency with which certain letters co-occur in written English.

Spelling in Children With Dyslexia: Analyses From the Treiman-Bourassa Early Spelling Test

Abstract: We examined the oral and written spelling performance on the Treiman-Bourassa Early Spelling Test (Treiman & Bourassa, 2000a) of 30 children with serious reading and spelling problems and 30 spelling-level-matched younger children who were progressing normally in learning to read and spell. The 2 groups’ spellings were equivalent on a composite measure of phonological and orthographic sophistication, representation of the phonological skeleton of the items, and orthographic legality. The groups showed a similar advantage for words over nonwords on the phonological skeleton and orthographic legality measures. The children with dyslexia and the comparison children also showed an equivalent advantage for written over oral spelling on the composite and phonological skeleton measures. Further analyses revealed that children with dyslexia made many of the same linguistically based errors as typically developing children but also pointed to some subtle differences between the groups. Overall, the spelling performance of children with dyslexia appears to be quite similar to that of normally progressing younger children.

The Role of Peer Support in ESL Students' Accomplishment of Oral Academic Tasks

Abstract: How do L2 students work together to accomplish their public, in-class tasks? From a sociocultural perspective (e.g., Duff, 1995; Lantolf, 2000), the present study takes a behind-the-scenes look at peer collaboration in which a group of three Japanese undergraduate students engaged to accomplish an academic presentation task during their year-long studies in a content-based ESL program at a Canadian university. Methods for data collection reflected a qualitative case study approach and included audio-recorded observations of project work, in-depth interviews, and students' journals and papers. Data showed that students' preparatory activities outside the classroom included negotiating task definition and teacher expectations, sharing experiences, collaborative dialogue (Swain, 2000) in preparing presentation materials, and rehearsing and peer-coaching. Analysis shed useful light on students' contextualization of and orientation to the task, the interdependence of spoken and written language in task prepara...

A Combined Corpus and Systemic-Functional Analysis of the Problem-Solution Pattern in a Student and Professional Corpus of Technical Writing.

Abstract: This article reports on research describing similarities and differences between expert and novice writing in the problem-solution pattern, a frequent rhetorical pattern of technical academic writing. A corpus of undergraduate student writing and one containing professional writing consisted of 80 and 60 recommendation reports, respectively, with each corpus totaling approximately 250,000 words. Drawing on two analytic perspectives, the methodology included searches for key words that provided linguistic evidence for the problem-solution pattern. A more delicate examination of the linguistic meanings encoded in the problemsolution reports involved a systemic-functional approach to analysis of evaluative texts, APPRAISAL (Martin, 2000, in press), as well as an analysis of the lexicogrammatical patterning of the key word problem within a framework of causal relations. Along with many similarities between the expert and the novice writing, findings highlight important differences in the use of problem within the causal relation patterns. Pedagogical implications are discussed. The problem-solution rhetorical pattern appears frequently in technical reports and other academic writing, perhaps most notably when the author introduces the issue that the report or paper discusses as a problem and then presents the main point of the paper as a solution. As a consequence, successful academic English writers draw on important aspects of their rhetorical knowledge and strategic competence when they exploit the linguistic resources required to express the problemsolution pattern in a range of academic writing. Accordingly, ESL/EFL teachers need to understand this common pattern, particularly in terms of how it is realized linguistically by novice and expert writers. This study

Written Language Profile of Children and Youth with Asperger Syndrome: From Research to Practice

Abstract: The current study investigated written language skills of children and youth with Asperger Syndrome (AS). Sixteen children and youth with AS and 16 neurotypical peers were compared on a standardized test of written language skills and legibility of handwriting. To investigate more detailed characteristics, informal analyses were also made for written samples from these standardized tests. In written language skills, significant differences were not found between standardized scores of both groups; however, in hand writing skills, the group of individuals with AS produced significantly less legible letters and words than the neurotypical group. Informal analyses of written samples further reveal that the group of children and youth with AS appear to be able write quantitatively similar to their neurotypical peers with using grammatical rules but had difficulty producing qualitative writing. Implications for translating research to practice in teaching writing skills for children and youth with AS are discussed.

Written Language, Standard Language, Global Language

Abstract: English, along with a small number of other languages in the modern period, has expanded away from local through national to international domains, changing significantly along the way. But the changes are not simply those that take place in the normal course of the history of a language; other changes come about as a language takes on new cultural, economic and political responsibilities. Critical moments occur when a language comes to be written as well as spoken, and then when it comes to function as a standard language for some sort of nation-state. In that socio-historical perspective English is now acquiring a new identity as the global language of the late capitalist world. Some of the consequences of this development are beginning to show; but we have yet to find out what the long-term effects are that arise when a language finds itself globalized.

Use of partial information in learning to read Chinese characters.

Abstract: This study investigated whether children can use partial information to learn the pronunciations of Chinese characters. Participants were 49 2nd graders and 56 4th graders whose home language was Mandarin and 75 2nd graders and 93 4th graders whose home language was Cantonese. Children had 2 trials to learn the Mandarin pronunciations of 28 unfamiliar compound characters of 4 types. Children learned to pronounce more regular characters, which contain full information about pronunciation, and more tone-different and onset-different characters, which contain partial information about pronunciation, than characters with unknown phonetic components, which contain no information about pronunciation. Mandarin-speaking children learned more pronunciations than Cantonese-speaking children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

The Influence of Working Memory on Reading and Creative Writing Processes in a Second Language

Abstract: The present study tested both the processing and storage of functions of working memory (WM) and whether WM in low-order and high-order writing processes follows the same pattern as in reading. The influence of WM on creative writing was also tested. Forty-seven high school students participated in this study. A test of written language was administered to the subjects, comprising the following subtests spelling, vocabulary, style, logical sentence, sentence combining, thematic maturity, contextual vocabulary, syntactic maturity, contextual spelling, contextual style. A WM reading comprehension test was also conducted. The overall findings of the study indicate significant relationships between WM measures and reading and writing in English as a second language.

Content-Based Second Language Teaching and Learning: An Interactive Approach

Abstract: I. LANGUAGE / LANGUAGE LEARNING / LANGUAGE ACQUISITION. 1. How Languages Are Learned and Acquired. Interactive Learning in Content-Based Classes. Socio-Cultural Theories and Practices. Psycholinguistic Theories and Practices. Role of Interaction in Language and Literacy Learning. Interaction and Roles of First and Second Languages. How Assumptions About Language and Language Learning Shape Our Understanding. Core Principles About Interactive Approach to Content-based Teaching and Learning. Second Language Learning and Second Language Acquisition. II. INTERACTIVE INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICE IN CONTENT-BASED SETTINGS. 2. Methods and Approaches in Language Teaching. Traditional Behaviorist Methods. Rationalist and Mentalist Methods. Functional Approaches. Humanistic Approaches. What Is Language? A Look at Linguistic, Psycholinguistic, and Socio-Cultural Theories. 3. Planning for the Standards-based Classroom. Planning and Managing Interactive Instruction. Course and Program Planning. Program Models. The Role of Textbooks and Other Materials in Planning for Content-Based Instruction. Unit Planning. Planning for Diverse Learners. Planning Across Proficiency Levels. Daily Lesson Planning. Planning and Alternative Scheduling Formats. Effective Planning and Teaching Strategies. 4. Creating Interactive and Content-Based Assessment. Introduction to Assessment. Reasons for Assessment. Alternative Assessment/Performance-Based Tasks. Integrated Performance Assessments. Types of Oral Language Assessment. Reading and Writing Assessment. Rubrics. Steps to Designing a Rubric. Using Interactive Technology. Understanding Standardized Tests. 5. Interactive Listening and Reading. Interactive Listening and Reading in Content-Based Classes. Skills in Listening Comprehension. Research on Listening Comprehension Development. Classroom Application. Reading versus Literacy. Reading and Listening as Interpretive Skills. Reading and Viewing as Interactive Processes. Strategy-Based Reading Instruction. The Process of Interpretive Communication. Strategies Used in Interactive Listening. Characteristics of Successful Listeners. Reading as an Interactive Process. Types of Reading Strategies. Facilitating the Reading Process. Integrating Technology. Reading Assessment. 6. Foregrounding Oral Communication. Simultaneous First and Second Language Oral Development. Developing Oral Communication in Sequential Language Acquisition. Language as a Resource. Classroom Language Learning. Subtractive Bilingualism. Second Language Acquisition Research. Classroom-Based Research on Tasks and Interaction That Facilitate Oral Communication Development. Planned Oral Communication. Identity and Agency Building. Instructional Practices for Oral Communication Development. Going Beyond the National Standards. 7. A Focus on Written Language Communication. Research on Writing. Teaching Interactive Second Language Writing in Content-Based Classes. Writing and the Standards. Integrating Technology and Writing. Writing Assessment. Teaching Diverse Learners in the Writing Process. Writing and Reading Strategy Instruction. 8. An Interactive Approach for Working with Diverse Learners. Impact of Changing Demographics. Pedagogical Implications for Working with Diverse Learners. Learner-Centered Instruction in an Interactive, Content-based Classroom. The Multiple Intelligences. Learning Styles. Culturally Relevant Pedagogy. Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Exceptional Students. Working with Gifted Learners in Second Language Classrooms. Special Needs Learners. 9. Integrating Technology in an Interactive, Content-Based Classroom. Pedagogical Implications for Using Technology. Digital Literacy Technology in an Interactive Classroom. Technology and Foreign/Second Language Literacy. Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL). Games as Interactive Activities. World Wide Web Resources for Language Teachers. E-mail. Listservs. Chatrooms. Distance Education. Video Conferencing. Using Internet-Based Activities. Videotexts. Technology and Assessment. Technology and Standards. Determining Selection of Videos for Use. Developments and Trends in Technology. III. FOCUS ON COMPREHENSION. 10. Comprehension Exercises and Activities.

The Effects of Morphological Structure on Children’s Reading of Derived Words in English

Abstract: The English written language system represents words at the level of the morpheme as well as the phoneme. It is likely, therefore, that awareness of not only the phonological but also the morphological structure of words plays a role in learning to read. While there is a large body of research that shows the importance of phonological awareness, there are many unanswered questions about the role of morphological awareness in the acquisition of reading skill. When and under what circumstances sensitivity to morphemic structure affects the word reading of children is the focus of the present chapter.

Learning Disabilities in Children's and Adolescent Literature: How Are Characters Portrayed?.

Abstract: Ninety fictional books written for children or adolescents that portrayed at least one character with a learning disability were analyzed to determine how learning disabilities and related topics were addressed. Results indicated that most of the characters with learning disabilities were dynamic, meaning they changed or grew through the course of the story line. Also, most were the main character, the story was told from their point of view, and their learning disability had a major impact on the plot. Most commonly the learning disability was in the areas of reading and written language, with the character receiving services in a resource room. The diagnostic/evaluation process was often described, but few details about instructional methods were part of the story. Both negative and positive portrayals of teachers were evident.

Evaluating the Relative Effectiveness of Structured-Input and Output-Based Instruction in Foreign Language Learning: Results from an Experimental Study

Abstract: This paper reErlamviews studies that have contrasted the effectiveness of structured-input instruction with output-based instruction. It then presents results from a study comparing the relative effects of structured-input and output-based instruction on students' ability to comprehend and produce direct object pronouns in second language French. Three classes of students (N = 70) were assigned to three groups: structured-input instruction, output-based instruction, and control. Students were assessed on listening comprehension, reading comprehension, written production, and oral production tasks. All but one of these language measures required a pressured response. Overall, the results showed greater gains for the output-based instruction group.

Language Comprehension and Production

Abstract: This chapter reviews current research and theory on the comprehension and production of language by fluent language users. The chapter focuses on core linguistic processes such as word recognition, the nature of the mental lexicon, the comprehension of sentences and discourse, and the generation of words and sentences in language production. In each area, we review research on spoken language processing and research on written language processing, highlighting the similarities and differences between the two modalities. Many of the studies reviewed in this chapter were carried out in English, but studies with other languages are also considered. Interwoven into the review of research findings is discussion of theoretical issues such as the debate between modular and interactive views of language processing, the balance between computation and storage, and the use of rules versus statistical patterns. The role of linguistics in the study of psycholinguistics is also addressed. The chapter concludes by pointing to the need for closer ties between work on language comprehension and work on language production and by outlining other directions for future research. Keywords: language comprehension; language production; psycholinguistics; spoken language processing; word recognition; written language processing

Language Standardization and Signed Language Dictionaries

Abstract: The issue of the use of signed language dictionaries in the standardization of signed languages is discussed with reference to the Australian Sign Language (Auslan) dictionaries. First I describe language standardization as broadly understood in the context of written and unwritten languages, on the one hand, and signed and spoken languages on the other. I then describe the distinctive situation of deaf community signed languages and the types of dictionaries that have recently been produced of these languages and the limitations. I detail the structure of the Auslan dictionaries and argue that bilingual, bidirectional dictionaries of this type must be produced first if communities are to encourage language standardization in a meaningful and informed way. I conclude that the Internet provides a means of recording and displaying signed language lexicons in widely dispersed signing communities in a way that may facilitate language standardization in a grassroots manner, rather than being imposed on the community in the form of a prescriptive publication. THE PRIME MOTIVATION of the sponsors and authors of signed language dictionaries has been, and continues to be, the standardization of the language of deaf communities, variously defined. The deaf communities served in this way may be as small as those residing in individual cities or simply particular religious groups-or as large as the deaf communities of whole nations.1 Of course, it is a moot point whether one should in fact call many of these publications dictionaries at all according to the criteria that some lexicographers expound (Landau 1989). In many cases they are merely word lists that present signs as nothing more than the simple equivalents of particular words. What is worse, many of these signs are neologisms that the sponsors or authors of the dictionaries in question have coined.2 Ironically, regardless of whether the sponsors or authors of these dictionaries have regarded signed languages as bona fide independent languages or as derivative communication systems dependent on spoken languages, the motivation of both camps has overwhelmingly been to standardize the lexicon. One feature of signed languages that linguists, educators, and deaf people themselves have repeatedly reported is the high degree of individual, community, and regional variation in sign vocabulary. The members of local deaf communities have often encouraged dictionary makers in their quest for standardization, even if the input of the groups in each community has often actively undermined consensus and seriously compromised the final product and its acceptance by the wider deaf community. However, despite these observations, it is also true that not all signed language lexicographers have seen their primary role as implementing language standardization. Some, and I count myself among them, have been motivated by a desire to document a chosen signed language in a dictionary format as, first of all, a community service and resource and, second, as a research tool to assist further investigations into the language. In order to understand the potential of signed language dictionaries as tools in standardization we need to (1) define the process of language standardization itself, as we generally understand it; (2) identify the role of dictionaries within different types of language communities; and (3) look at the form of signed language dictionaries in this context in order to distinguish between those that are primarily "acts of standardization" and those that are primarily "acts of documentation." Only then can we determine how we might best achieve language standardization in deaf communities and what role dictionaries of these languages might play in this process. Defining Standardization Milroy and Milroy define standardization in language as "the suppression of optional variability in a language" (1999, 6)-a process that language communities undergo over a considerable period of time. …

On the Radical Difference between the Subject Personal Pronouns in Written and Spoken European French

Abstract: This article is concerned with the investigation of variation, completed change, and change in progress, which are leading to a radical difference between everyday spoken European French and the standard written variety. We will focus on one small part of French grammar -- the subject pronouns -- and detail how grammatical and semantic change is contributing to an incipient diglossic situation in French, a situation which must be recognized by linguists and language teachers alike. Standard treatments (linguistic, reference, pedagogical grammars) of French agree that the subject personal pronouns/clitics (used with a verb) are: je ‘I’, tu ‘you’ (familiar/ singular), il, elle ‘he, she, it’, nous ‘we’, vous ‘you’ (plural, polite), ils, elles ‘they’, and, among others, the indefinite on ‘one’. This accounts quite well for written French, but it is quite inaccurate for everyday spoken French. Through the analysis of a corpus of everyday spoken European French, we have found that the subject clitics (especially the first and second person, and third person to a certain extent) have become grammatical prefixes. In addition, as we will show in detail, nous has all but disappeared as a subject clitic and has been replaced by on-. At the same time, the use of on- for ‘one’ is much less frequent than before: there has been a reversal of the basic/marginal relation in its meaning, such that the meaning ‘we’ occurs in by far the majority of its uses, and the meaning ‘one’ is now only a marginal meaning. There are, however, vague uses of on, which could be interpreted as either ‘we’ or ‘one’ -- thus showing the path of change from the one to the other both diachronically and synchronically. This indefinite meaning is now shifting over increasingly to tu (and only to a very small extent to vous), so much so that in our corpus, tu seems to have two basic meanings, split almost 50-50 between ‘you’ and ‘one’. This is inherently an unstable situation and probably presages more changes to come. It is clear, therefore, that more good corpus work is needed for a fuller understanding of spoken European French. Paradoxically, in addition, good corpus work is also needed on written French of many different varieties, since the reference and pedagogical grammars that focus on the written language tend to be based on the written French of only the ‘best’ authors and ‘good usage’. And finally, corpus-based reference works and textbooks are essential if we expect our students to develop any real, pragmatically appropriate, communicative proficiency in French.

Exploring the written feedback dialogue: a research, learning and teaching practice:

Abstract: The final paper of this Special Issue on Exploratory Practice (EP) is another illustration of the potential of EP for doctoral research. More importantly, like the preceding paper by Gunn it emphas...

Supporting Literacy-Related Play: Roles for Teachers of Young Children

Abstract: INTRODUCTION functions of literacy when they are (a) exploring their environment, (b) interacting with others, (c) expressing Researchers (Roskos & Newman, 1998; Saracho, themselves, (d) confirming incidents, and (e) transacting 1993; Saracho & Spodek, 1996) support the contention with text. Saracho and Spodek (1996) describe how that beginning reading instruction should occur in a natteachers in kindergarten classrooms provide a play enviural context, where the determined use of language and ronment with a language or literacy component inteliteracy replaces the drill and practice of skill acquisition grated in the children’s play activities (e.g., writing cen(Saracho, 1993). This process can easily be used for beters, writing activities, print labels) that differentiates ginning reading instruction and presented in children’s between print and nonprint and motivates children to inplay environments. According to the National Research vent symbols and messages. Hence, the teachers take up Council (1998), teachers are able to encourage language important roles in children’s emergent literacy, espeand literacy growth using play-based literacy instruction cially during their spontaneous play. A sparse number when they: of studies (Roskos & Neuman, 1993; Schrader, 1990; Vukelich, 1989) analyze the adult’s behaviors in liter• allow enough time and space for play in the classroom, acy-related play, but studies that center specifically on • provide the needed material resources, • develop children’s background knowledge for the play setting, the teacher’s role in the children’s literacy-related play • scaffold the rehearsals of dramatic retellings, and have been neglected and need to be conducted. The pur• become involved in play settings as to guide the children’s atpose of this study is to investigate which are the roles tention and learning through modeling and interaction. (p. 184) that teachers display in young children’s literacy-related play. Children’s acquisition of literacy emerges when their play experiences nurture their understanding about the purposes and characteristics of print. For example, when they (a) play with language and thinking or (b) analyze METHODOLOGY the meaning of literacy and its medium, they discover Population the meaning about print (Roskos & Newman, 1998). Studies demonstrate a relationship between chilThe population consisted of five kindergarten dren’s literacy development and play (Jacob, 1984; Roskos teachers and their classroom children. The teachers’ pro& Newman, 1998; Saracho & Spodek, 1996). Jacob defessional experiences included 2–11 years of teaching lineates how kindergarten children discover the uses of experience, a bachelor’s educational degree, and a state written language when they engage in play. For instance, kindergarten endorsement. They integrated language, Woodward (1984) demonstrates that during play, chilreading, and writing concepts in the children’s spontanedren compose shopping lists, use food stamps to purous play. chase goods, and obtain prescriptions from a doctor. Vukelich (1994) confirms that children who play in a Measurement Materials and Analysis print-rich environment are able to identify words from a list that excludes graphics and the play context. Roskos The teachers’ actions and interactions were systematically observed and videotaped during the kindergarten (1988) assumes that children apply reading and writing to substantiate their pretend play, express themselves, children’s play for a 5-month period. To categorize the roles of the teachers in a literacy-play environment, epiand document information within play events. Neuman and Roskos (1989) conclude that children apply the sodes were identified and transcribed from a series of

A computer-animated tutor for spoken and written language learning

Abstract: Baldi, a computer-animated talking head is introduced. The quality of his visible speech has been repeatedly modified and evaluated to accurately simulate naturally talking humans. Baldi's visible speech can be appropriately aligned with either synthesized or natural auditory speech. Baldi has had great success in teaching vocabulary and grammar to children with language challenges and training speech distinctions to children with hearing loss and to adults learning a new language. We demonstrate these learning programs and also demonstrate several other potential application areas for Baldi®.

Monitoring dyslexics' intelligence and attainments: a follow-up study.

Abstract: Intelligence (Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children R and III, 1992) and written language attainment (BAS Word Reading, Neale Analysis of Reading, Vernon Graded Word Spelling) data for around 250 children attending a specialist school for dyslexics are presented. The Wechsler scales data show some evidence for ‘ACID’ and ‘SCAD’ profile effects on the subtests, with specifically weak Index scores on Freedom from Distractibility and Processing Speed. The relationship between intelligence and reading development is also examined, with evidence for significant correlations between intelligence and written language and a longitudinal study showing that there is no ‘Matthew’ or drop-off effect in intelligence. The attainments tests demonstrate that the widening gap between a dyslexic's chronological age and his/her attainments can be closed, and how attainments may be monitored within the context of ‘growth curves’. The results are discussed in relation to recent reports (e.g. B.P.S. on Dyslexia, Literacy and Psychological Assessment) on the relationship between intelligence and attainments and it is concluded that this report could be seriously misleading for practising educational psychologists. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Teaching self-cues: A treatment approach for verbal naming

Abstract: Background: Very few treatment studies have examined the effects of training individuals with anomia to self-generate phonological cues. There is evidence that treatments using written language can improve phonological access for some patients. Such approaches are most effective when the patients are taught strategies to facilitate oral reading of targets. Aim: The goal of the present study was to evaluate the effects of a naming treatment designed to teach a chronic nonfluent aphasic to generate self-cues based on partial access to the written form of words and tactile (placement) cues. Methods: Therapy focused on naming items using a modified cueing hierarchy that incorporated written naming and tactile cues. An AB design was used to examine treatment effects in an individual with aphasia and apraxia of speech. Outcomes and Results: Verbal naming improved in target compared to control items. Generalisation was observed to verbal and written naming on standardised measures but not to novel stimuli with i...

Systematic Phonics Instruction: Findings of the National Reading Panel.

Abstract: Instruction for beginning readers is thought to be needed on several fronts, including phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, reading comprehension, and vocabulary. The National Reading Panel reviewed the findings of many experiments to determine whether there was sufficient scientific evidence to indicate the effectiveness of these forms of instruction in helping students learn to read. This paper reviews one part of their report, that involving the evidence of systematic phonics instruction. The paper states that because the writing system in English is more complex and variable than in some languages, it is harder to learn, making systematic phonics instruction even more important to teach, because children will have difficulty figuring out the system on their own. It points out that a primary goal of phonics instruction is to teach students to read words in or out of text. It explains that phonics is a method of instruction that teaches students correspondence between graphemes in written language and phonemes in spoken language and how to use these correspondences to read and spell words. It notes that phonics instruction is systematic when the major graphemephoneme correspondences are taught and they are covered in a clearly defined sequence. According to the paper, the phonics review sought to determine whether there is experimental evidence showing that systematic phonics instruction helps children learn to read more effectively than unsystematic phonics instruction or instruction teaching little or no phonics and whether phonics instruction is more effective under some circumstances than others and for some students more than others. The paper discusses the 38 studies were reviewed in the meta analysis. Appended is a list of the 38 studies. (Contains 2 tables and 41 references.) (NKA) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. Systematic Phonics Instruction: Findings of the National Reading Panel

Why might language and motor impairments occur together

Abstract: Children who, for some reason, are inferior in performance to their peers in certain domains of development often experience the feeling of falling short. This applies to children who are poor in motor skills and/or in academic skills such as spoken and written language. Although a relatively small group of children is affected by such problems, the problems may have serious implications for those concerned. Some children seem to be affected in the motor domain only, while others seem to experience problems only with relation to spoken and/or written language. Still, the coincidence of motor and language/writing impairments in children is considerable, and too large to be fortuitous. It is believed that intervention and prevention programs will be more effective if based upon knowledge about underlying sources of the observed problems. The aim of the present thesis, therefore, is to do a theoretical and empirical investigation of putative underlying sources of language (including both oral language and reading) and motor impairments in children, from a neuropsychological perspective. To that end, Chapter 1 provides a theoretical introduction to the theme motor/language impairment syndromes and presents different theoretic explanations that has been suggested in the literature, as to why such syndromes often co-occur. From a social scientific point of view, these syndromes may be regarded as indirectly linked mediated by social constraints such as, for example, self-esteem. However, from a neuropsychological perspective, language and motor impairments in children are regarded as directly related, due to a developmental lag or a deficit in the nervous system. That will be the main focus of the present thesis. From this perspective, several underlying neurological deficits that could account for language as well as motor impairments have been suggested. These are related to different neurological sites such as, for example, the cerebellum and the corpus callosum. Cerebellar explanations have been invoked to account for postural problems in language impaired children and dyslexics as well as temporal problems in both the motor and language domains. Bimanual co-ordination problems and other laterality problems observed in dyslexics, language impaired children as well as motor impaired children have been attributed to callosal dysfunction. A more recent theoretical explanation is the magnocellular theory, related to a certain kind of fast conducting nerve cells that bring information from the retina to the visual cortex. This theory was, originally, introduced as an explanatory factor of dyslexia, but was later suggested to play a role in motor impairment as well. Chapter 2 reports an exploratory study using quantitative and qualitative methods in attempt to identify putative neurological deficiencies that may account for the co-occurrence of motor and cognitive (measured as psycholinguistic abilities) impairments in a sample (N = 15) of 6-10 years old (oral) language impaired children. A subgroup of n = 4 children that are week in both language and cognitive functions is identified. The cerebellar deficit hypothesis and the inter/intra-hemispheric deficit hypothesis are discussed as candidate explanations. The inter- versus intra-hemispheric deficit hypothesis is further validated in Chapter 3. The same subgroup of four children as that identified in Chapter 2 is tested on two different movement tasks designed to measure inter- and intra- hemispheric functions. The results are discussed in the light of Liederman’s shielding model. This model emphasises the role of the corpus callosum in shielding information between the hemispheres, which is necessary in order to allow for independent processing. In Chapter 4 the focus shifts to motor co-ordination problems per se. A task that is particularly difficult for children with poor motor co-ordination, is that of catching a ball, a task imposed by severe spatial and temporal constraints. It is believed that information about where this task breaks down, at the spatial or temporal component, will provide clues as to what could be the underlying causes of the co-ordination problems. In order to separate out the temporal and spatial aspects of the catching task, two experiments are designed, one emphasising the reaching action (spatial orientation), the other emphasising the grasping action (imposed by temporal constraints). The performance of a sample (n = 8) of 10-11 year old children with poor motor skills is compared to that of an equal sized control group on these tasks. The temporal and spatial deficits discovered are discussed with relation to the distal and proximal proprioceptive systems as well as the visual system. The question whether the underlying problem is related to a visual or proprioceptive deficit, or to a combination of visual and proprioceptive deficits, is further explored in Chapter 5. Chapter 5 is written as a Research Note in extension of Chapter 4, using the same subjects. The groups are compared on two tests of proprioception, designed for the purpose of measuring inter-/ and intra hemispheric information processing (same tasks as those used in Chapter 3), and three different tests of visual perception, designed to measure magno- and parvocellular function. The results are discussed with relation to visual processing and maturation of the corpus callosum. In Chapter 6 the visual perceptual problems suggested in Chapters 4 and 5 are investigated with relation to both motor and reading impairment on an extended group of 10-11 year old children. Three groups of n = 8 children are selected from a larger sample (N = 102), one group which is motor impaired only, one which is both motor and language impaired, as well as a normal control group. These groups are compared on the same visual tests (with the exclusion of one) as those used in Chapter 5. Based on the results from the group comparisons and a correlation analyses, magno- and parvocellular involvement in both motor and reading tasks, as well as in motor and reading impairments, is discussed. Finally, Chapter 7 contains a summary and a general discussion that evaluates the theoretical positions presented in Chapter 1 in the light of the empirical studies reported in Chapters 2 – 6. Conclusions and suggestions for further studies are made.

Comunicación multimodal en la clase de ciencias : el ciclo del agua

Abstract: In this paper we are presenting an analysis of teacher discourse from a multimodal communication perspective, in a secondary school science class about the «water cycle». This approach implies the consideration that every communication system (oral and written language, visual language and gesture) contributes to give meaning to the concept of water cycle in a cooperative or specialised way. The theoretical basis and methodology used for the analysis are presented. Later, the results are discussed and suggestions are presented for the purpose of discovering the communicative resources available to the teacher in the classroom.