Cognitive predictors of word reading in Sinhala

This study investigated the word reading and listening comprehension difficulties of fourth-grade students with significant reading comprehension deficits and the cognitive difficulties that underlie these weaknesses. Latent profile analysis was used to classify a sample of fourth-grade students ( n = 446) who scored below the 16th percentile on a measure of reading comprehension into subgroups based on their performance in word reading (WR) and listening comprehension (LC). Three latent profiles emerged: (a) moderate deficits in both WR and LC of similar severity (91%), (b) severe deficit in WR paired with moderate LC deficit (5%), and (c) severe deficit in LC with moderate WR difficulties (4%). Analyses examining the associations between cognitive attributes and group membership indicated students with lower performance on cognitive predictors were more likely to be in a severe subgroup. Implications for educators targeting improved reading performance for upper elementary students with significant reading difficulties were discussed.

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Cognitive Prediction of Reading, Math, and Attention: Shared and Unique Influences

Journal of Learning Disabilities ◽

10.1177/0022219415618500 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 50 (4) ◽

pp. 408-421 ◽

Cited By ~ 31

Author(s):

Robin L. Peterson ◽

Richard Boada ◽

Lauren M. McGrath ◽

Erik G. Willcutt ◽

Richard K. Olson ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Word Reading ◽

Older Children ◽

Verbal Comprehension ◽

Math Ability ◽

Cognitive Predictors ◽

Hyperactivity Disorder ◽

Math Disability ◽

Reading And Math ◽

Predictor Model ◽

Executive Functioning Skills

The current study tested a multiple-cognitive predictor model of word reading, math ability, and attention in a community-based sample of twins ages 8 to 16 years ( N = 636). The objective was to identify cognitive predictors unique to each skill domain as well as cognitive predictors shared among skills that could help explain their overlap and thus help illuminate the basis for comorbidity of related disorders (reading disability, math disability, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder). Results indicated that processing speed contributes to the overlap between reading and attention as well as math and attention, whereas verbal comprehension contributes to the overlap between reading and math. There was no evidence that executive functioning skills help account for covariation among these skill domains. Instead, specific executive functions differentially related to certain outcomes (i.e., working memory to math and inhibition to attention). We explored whether the model varied in younger versus older children and found only minor differences. Results are interpreted within the context of the multiple deficit framework for neurodevelopmental disorders.

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Morphological Awareness Skills of Second- and Third-Grade Students With and Without Speech Sound Disorders

Language Speech and Hearing Services in Schools ◽

10.1044/2019_lshss-19-00045 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 51 (3) ◽

pp. 603-616

Author(s):

Kenn Apel ◽

Victoria S. Henbest

Keyword(s):

Word Reading ◽

Speech Sound ◽

Morphological Awareness ◽

Literacy Skills ◽

Receptive Vocabulary ◽

Real Word ◽

Speech Sound Disorders ◽

Word Level ◽

Third Grade Students ◽

Pseudoword Reading

Purpose Morphological awareness is the ability to consciously manipulate the smallest units of meaning in language. Morphological awareness contributes to success with literacy skills for children with typical language and those with language impairment. However, little research has focused on the morphological awareness skills of children with speech sound disorders (SSD), who may be at risk for literacy impairments. No researcher has examined the morphological awareness skills of children with SSD and compared their skills to children with typical speech using tasks representing a comprehensive definition of morphological awareness, which was the main purpose of this study. Method Thirty second- and third-grade students with SSD and 30 with typical speech skills, matched on age and receptive vocabulary, completed four morphological awareness tasks and measures of receptive vocabulary, real-word reading, pseudoword reading, and word-level spelling. Results Results indicated there was no difference between the morphological awareness skills of students with and without SSD. Although morphological awareness was moderately to strongly related to the students' literacy skills, performance on the morphological awareness tasks contributed little to no additional variance to the children's real-word reading and spelling skills beyond what was accounted for by pseudoword reading. Conclusions Findings suggest that early elementary-age students with SSD may not present with concomitant morphological awareness difficulties and that the morphological awareness skills of these students may not play a unique role in their word-level literacy skills. Limitations and suggestions for future research on the morphological awareness skills of children with SSD are discussed.

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The Relation Between Linguistic Awareness Skills and Spelling in Adults: A Comparison Among Scoring Procedures

Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research ◽

10.1044/2020_jslhr-19-00120 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 63 (4) ◽

pp. 1240-1253

Author(s):

Victoria S. Henbest ◽

Lisa Fitton ◽

Krystal L. Werfel ◽

Kenn Apel

Keyword(s):

Phonemic Awareness ◽

Concurrent Validity ◽

Word Reading ◽

Continuous Measure ◽

Scoring Methods ◽

Syntactic Awareness ◽

Scoring Method ◽

Spelling Performance ◽

Linguistic Awareness ◽

Average Readers

Purpose Spelling is a skill that relies on an individual's linguistic awareness, the ability to overtly manipulate language. The ability to accurately spell is important for academic and career success into adulthood. The spelling skills of adults have received some attention in the literature, but there is limited information regarding which approach for analyzing adults' spelling is optimal for guiding instruction or intervention for those who struggle. Thus, we aimed to examine the concurrent validity of four different scoring methods for measuring adults' spellings (a dichotomous scoring method and three continuous methods) and to determine whether adults' linguistic awareness skills differentially predict spelling outcomes based on the scoring method employed. Method Sixty undergraduate college students who were determined to be average readers as measured by a word reading and contextual word reading task were administered a spelling task as well as morphological, orthographic, phonemic, and syntactic awareness tasks. Results All four scoring methods were highly correlated suggesting high concurrent validity among the measures. Two linguistic awareness skills, morphological awareness and syntactic awareness, predicted spelling performance on both the dichotomous and continuous scoring methods. Contrastively, phonemic awareness and orthographic awareness predicted spelling performance only when spelling was scored using a continuous measure error analysis. Conclusions The results of this study confirm that multiple linguistic awareness skills are important for spelling in adults who are average readers. The results also highlight the need for using continuous measures of spelling when planning intervention or instruction, particularly in the areas of orthographic and phonemic awareness.

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Reading Longer Words: Insights Into Multisyllabic Word Reading

Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups ◽

10.1044/persp2.sig1.86 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 2 (1) ◽

pp. 86-94 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Lindsay Heggie ◽

Lesly Wade-Woolley

Keyword(s):

Systematic Approach ◽

Word Reading ◽

Explicit Instruction ◽

Working Memory Capacity ◽

Reading Difficulties ◽

Instructional Programs ◽

Morphological Knowledge ◽

Morphological Complexity ◽

Reading Accuracy ◽

Grade 3

Students with persistent reading difficulties are often especially challenged by multisyllabic words; they tend to have neither a systematic approach for reading these words nor the confidence to persevere (Archer, Gleason, & Vachon, 2003; Carlisle & Katz, 2006; Moats, 1998). This challenge is magnified by the fact that the vast majority of English words are multisyllabic and constitute an increasingly large proportion of the words in elementary school texts beginning as early as grade 3 (Hiebert, Martin, & Menon, 2005; Kerns et al., 2016). Multisyllabic words are more difficult to read simply because they are long, posing challenges for working memory capacity. In addition, syllable boundaries, word stress, vowel pronunciation ambiguities, less predictable grapheme-phoneme correspondences, and morphological complexity all contribute to long words' difficulty. Research suggests that explicit instruction in both syllabification and morphological knowledge improve poor readers' multisyllabic word reading accuracy; several examples of instructional programs involving one or both of these elements are provided.

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