An eye-tracking study of phonological awareness in Emirati Arabic

The purpose of this study was to investigate informal phonological awareness measures as predictors of first-grade broad reading ability. Subjects were 91 former Head Start students who were administered standardized assessments of cognitive ability and receptive vocabulary, and informal phonological awareness measures during kindergarten and early first grade. Regression analyses indicated that three phonological awareness tasks, Invented Spelling, Categorization, and Blending, were the most predictive of standardized reading measures obtained at the end of first grade. Discriminant analyses indicated that these three phonological awareness tasks correctly identified at-risk students with 92% accuracy. Clinical use of a cutoff score for these measures is suggested, along with general intervention guidelines for practicing clinicians.

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Effects of a Supplemental Spanish Phonological Awareness Intervention on Latinx Preschoolers' Dual Language Emergent Literacy Skills

American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology ◽

10.1044/2020_ajslp-20-00029 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 29 (3) ◽

pp. 1283-1300

Author(s):

Xigrid T. Soto ◽

Andres Crucet-Choi ◽

Howard Goldstein

Keyword(s):

At Risk ◽

Phonological Awareness ◽

Emergent Literacy ◽

Language Learners ◽

Literacy Instruction ◽

Dual Language ◽

Literacy Skills ◽

Dual Language Learners ◽

Probe Design ◽

Emergent Literacy Skills

Purpose Preschoolers' phonological awareness (PA) and alphabet knowledge (AK) skills are two of the strongest predictors of future reading. Despite evidence that providing at-risk preschoolers with timely emergent literacy interventions can prevent academic difficulties, there is a scarcity of research focusing on Latinx preschoolers who are dual language learners. Despite evidence of benefits of providing Latinxs with Spanish emergent literacy instruction, few studies include preschoolers. This study examined the effects of a supplemental Spanish PA and AK intervention on the dual emergent literacy skills of at-risk Latinx preschoolers. Method A multiple probe design across four units of instruction evaluated the effects of a Spanish supplemental emergent literacy intervention that explicitly facilitated generalizations to English. Four Latinx preschoolers with limited emergent literacy skills in Spanish and English participated in this study. Bilingual researchers delivered scripted lessons targeting PA and AK skills in individual or small groups for 12–17 weeks. Results Children made large gains as each PA skill was introduced into intervention and generalized the PA skills they learned from Spanish to English. They also improved their English initial sound identification skills, a phonemic awareness task, when instruction was delivered in Spanish but with English words. Children made small to moderate gains in their Spanish letter naming and letter–sound correspondence skills and in generalizing this knowledge to English. Conclusion These findings provide preliminary evidence Latinx preschoolers who are dual language learners benefit from emergent literacy instruction that promotes their bilingual and biliterate development.

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An Eye-Tracking Study on Audiovisual Speech Perception Strategies Adopted by Normal-Hearing and Deaf Adults Under Different Language Familiarities

Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research ◽

10.1044/2020_jslhr-19-00223 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 63 (7) ◽

pp. 2245-2254 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jianrong Wang ◽

Yumeng Zhu ◽

Yu Chen ◽

Abdilbar Mamat ◽

Mei Yu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Speech Perception ◽

Eye Tracking ◽

Normal Hearing ◽

Audiovisual Speech ◽

Audiovisual Speech Perception ◽

Allocation Pattern ◽

Deaf Adults ◽

Bilingual Speaker ◽

Primary Hypothesis ◽

Standard Chinese

Purpose The primary purpose of this study was to explore the audiovisual speech perception strategies.80.23.47 adopted by normal-hearing and deaf people in processing familiar and unfamiliar languages. Our primary hypothesis was that they would adopt different perception strategies due to different sensory experiences at an early age, limitations of the physical device, and the developmental gap of language, and others. Method Thirty normal-hearing adults and 33 prelingually deaf adults participated in the study. They were asked to perform judgment and listening tasks while watching videos of a Uygur–Mandarin bilingual speaker in a familiar language (Standard Chinese) or an unfamiliar language (Modern Uygur) while their eye movements were recorded by eye-tracking technology. Results Task had a slight influence on the distribution of selective attention, whereas subject and language had significant influences. To be specific, the normal-hearing and the d10eaf participants mainly gazed at the speaker's eyes and mouth, respectively, in the experiment; moreover, while the normal-hearing participants had to stare longer at the speaker's mouth when they confronted with the unfamiliar language Modern Uygur, the deaf participant did not change their attention allocation pattern when perceiving the two languages. Conclusions Normal-hearing and deaf adults adopt different audiovisual speech perception strategies: Normal-hearing adults mainly look at the eyes, and deaf adults mainly look at the mouth. Additionally, language and task can also modulate the speech perception strategy.

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