Double Literacy Effects on Language and Reading Skills in Italian–English Primary School Children

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesca Costa ◽  
Maria Teresa Guasti ◽  
Stefania Sharley
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Primary School ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Reading Skills ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Reading Speed ◽  
Primary School Children ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory

Major concerns still surround literacy education in a foreign language during primary school. In this study, we aim to establish (1) whether bilinguals perform worse in Italian literacy tests than monolinguals; (2) whether literacy skills transfer from Italian to English. We tested 97 Italian–English bilingual first, third and fifth graders (attending two bilingual primary schools in Italy, with a simultaneous 50:50 immersion programme) and a control group of 40 monolingual Italian pupils in grades 1 and 3. All participants were tested in Italian, measuring the following skills: vocabulary, phonological awareness, reading proficiency and verbal short-term memory. Bilingual participants – who had been exposed to Italian since birth and to English within the first three years of their lives – were also tested on the same measures in English. The results showed that bilingual first graders outperformed their monolingual peers in verbal short-term memory, thus revealing a possible cognitive advantage in the early stage of literacy acquisition. Monolingual and bilingual firstand third graders did not differ in reading speed. The two groups made an almost similar number of errors, but the small difference turned out to be statistically significant. Bilingual subjects’ reading attainment was found to be within monolingual normal limits in both languages on all measures except for English reading comprehension, which, together with English vocabulary, was found to be below the English norm. Aside from reading comprehension, on all other measures bilingual children’s performance in Italian correlated with their performance in English, suggesting the presence of cross-linguistic transfer of language and reading skills. 

Effectiveness of humor on short term memory function in age matched elderly and diabetic subjects vs. control group

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gurinder S. Bains ◽  
Lee Berk ◽  
Noha Daher ◽  
Pooja Deshpande ◽  
Everett Lohman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Memory Function ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory

Bizzy Break! The Effect of a Classroom-Based Activity Break on In-School Physical Activity Levels of Primary School Children

2013 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 300-307 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elaine Murtagh ◽  
Maureen Mulvihill ◽  
Oonagh Markey
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Primary School ◽  
School Children ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Intervention Group ◽  
Primary School Children ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Step Counts ◽  
Significant Difference

The school has been identified as a key setting to promote physical activity. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of a classroom-based activity break on in-school step counts of primary school children. Data for 90 children (49 boys, 41 girls, 9.3 ± 1.4 years) from three Irish primary schools is presented. In each school one class was randomly assigned as the intervention group and another as controls. Children’s step counts were measured for five consecutive days during school hours at baseline and follow-up. Teachers of the intervention classes led a 10 min activity break in the classroom each day (Bizzy Break!). Mean daily in-school steps for the intervention at baseline and follow-up were 5351 and 5054. Corresponding values for the control group were 5469 and 4246. There was a significant difference in the change in daily steps from baseline to follow-up between groups (p < .05). There was no evidence that girls and boys responded differently to the intervention (p > .05). Children participating in a daily 10 min classroom-based activity break undertake more physical activity during school hours than controls.

scholarly journals Memory bias training by means of the emotional short-term memory task

2015 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 122-126
Author(s):  
Borysław Paulewicz ◽  
Agata Blaut ◽  
Aleksandra Gronostaj
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Disorders ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Memory Bias ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Training Procedure ◽  
Negative Group ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Target Words

Abstract According to major cognitive theories of emotional disorders cognitive biases are partly responsible for their onset and maintenance. The direct test of this assumption is possible only if experimental method capable of altering a given form of cognitive bias is available. The purpose of the study was to examine the effectiveness of a novel implicit memory bias training procedure based on the emotional version of the classical Sternberg’s short-term memory task with negative, neutral and positive words. 108 participants, who completed the PANAS and the CES-D questionnaires, were randomly assigned to the control group (n = 33), the No-Negative group (n = 36), in which the target words in the Sternberg’s task were either positive or neutral but never negative or the Negative-New group (n = 39) in which the negative target words in the modified Sternberg’s task were always new. This training was followed by the recollection stage. Only one of the training protocols resulted in significant effects at the recall stage - individuals in the No-Negative group recalled more positive words and fewer negative words than those in the control group. These results show that it may be possible to experimentally induce memory bias characteristic of non-depressed individuals.

Effects of Irrelevant Sounds on Phonological Coding in Reading Comprehension and Short term Memory

1996 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 398-416 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robyn Boyle ◽  
Veronika Coltheart
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Relative Clause ◽  
Instrumental Music ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Phonological Similarity ◽  
Error Rates ◽  
Syntactic Complexity ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Phonological Coding

The effects of irrelevant sounds on reading comprehension and short-term memory were studied in two experiments. In Experiment 1, adults judged the acceptability of written sentences during irrelevent speech, accompanied and unaccompanied singing, instrumental music, and in silence. Sentences varied in syntactic complexity: Simple sentences contained a right-branching relative clause ( The applause pleased the woman that gave the speech) and syntactically complex sentences included a centre-embedded relative clause ( The hay that the farmer stored fed the hungry animals). Unacceptable sentences either sounded acceptable ( The dog chased the cat that eight up all his food) or did not ( The man praised the child that sight up his spinach). Decision accuracy was impaired by syntactic complexity but not by irrelevant sounds. Phonological coding was indicated by increased errors on unacceptable sentences that sounded correct. These error rates were unaffected by irrelevant sounds. Experiment 2 examined effects of irrelevant sounds on ordered recall of phonologically similar and dissimilar word lists. Phonological similarity impaired recall. Irrelevant speech reduced recall but did not interact with phonological similarity. The results of these experiments question assumptions about the relationship between speech input and phonological coding in reading and the short-term store.

scholarly journals The Effect of Games with Rules on Voluntary Regulation of 6—7-year-old Children

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 56-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
E.A. Savina ◽  
I.A. Savenkova ◽  
I.V. Shchekotikhina ◽  
A.M. Gul'yants
Keyword(s):  
Size Effects ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Verbal Instruction ◽  
Interference Control ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Voluntary Regulation ◽  
Visual Motor ◽  
Experimental Group

This article discusses the results of experimental study aimed at investigating the effect of games with rules on voluntary regulation of preschool children. The following components of voluntary regulation were studied: short-term and working memory, verbal interference control, the ability to follow verbal instruction, and knowledge of rules of conduct. One hundred and twenty 6—7-year-old children participated in this study. After the intervention, children in experimental group improved their knowledge of rules of conduct, short-term memory for numbers, verbal interference, and the ability to follow verbal instruction when executing a visual-motor integration task. Children in the control group also improved their verbal interference ability and short-term memory for numbers and words. However, size effects were smaller than in the experimental group.

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