Reading Fluency in Children and Adolescents Who Stutter

Speech fluency is a major challenge for young persons who stutter. Reading aloud, in particular, puts high demands on fluency, not only regarding online text decoding and articulation, but also in terms of prosodic performance. A written text has to be segmented into a number of prosodic phrases with appropriate breaks. The present study examines to what extent reading fluency (decoding ability, articulation rate, and prosodic phrasing) may be altered in children (9–12 years) and adolescents (13–17 years) who stutter compared to matched control participants. Read speech of 52 children and adolescents who do and do not stutter was analyzed. Children and adolescents who stutter did not differ from their matched control groups regarding reading accuracy and articulation rate. However, children who stutter produced shorter pauses than their matched peers. Results on prosodic phrasing showed that children who stutter produced more major phrases than the control group and more intermediate phrases than adolescents who stutter. Participants who stutter also displayed a higher number of breath pauses. Generally, the number of disfluencies during reading was related to slower articulation rates and more prosodic boundaries. Furthermore, we found age-related changes in general measures of reading fluency (decoding ability and articulation rate), as well as the overall strength of prosodic boundaries and number of breath pauses. This study provides evidence for developmental stages in prosodic phrasing as well as for alterations in reading fluency in children who stutter.

Alteration in H-bond strength affects the stability of codon-anticodon interaction at in-frame UAG stop codon during in vitro translation

We have studied the decoding ability of a non-standard nucleobase modified tRNA for non-natural amino acid mutagenesis. The insertion of 2, 6-diaminopurine (D) base at the 3rd position of a tRNA anticodon enabled us to evaluate the effect of an additional hydrogen bond during translation. The presence of D at the tRNA anticodon led to stabilization of the codon-anticodon interaction due to an additional H-bond between the N2-exocyclic amine of D and the C2 carbonyl group of uracil during protein translation. While decoding UAG codons using stop codon suppression methodology, the enhanced codon-anticodon interaction improved codon readthrough and synthesis of modified protein with a non-natural amino acid at multiple sites. Our findings imply that the number of hydrogen bonds at the tRNA-mRNA duplex interface is an important criterion during mRNA decoding and improves protein translation at multiple UAG stop sites. This work provides valuable inputs towards improved non-natural amino acid mutagenesis for creating functional proteins.

Alteration in H-bond strength affects the stability of codon-anticodon interaction at in-frame UAG stop codon during in vitro translation

We have studied the decoding ability of a non-standard nucleobase modified tRNA for non-natural amino acid mutagenesis. The insertion of 2, 6-diaminopurine (D) base at the 3rd position of a tRNA anticodon enabled us to evaluate the effect of an additional hydrogen bond during translation. The presence of D at the tRNA anticodon led to stabilization of the codon-anticodon interaction due to an additional H-bond between the N2-exocyclic amine of D and the C2 carbonyl group of uracil during protein translation. While decoding UAG codons using stop codon suppression methodology, the enhanced codon-anticodon interaction improved codon readthrough and synthesis of modified protein with a non-natural amino acid at multiple sites. Our findings imply that the number of hydrogen bonds at the tRNA-mRNA duplex interface is an important criterion during mRNA decoding and improves protein translation at multiple UAG stop sites. This work provides valuable inputs towards improved non-natural amino acid mutagenesis for creating functional proteins.

Tier 2 Interventions Within the RtI-model for Developing Students’ Word decoding – a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis - PrePrint version 2

BackgroundObjectives: This pre-registered systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to answer if K-2 students at risk (Population) for reading impairment benefited from a response to tier 2 reading intervention (Intervention) compared to teaching as usual, (Comparator) on word decoding outcomes (Outcome), based on randomized controlled trials (Study type).MethodsEligibility criteria were adequately sized (n> 30 per group) randomized controlled trials of tier 2 reading interventions within response to intervention targeting K-2 at risk students (percentile 40) compared with teaching as usual (TAU). Reading interventions had to be at least 20 sessions and conducted in a school setting with at least 30 students in each group and containing reading activities. TAU could not be another intervention. Only decoding tests from WRMT and TOWRE were included. Information sources: Database search was conducted 190520 in ERIC, PsycINFO, LLBA, WOS and additionally in Google Scholar as well as a hand search in previous reviews and meta-analyses. The searches were updated in 2021-03-21. Risk of bias: Studies were assessed with Cochrane’s Risk of Bias 2, R-index and funnel plots. Synthesis of results: A random-effects model was used to analyze the effect sizes (Hedges’ g)ResultsIncluded studies: Seven studies met the eligibility criteria but only four had sufficient data to extract for the meta-analysis.Synthesis of results: The weighted mean effect size across the four included studies was Hedges' g = 0.31 95% CI [0.12, 0.50] which means that the intervention group improved their decoding ability more than students receiving TAU. A Leave-one-out analysis showed that the weighted effect did not depend on a single study. Students at risk of reading difficulties benefit from tier 2 reading intervention conducted within response to intervention regarding a small effect on the students decoding ability. DiscussionLimitations of evidence: Only four studies met inclusion criteria and all studies had at least some risk of bias.Interpretation: Tier 2 reading interventions, conducted in small groups within RtI, can to some extent support decoding development as a part of reading factors. Other:Funding: Thomas Nordström and Rickard Carlsson was supported by the Swedish Research Council (grant no. 2020-03430). Camilla Nilvius was supported by Swedish National Research School Special Education for Teacher Educators (SET), funded by the Swedish Research Council (grant no. 2017-06039).Registration: Available at the Open Science Framework: https://osf.io/6y4wr

Decoding Ability of Students with Visual Impairment under Systematic and Explicit Phonics Instruction

This study discusses the decoding ability of students with visual impairment in a special need school under the implementation of systematic and explicit phonics instruction. The purpose of this study is to observe to what extent does the instruction help students with visual impairment in novice and mature alphabetic stage learn English word decoding. This qualitative study uses non-participant observation using unstructured fieldnotes and loosely-structured interview to obtain verbal data from 1 teacher and 4 students in four meetings of classroom observation. All of the students are visually impaired whom divided into two big groups. 2 of the students belong to mature alphabetic stage and the other 2 students belong to novice alphabetic stage. The classroom being observed is an English extracurricular classroom in a school specialized for students with visual impairment. Although they are divided into two groups, they study together in a same classroom at once. The results derived from the observation and interview are (1) Students in novice alphabetic stage, although they have not memorized all of the alphabet’s name, they still are able to gain knowledge of English word decoding, (2) Students in mature alphabetic stage, for they have memorized all of the alphabet’s name, have an easier understanding and are able to cope with the instruction better and faster, (3) this kind of instruction could gain students confidence in reading English word even though they do not memorize the alphabet’s name, (4) Once the students are able to relate between the words’ shape and how it sounds, they start to build automaticity in building their understanding of English words decoding. This study concluded that with appropriate materials and instruction, students with visual impairment in novice and alphabetic stage could acquire the knowledge of how to sound English words. Keywords: Decoding, Students with Visual Impairment, Systematic and Explicit Phonics Instruction

Unpacking the Unique Relationship Between Set for Variability and Word Reading Development: Examining Word- and Child-Level Predictors of Performance

Set for variability (SfV) is an oral language task which requires an individual to disambiguate the mismatch between the decoded form of an irregular word and its actual lexical pronunciation. For example, in the task, the word wasp is pronounced to rhyme with clasp (i.e., /wæsp/) and the individual must recognize the actual pronunciation of the word to be /wɒsp/. SfV has been shown to be a significant predictor of both item-specific and general word reading variance above and beyond that associated with phonemic awareness skill, letter-sound knowledge, and vocabulary skill. However, very little is known about the child characteristics and item features that affect SfV item performance. In this study we explored whether word features and child characteristics that involve phonology only are adequate to explain item-level variance in SfV performance or whether including predictors that involve the connection between phonology and orthography explain additional variance. To accomplish this we administered the SfV task (N=75 items) to a sample of grade 2-5 children (N=489) along with a battery of other reading related measures. Results suggest that variance in SfV performance is uniquely accounted for by measures tapping phonological skill along with those capturing knowledge of phonology to orthography associations, but only in children with better decoding skill. Additionally, word reading skill was found to moderate the influence of other predictors suggesting that how the task is approached may be impacted by word reading and decoding ability.

Use of early word-reading fluency measures to predict outcomes on the Phonics Screening Check

Teachers in England and South Australia annually administer the Phonics Screening Check (PSC) to Year 1 students, with the purpose of identifying struggling readers. Students who do not meet the score threshold have not met the expected standard of word-decoding ability, meaning further support may be warranted. We sought to quantify the extent to which other early reading measures, such as the Wheldall Assessment of Reading Nonwords (WARN) and Wheldall Assessment of Reading Lists (WARL), predicted students’ likelihood of not meeting PSC expected standards. Predicting PSC outcomes, and thereby identifying struggling readers at the start of Year 1, has important implications for possible intervention strategies. Logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic analyses were conducted to examine the longitudinal relationships between real-word and pseudoword predictors as measured by the WARL and WARN and PSC pass/fail outcomes. Students who scored lower on predictors were less likely to meet the PSC expected standards. Results indicate that the WARL and WARN could be used to identify students who will not meet PSC expected standards, facilitating earlier intervention where it is most critically required.