초등 1학년 발달성 난독 아동의 낱말 해독, 음운인식, 빠른 이름대기, 자소 지식*

Excessive crowding in the visual periphery has been demonstrated in children with developmental dyslexia (DD). However, less is known about crowding in the fovea, even though foveal crowding is at least equally important, as reading is mostly accomplished through foveal vision. Here we used a special set of digitstimuli (Pelli fonts) to measure foveal crowding in DD and DD + ADHD children, and compared it to that in TD (typically developing) and ADHD children. We also used the Chinese reading acuity charts (C-READ) to assess the maximum reading speed and reading acuity, along with tests to evaluate cognitive attributes including phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming, morphological awareness, and orthographic knowledge. The results indicate significantly stronger foveal crowding in the DD and DD + ADHD groups, as well as in the ADHD group, than in the TD group. Furthermore, the DD and DD + ADHD groups exhibited poorer maximum reading speed and reading acuity compared to the ADHD and TD groups.Within the two DD groups, theslower maximum reading speed and higher reading acuitycan be predicted bystronger foveal crowding. In addition, the DD and DD + ADHD groups performed the worst in four cognitive skills, with the DD group showing negative correlations between foveal crowding and performances across all these skills. Our findings thus move beyond previously well-documented peripheral crowding in dyslexia, and the easy administration of the Pelli-font-based crowding test may be useful for early diagnosis of developmental dyslexia in young children.

Altered effective connectivity on rapid automatized naming deficits in Chinese children with developmental dyslexia: An rs-fMRI study with Ganger causality analysis

Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) and Dyslexia frequently co-occur. Many studies suggest that children with Dyslexia may also struggle with oral language skills, while those with DLD may also face challenges in word decoding. Both groups of children typically exhibit deficits in phonological processing [phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming (RAN), verbal short-term memory (VSTM)] and verbal working memory (VWM). Despite the increasing number of comparative studies, few have systematically examined these overlaps in children at the early stages of literacy acquisition, and few studies have systematically assessed all oral language subsystems. This study investigates: (a) differences and similarities among children with DLD, children at Risk of Dyslexia (RfD), and typically developing children (TD) in phonological processing (phonological awareness—implicit and explicit—VSTM, RAN), VWM, oral language, and word decoding; (b) patterns of performance across groups; and (c) correlations between phonological processing and VWM skills with oral language and word decoding. The participants were 45 first graders (Mage = 6.8), equally divided into three groups (DLD, RfD, and TD children). Both special groups (DLD, RfD) performed significantly worse than the TD group across nearly all measurements. DLD children showed pronounced oral language and VSTM deficits, while RfD children primarily struggled with decoding and explicit phonological awareness. Group-specific correlations emerged. The findings are discussed in light of the theoretical models of the relationship between DLD and Dyslexia taking into account the specific developmental stage.

The aim of the study was to examine the role of phonological processing in people with and without dyslexia, who should have already mastered the skill of reading. We tested 98 high school students aged 16–18 years, including 49 with dyslexia and 49 without. The results indicate that the participants with dyslexia, as compared with participants without dyslexia, read single words and pseudowords less correctly and slower, which is consistent with literature on the subject. In addition, they scored significantly poorer in the phoneme blending, rapid automatic naming, and backward digit span task. In the criterion group, the relationship between phonological awareness and reading fluency was much stronger, and between rapid automatic naming and reading fluency slightly weaker than in the control group. This indicates a greater influence of long-term memory on reading in high school students without dyslexia.

A different finding on the role of cerebro-cerebellar RSFC in reading skills among Chinese children with developmental dyslexia.

Introduction: Reading impairment in children with dyslexia stems from either a phonological awareness deficit or a deficit in rapid automatized naming. Both deficits constitute the double deficit hypothesis of dyslexia. The aim of the present study was to assess phonological awareness and rapid automatized naming in a group of Greek-speaking children with dyslexia and to correlate their performance in phonological awareness and rapid automatized naming with reading fluency (accuracy and comprehension) scores. Method: Participants were 23 children with a formal diagnosis of dyslexia and 27 typically-developing children with no other learning difficulties or dyslexia. All children were monolingual speakers of Greek and they were administered a naming speed test, a fluency test, a phonological awareness test and reading accuracy and comprehension tasks. Results: Students with dyslexia scored worse in most phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming and reading fluency measures in comparison to their non-dyslexic peers. In addition, students with dyslexia needed more time to complete the rapid automatized naming tests. Positive correlations were found between phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming and reading fluency tests for both groups of students. Specifically, rapid automatized naming and phonological awareness explained 9.3% and 21.8%, respectively, of the variance in the reading fluency of students with dyslexia, while the respective contributions of rapid automatized naming and phonological awareness to the reading fluency for non-dyslexic students were 2% and 9.3%, respectively. Discussion and Conclusion: Phonological awareness and rapid automatized naming can be reliable predictors of reading fluency even in orthographically consistent languages (i.e., Greek), offering support to the double deficit hypothesis. In addition, combining phonological awareness and rapid automatized naming tests seems to be a quick and reliable way to early identify children at risk of reading difficulties in the first grades of primary school.

ABSTRACTVerbal fluency tasks, in which participants generate words during a set time, have been used in research and assessments of neurobiological disorders and impairments. Research on verbal fluency in dyslexia has shown impaired performance in semantic and letter fluency. However, studies report inconsistent results, and action fluency has not been examined in dyslexia. Current research has mainly examined verbal fluency in relation to executive functions, vocabulary, and phonological processing. The present study examined performance on letter, semantic, and action fluency in relation to reading ability in 42 students in higher education, of which 16 had developmental dyslexia and 26 had typical reading development. It was examined if verbal fluency can predict variance in reading ability when group, phonological awareness, and rapid automatized naming are controlled for. Results showed impaired verbal fluency in the developmental dyslexia group. Action fluency and group were significant predictors of reading ability, together explaining 73% of the variance, in a backward elimination regression analysis. The results point to a possible, unique connection between action fluency and reading ability; this connection is discussed based on their neurocognitive underpinnings.

Two groups of pupils from special tract learning schools were randomly selected for this study. The first group (55 pupils) fulfilled the World Federation of Neurology (WFN) definition of developmental dyslexia (DD). The second group (retarded readers, RR) included 20 pupils with IQs between 80 and 90. A group of normal readers was randomly selected from the 5 school grades as a control group. This study showed that the performance IQ of the DD group was not only higher than the verbal IQ, but the DD group also had superior performance IQ compared to normal readers. In the arithmetic achievement test, both DD and RR groups had nearly similar total scores, which were significantly lower than that of the control group. None of the arithmetic subtests could differentiate between DD and RR groups. In linguistic achievement tests, only spontaneous writing and oral spelling could differentiate subjects with DD from the RR group.

Failure of resting-state frontal–occipital connectivity in linking visual perception with reading fluency in Chinese children with developmental dyslexia

It is well established that phonological awareness (PA) and rapid automatized naming (RAN) tasks reliably predict children’s developing word reading abilities, across a wide range of languages. However, existing research has not yet demonstrated unequivocally whether RAN and PA are independently and causally linked to reading, nor fully explored the underlying cognitive mechanisms. Most existing research has assessed PA and RAN in children who may already have some reading skill, making direction of influence hard to ascertain. To address this, the current longitudinal research initially assessed RAN and PA in a very young sample of 91 English children (mean age: 3;11; SD = 3.7 months), demonstrated to be non-readers. Children were reassessed on RAN, PA, and word-level reading, 18 months (Time 2) and then a further year later (Time 3). To explore underlying mechanisms, separate measures of reading accuracy and fluency were taken, and reading tasks varied according to the extent to which they required alphabetic decoding and lexical, orthographic knowledge. Path analyses revealed that from Time 1 to Time 2 both RAN and PA predicted word reading, indicating temporal precedence, though there was some degree of reciprocity in these relationships. However, by Time 3, while RAN still predicted accuracy and fluency of reading, PA only predicted reading accuracy. Furthermore, findings suggested that while RAN was robustly related to both alphabetic decoding and lexical, orthographic aspects of reading, PA’s relationship was restricted to alphabetic decoding accuracy. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

BackgroundThe relationship between rapid automatized naming (RAN) and reading has been examined extensively, but there is still a question as to the reason for the relationship. To reduce involvement of alphanumeric and vocabulary knowledge in RAN, and to possibly reduce phonological demands, researchers have suggested using the RAN sizes that have only two items, that is, naming shapes according to two sizes: ‘little’ or ‘big’. However, despite the RAN sizes advantages, as far as we know, this test is not widely used. The purpose of the current study was to examine whether RAN sizes in kindergarten predict reading speed and accuracy toward the end of first grade among Hebrew speaking children.MethodsA total of 113 Hebrew‐speaking children were assessed twice. In preschool, we collected matrix reasoning, phonological awareness and RAN sizes data. In first grade, these data were recollected along with reading data.ResultsKindergarten RAN sizes accounted for 4% of the variance in reading accuracy and 4% of the variance in reading speed. Phonological awareness accounted for 4% of the variance in reading accuracy only. In first grade, RAN sizes explained 19% of the variance in reading speed, with no significant contribution to accuracy. Phonological awareness still explained 4% of the variance in accuracy.ConclusionsThe results from the current study support the claim that RAN is a unique longitudinal predictor of early reading, over and above phonological awareness. Moreover, rapid size naming may be used to test RAN with less reliance on alphanumeric and vocabulary knowledge. Finally, RAN sizes may be used to predict reading speed in Hebrew.HighlightsWhat is already known about this topic Two of the main precursors of word reading ability are phonological awareness (PA) and rapid automatized naming (RAN). RAN of digits and letters is more strongly related to reading than RAN of colours and objects. The relationship between RAN and reading depends on orthographic regularity. What this paper adds RAN in kindergarten predicts speed and accuracy of reading pointed Hebrew in first grade. Among Hebrew‐speaking children, by the end of first grade, PA contributed a significant unique variance to reading accuracy and RAN sizes contributed a significant unique variance to reading speed. Implications for theory, policy or practice RAN sizes can be used when less reliance on alphanumeric and vocabulary knowledge is needed. Among kindergarten and first grade Hebrew‐speaking children, RAN sizes can be used to predict reading speed.

PurposeDevelopmental dyslexia (DD) is commonly thought to arise from phonological impairments. However, an emerging perspective is that a more general procedural learning deficit, not specific to phonological processing, may underlie DD. The current study examined whether individuals with DD are capable of extracting statistical regularities across sequences of passively-experienced speech and non-speech sounds. Such statistical learning is believed to be domain-general, to draw upon procedural learning systems, and to relate to language outcomes.MethodDD and control groups were familiarized with a continuous stream of syllables or sine-wave tones, the ordering of which was defined by high or low transitional probabilities across adjacent stimulus pairs. Participants subsequently judged two three-stimulus test items with either high or low statistical coherence as the most similar to the sounds heard during familiarization.ResultsLike control participants, the DD group was sensitive to the transitional probability structure of the familiarization materials, as evidenced by above-chance performance. However, DD participants’ performance was significantly poorer than controls across linguistic and non-linguistic stimuli. Additionally, reading-related measures were significantly correlated with statistical learning performance of both speech and non-speech material.ConclusionsResults are discussed in light of procedural learning impairments among participants with DD.

Phonological awareness (PA) and rapid automatized naming (RAN) have been shown to be powerful predictors of reading achievement across many languages. However, literature remains unclear: (a) whether RAN is independent of PA, (b) about the specific influences of PA and RAN on reading and spelling, and (c) about the efficacy of a RAN intervention. This study aims to address these issues by means of an intervention design. Precisely, the objectives are (a) to determine whether training one competence involves or not an effect on the other, (b) to examine whether each intervention based on oral abilities (PA vs. RAN) could improve word reading and word spelling performances, and (c) to assess the efficacy of a RAN-objects’ intervention. Thirty-six French-speaking second graders, from two Belgian elementary schools, were divided into two groups, and received either a PA- or a RAN-objects’ intervention. Twenty-five-minute lessons took place at school twice a week over a period of 2 months. Both groups were compared on multiple experimental measures (PA, RAN, word reading, and word spelling), before and immediately after the intervention, and 6 months later. Results showed specific efficacy of the two interventions, with participants trained in one ability outperforming those from the other group on this specific ability at post-test. Moreover, the PA intervention revealed transfer effects on the sub-lexical processes of spelling, while the RAN intervention enhanced word reading speed. Finally, the results demonstrated the efficacy of a RAN-objects’ intervention for the first time. These findings provide a new piece of evidence showing the independence of PA and RAN, each process influencing the acquisition of literacy skills in a different way. The efficacy and the specific transfer effects of both interventions open up new perspectives for prevention and targeted remediation of reading disabilities.

We investigated relations between kindergarten precursors and second-grade reading skills in deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) children, and aimed to identify subgroups based on reading skills, in order to explore early signs of later reading delays. DHH children (n= 23, Mage kindergarten = 6.25) participated from kindergarten-second grade. They were tested on phonological awareness, letter knowledge, spoken vocabulary, speechreading, fingerspelling, and sign vocabulary in kindergarten, and word decoding and reading comprehension in second grade. In second grade, word decoding scores were low-average while reading comprehension scores were below average compared to hearing norms. Word decoding correlated with phonological awareness, letter knowledge, and spoken vocabulary. Reading comprehension correlated with all measures except fingerspelling. Cluster analysis identified three second-grade-reading subgroups; group-1: below-average word decoding and reading comprehension; group-2: high-average word decoding, below-average reading comprehension; group-3: average word decoding and reading comprehension. Furthermore, group-1 differed from group-2 and group-3 on word decoding, group-1 and group-2 differed from group-3 in reading comprehension. Regarding kindergarten measures, group-1 scored below group-2 on letter knowledge, and below group-3 on spoken and sign vocabulary. We found that particularly letter knowledge and spoken and sign vocabulary seem to be crucial for the development of reading skills 2 years later.

ABSTRACTRecent work exploring syntax in developmental dyslexia (DD) has identified morphosyntactic deficits, striking parallelisms between children with DD and specific language impairment (SLI). The question remains open if the underlying causes for such deficits are related to difficulties in phonology, which is affected in DD, or to working memory, as has been previously reported for SLI. We focus on the production of third person accusative clitic pronouns (ACC3) and of homophonous definite determiners in French-speaking children with DD and SLI as well as typically developing (TD) controls. If syntactic complexity modulates performance of DD children, as has already been shown for SLI, we predict children with DD to perform significantly worse on ACC3 compared to definite determiners, which are homophonous but syntactically simpler. In addition, if impairment in ACC3 stems from phonology or working memory difficulties, we expect ACC3 performance in both clinical groups to relate to performance on non-word repetition or forward/backward digit spans. We studied 2 groups of 21 children and adolescents, with DD and SLI (7–15 years) and age-matched TD controls. Results reveal significant weaknesses with ACC3 in DD and SLI groups compared to TD controls, but no difficulty for homophonous definite determiners, confirming a deficit relating specifically to syntactic complexity. As for links to phonology and working memory, a single correlation emerged between ACC3 and the backward digit span in SLI, but not in DD, suggesting different underlying sources for syntactic deficits in these populations. Clinical implications of these results are discussed.