EFFECTS OF INVENTED SPELLING AND DIRECT INSTRUCTION ON SPELLING PERFORMANCE OF SECOND-GRADE BOYS

Four second-grade boys, 2 rated by their classroom teacher as below average and 2 as above average in basic language skills, participated in a 16-week spelling investigation. The participants alternately received, in counterbalanced order, 5 weeks of an invented spelling approach that incorporated 15-min creative writing periods and 5 weeks of direct instruction that involved 15-min periods of guided practice on spelling word lists. At the end of 10 weeks, each condition was replicated for 3 additional weeks. Although direct instruction resulted in more targeted words spelled correctly, invented spelling resulted in more nontargeted words spelled correctly, higher preference ratings by children, and higher teacher ratings of the quality of 3 of the children's writing samples.     

Piloting ‘Clever Kids’: A randomized-controlled trial assessing feasibility,efficacy, and acceptability of a socioemotional well-being programme for children with dyslexia

Children with dyslexia are at elevated risk of internalizing (emotional) and externalizing (behavioural) problems. Clever Kids is a nine-week socioemotional well-being programme developed specifically for upper primary school children with dyslexia. In a small randomized-controlled trial, we tested the feasibility, efficacy, and acceptability of the Clever Kids programme. ‘Forty children (M_age = 10.45 years, 65% male) with clinically diagnosed dyslexia too part in the study. Children were randomized to either attend Clever Kids (n = 20) or to a wait-list control condition (n = 20). Coping skills, self-esteem, resilience, emotion regulation, and internalizing and externalizing symptoms were measured at pre-programme, post-programme, and at three-month follow-up. Recruitment and retention rates indicate high feasibility for further evaluation of the programme. There was a significant interaction between intervention condition and time for non-productive coping [F(2, 76) = 4.29, p = 0.017, f² = 0.11]. Children who attended Clever Kids significantly reduced their use of non-productive coping strategies, and this was maintained at three-month follow-up assessment. For all other outcomes, the interactions between intervention condition and time were non-significant. The programme appears acceptable to children with dyslexia and their families, but may be improved by further reducing the number of activities involving reading and writing. Clever Kids improved the coping skills of children with dyslexia; however, a larger trial is needed to replicate this finding and investigate whether programme attendance is associated with additional improvements in children’s socioemotional well-being.     

The Impact of Sonority on Onset-Rime and Peak-Coda Lexical Decision and Naming of Lexical Items by Children with Different Spelling Ability

The present study used the lexical decision (making YES/NO decision) and the vocalization (naming) paradigms in two reaction time experiments to examine the cohesiveness of onset-rime and peak-coda in the syllable structure of English lexical items. The aim was to study the effect of sonority hierarchy of liquids, nasals and obstruents on the accurate and rapid identification and naming of CCVCC words and pseudowords in relation to the spelling performance of 222 grades 4, 5 and 6 students. In the onset-rime lexical decision and naming tasks nasals were processed faster than the liquids and the obstruents. In the peak-coda lexical decision and naming the obstruents were processed faster than the liquids and nasals. The reaction time results suggest relationship with the spelling of English words even though the significant main effects of grade, spelling performance, mode of response and lexicality of the stimulus items need to be interpreted in the context of statistical interactions.     

Primary prevention of psychological difficulties in vulnerable mothers: pilot programme evaluation

This pilot study evaluated a primary prevention programme delivered to mothers who were considered to be vulnerable to the development of psychological difficulties (N = 11). Beneficial effects were noted in terms of mood and coping, as well as a reduction in the mothers' attendance at their general practitioners surgery. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

充分加工条件下听写困难儿童的整体字形加工特点

听写困难是指儿童能够认读不能听写的现象。前期研究表明,在快速加工条件下,听写困难儿童存在整体字形加工缺陷。本研究使用学习-回忆方法,考察在充分加工条件下,听写困难儿童的整体字形加工特点。实验结果表明,在充分加工条件下,听写困难儿童不仅能够加工并形成双部件合体字的整体字形表征;而且,也能够在同字形组织水平上,形成多部件合体字的整体字形表征。因此,在充分加工条件下,听写困难儿童的整体字形加工能力正常。     

三到六年级汉语儿童英语拼写发展及其与正字法规则意识的关系

本研究对167名三到六年级的汉语儿童进行了英语拼写测验和英语正字法规则意识测验,结果发现:(1)汉语儿童在整个小学时期的英语拼写能力都基本处于字母名称拼写策略阶段,在四年级到五年级期间,其整体拼写水平有较显著提高;(2)汉语小学儿童的英语拼写水平与其正字法规则意识显著相关,四、五、六年级儿童的英语字母可双写位置规则对其英语拼写能力具有显著预测作用。     

Interhemispheric cooperation and non-cooperation during word recognition: evidence for callosal transfer dysfunction in dyslexic adults

Participants report briefly-presented words more accurately when two copies are presented, one in the left visual field (LVF) and another in the right visual field (RVF), than when only a single copy is presented. This effect is known as the 'redundant bilateral advantage' and has been interpreted as evidence for interhemispheric cooperation. We investigated the redundant bilateral advantage in dyslexic adults and matched controls as a means of assessing communication between the hemispheres in dyslexia. Consistent with previous research, normal adult readers in Experiment 1 showed significantly higher accuracy on a word report task when identical word stimuli were presented bilaterally, compared to unilateral RVF or LVF presentation. Dyslexics, however, did not show the bilateral advantage. In Experiment 2, words were presented above fixation, below fixation or in both positions. In this experiment both dyslexics and controls benefited from the redundant presentation. Experiment 3 combined whole words in one visual field with word fragments in the other visual field (the initial and final letters separated by spaces). Controls showed a bilateral advantage but dyslexics did not. In Experiments 1 and 3, the dyslexics showed significantly lower accuracy for LVF trials than controls, but the groups did not differ for RVF trials. The findings suggest that dyslexics have a problem of interhemispheric integration and not a general problem of processing two lexical inputs simultaneously.     

学习困难儿童元记忆能力的实验研究

该研究以有和无意义联系的两种中文词对为材料,采用2×3×2混合实验设计,对小学三到五年级的学习困难儿童与学优儿童的JOL监测判断水平和学习时间分配之间的差异及其发展特点进行研究。结果表明：（1）学习困难儿童的JOL判断等级显著低于学优儿童;（2）在自定步骤学习过程中,随着年级增长,学习困难儿童能够根据学习材料的性质决定其学习时间的分配策略,表现出一定的元记忆控制能力,但其分配策略的有效性不高;（3）学习困难儿童的JOL监测判断水平和学习时间分配策略从小三到小五在缓慢提高;（4）学习困难儿童的JOL监测判断和学习时间分配之间存在交互影响。