How word meaning structure relates to executive functioning and theory of mind in children with developmental language disorder: A multiple case study.

Background and aims: Many children with developmental language disorder (DLD) have difficulties in executive functioning (EF) and theory of mind (ToM). These difficulties might be explained by the theory that children's conceptual understanding changes over five stages of word meaning structure, from concrete and context-dependent to abstract and precise. We present a multiple case study examining how word meaning structure relates to EF and ToM in children with DLD. Methods: Participants were five children with DLD aged 9-12 and five typically developing children matched for age, gender, and nonverbal intelligence. Word meaning structure was assessed using new dynamic test. EF was assessed using the Zoo Map Task and Behavioral Rating Inventory for EF. ToM was assessed using the ToM test, Frith-Happé Animations, and Bermond-Vorst Alexithymia Questionnaire. Behavioral problems were measured using the Child Behavior Checklist. Anamnestic interviews with the parents were conducted to describe the case histories. Results: For the children with DLD, lower scores in the word meaning structure task were observed compared to those observed for their matched peers, with no statistical test applied. Word meaning structure related positively to EF and ToM, but not to behavioral problems. Instances in which word meaning structure dissociates from EF and ToM are discussed in individual case descriptions. Conclusions: By linking language to conceptual development, variations in word meaning structure may explain some EF and ToM difficulties in children with DLD. Implications: The present study offers a basis for future research on the relationships among word meaning structure, EF, and ToM.

Individual variation in bilingual vocabulary in preschoolers with developmental language disorder.

BACKGROUND: It is unclear how speech production, selective attention, and phonological working memory are related to first- (L1) and second-language (L2) vocabularies in bilingual preschoolers with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD). AIMS: To study individual variation in vocabularies in DLD bilingual preschoolers by (1) comparing them to typically developing (TD) bilingual, and TD and DLD monolingual peers; (2) differentially predicting L2 vocabulary; and (3) identifying and characterizing bilinguals' L1/L2 vocabulary profiles. METHODS: We measured the selective attention, working memory, and L1 Turkish/Polish (where applicable) and L1/L2 Dutch speech and vocabulary abilities of 31 DLD bilingual, 37 TD bilingual, and 61 DLD and 54 TD Dutch monolingual three-to-five year-olds. RESULTS: DLD bilinguals scored lower than TD bilinguals and TD/DLD monolinguals on all measures, except L2 vocabulary, where all bilinguals underperformed all monolinguals. Selective attention predicted Dutch vocabulary across groups. Three bilingual vocabulary profiles emerged: DLD bilinguals were less likely to be L1 dominant, TD/DLD bilinguals with better attention more often had a Balanced high L1/L2 profile, while those with poorer selective attention and L1 speech tended to be L2 dominant. CONCLUSIONS: These findings highlight the roles of L1 speech and selective attention, rather than L2 speech and working memory, in understanding bilingual vocabulary variation among DLD preschoolers.

Understanding variation in prospective poor decoders: A person-centred approach from kindergarten to Grade 2.

In the present study, we aimed to clarify variation in prospective poor decoders by studying the development of their word decoding skills during the first 1½ years of formal reading education and their unique pre-reading profiles before the onset of formal reading education. Using structural equation modelling and a factorial mixed model analysis of variance (ANOVA), we found autoregression and growth in the word decoding efficiency of prospective poor decoders (n = 90) and matched prospective adequate decoders (n = 90) in first and second grade. However, the gap between the two groups widened over time. Next, we zoomed in on the group of poor decoders by retrospectively studying their individual variation regarding cognitive and linguistic pre-reading skills. Using latent profile analysis, we found three distinct pre-reading profiles: (1) Poor PA, Letter Knowledge, RAN, and Verbal STM; (2) Poor PA and Letter Knowledge; and (3) Poor RAN. Together, these findings suggest that reading difficulties emerge at the intersection of multiple risk factors which can be detected in kindergarten, and that these reading problems persist throughout early reading education.

Predicting variation in word decoding development in deaf and hard-of-hearing children.

BACKGROUND: Deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) children may experience difficulties in word decoding development. AIMS: We aimed to compare and predict the incremental word decoding development in first grade in Dutch DHH and hearing children, as a function of kindergarten reading precursors. METHODS AND PROCEDURES: In this study, 25 DHH, and 41 hearing children participated. Kindergarten measures were phonological awareness (PA), letter knowledge (LK), rapid naming (RAN), and verbal short-term memory (VSTM). Word decoding (WD) was assessed at three consecutive time points (WD1, 2, 3) during reading instruction in first grade. OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: The hearing children scored higher than the DHH children on PA and VSTM only, although the distribution of WD scores differed between the groups. At WD1, PA and RAN predicted WD efficiency in both groups; but PA was a stronger predictor for hearing children. At WD2, LK, RAN, and the autoregressor were predictors for both groups. While at WD3, only the autoregressor was a significant predictor. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: WD development in DHH children on average shows similar levels as in hearing children, though within the DHH group more variation was observed. WD development in DHH children is not as much driven by PA; they may use other skills to compensate.

Differential effects and success stories of distance education in Covid-19 lockdowns on the development of reading comprehension in primary schools.

In the current study, the development in reading comprehension performance of students in lower-SES versus higher-SES schools during and after school closures due to Covid-19 lockdowns was examined, and compared to a normed reference group. Furthermore, we explored protective factors against negative effects at the time of school closures, by pinpointing successful practices in a sub sample of resilient lower-SES schools. The total sample consisted of 2202 students followed from grade 2-4. Overall, we found that students in lower-SES schools made less progress over time than students in higher-SES schools. On average, students made less progress during the lockdowns, but here, the interaction with SES was not significant. Students' reading comprehension levels partially recovered after the lockdowns. Questionnaire-data revealed that schools were better prepared during the second lockdown, with teachers making more use of digital means, and providing more online reading instruction. In addition, collaboration with the parents seemed to have improved. The in depth interviews with resilient lower-SES schools revealed that the introduction of online education and investing in educational partnerships with parents may have helped to minimize the negative impact of lockdowns. We conclude that lockdowns have a negative effect on the development of reading education, but that students are resilient. Digital means and partnership with parents may be seen as protective factors to attenuate the negative effects of emergency remote teaching.

Impact of audio on navigation strategies in children and adults with dyslexia.

Children and adults with dyslexia are often provided with audio-support, which reads the written text for the learner. The present study examined to what extent audio-support as a form of external regulation impacts navigation patterns in children and adults with and without dyslexia. We compared navigation patterns in multimedia lessons of learners with (36 children, 41 adults), and without dyslexia (46 children, 44 adults) in a text-condition vs. text-audio-condition. Log files were recorded to identify navigation patterns. Four patterns could be distinguished: linear reading (linear), linear reading with rereading (big peak), reading with going back to previous pages (small peaks), and a combination of strategies (combined peaks). Children generally used linear navigation strategies in both conditions, whereas adults mostly used combined-peaks strategies in the text-condition, but linear strategies in the text-audio-condition. No differences were found between learners with and without dyslexia. Audio-support does not impact navigation strategies in children but does seem to impact navigation strategies in adult learners, towards the use of more linear navigation patterns, reflecting less self-regulation.

Predictors of Early Mandarin Chinese Character Reading Development.

In the present study, we investigated the development of Chinese character reading and its predictors in 55 children from K3 (the last year of kindergarten) to G1 (first grade) in Mainland China. It was examined to what extent first graders' Mandarin Chinese character reading was related to their phonological awareness, Pinyin letter knowledge, and visual perception skills in kindergarten. The results showed that phonological awareness, Pinyin letter knowledge, and Chinese character reading improved from kindergarten to Grade 1, with Pinyin showing ceiling effects in Grade 1. Children's character reading in first grade was not predicted from phonological awareness in kindergarten. However, visual discrimination showed an indirect effect on Grade 1 character reading via its effect on kindergarten character reading. It can be concluded that both kindergarten visual discrimination and character reading ability facilitate first-grade reading ability for children in Mainland China.

The Role of Phonological Awareness, Pinyin Letter Knowledge, and Visual Perception Skills in Kindergarteners' Chinese Character Reading.

Word identification models assume that words are identified by at least two sources of information and analysis; one is phonological, and the other is visual. The present study investigated the influence of phonological awareness, Pinyin letter knowledge, and visual perception skills on Chinese character recognition after controlling for vocabulary, rapid naming, and verbal short-term memory in 80 Mandarin-speaking kindergarten children. Children were tested on phonological awareness (syllable awareness, onset-end rhyme awareness, and tone awareness), Pinyin letter naming, and visual perception (visual discrimination and visual-spatial relationships). The results showed that variance in Chinese character recognition could be explained by syllable awareness and tone awareness, but not by visual perception skills or Pinyin letter knowledge. Analyses further indicated that Pinyin letter knowledge moderated the relationship between tone awareness and Chinese character recognition. A focus on tone awareness and syllable awareness in the kindergarten may help Chinese children to accomplish the transition from phonological awareness to early literacy, while Pinyin letter knowledge can help children to make the connection between Chinese speech and writing.

Compensatory role of verbal learning and consolidation in reading and spelling of children with dyslexia.

The present study investigated the compensatory role of verbal learning and consolidation in reading and spelling of children with (N = 54) and without dyslexia (N = 36) and the role of verbal learning (learning new verbal information) and consolidation (remember the learned information over time) on the response to a phonics through spelling intervention of children with dyslexia. We also took phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming, verbal working memory, and semantics into account. Results showed that children with dyslexia performed better in verbal learning and equal in verbal consolidation compared to typically developing peers. Regression analyses revealed that verbal learning did not predict reading but did predict spelling ability, across both groups; verbal consolidation did not predict reading, nor spelling. Furthermore, neither verbal learning nor verbal consolidation was related to responsiveness to a phonics through spelling intervention in children with dyslexia. Verbal learning may thus be seen as a compensatory mechanism for spelling before the intervention for children with dyslexia but is beneficial for typically developing children as well.

Predicting Early Literacy: Auditory and Visual Speech Decoding in Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Children.

The current study investigated the relative contributions of auditory speech decoding (i.e., auditory discrimination) and visual speech decoding (i.e., speechreading) on phonological awareness and letter knowledge in deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) kindergartners (Mage = 6;4, n = 27) and hearing kindergartners (Mage = 5;10, n = 42). Hearing children scored higher on auditory discrimination and phonological awareness, with the DHH children scoring at chance level for auditory discrimination, while no differences were found on speechreading and letter knowledge. For DHH children, speechreading correlated with phonological awareness and letter knowledge, for the hearing children, auditory discrimination correlated with phonological awareness. Two regression analyses showed that speechreading predicted phonological awareness and letter knowledge in DHH children only. Speechreading may thus be a compensatory factor in early literacy for DHH children, at least for those who are exposed to spoken language in monolingual or in bilingual or bimodal-bilingual contexts, and could be important to focus on during early literacy instruction.

Lexical restructuring stimulates phonological awareness among emerging English-French bilingual children's literacy.

This longitudinal study investigated how lexical restructuring can stimulate emerging bilingual children's phonological awareness in their first (L1) and second (L2) languages. Sixty-two English (L1) - French (L2) bilingual children (Mage = 75.7 months, SD = 3.2) were taught new English and French word pairs differing minimally in phonological contrast. The results indicated that increasing lexical specificity in English mediated the relationship between English vocabulary and English phonological awareness both concurrently and longitudinally at the end of Grade 1. A longitudinal relationship was established among French vocabulary, French lexical specificity, and French phonological awareness at the end of Grade 1. Notably, cross-language transfer from English lexical specificity was a better predictor of development in French phonological awareness, especially for words that contained phonological contrasts that occurred in both languages. The results from this study highlight the phonological foundations of early literacy and extend the lexical restructuring hypothesis to emerging bilingual children.

Semantics impacts response to phonics through spelling intervention in children with dyslexia.

We examined the response to a phonics through spelling intervention in 52 children with dyslexia by analyzing their phonological, morphological, and orthographical spelling errors both before and after the intervention whereas their spelling errors before the intervention were compared with those of 105 typically developing spellers. A possible compensatory role of semantics on the intervention effects was also investigated. Results showed that before the intervention, children with dyslexia and the typically developing children both made most morphological errors, followed by orthographic and phonological errors. Within each category, children with dyslexia made more errors than the typically developing children, with differences being largest for phonological errors. Children with dyslexia with better developed semantic representations turned out to make less phonological, morphological, and orthographic errors compared with children with dyslexia with less developed semantic representations. The intervention for children with dyslexia led to a reduction of all error types, mostly of the orthographic errors. In addition, semantics was related to the decline in phonological, morphological, and orthographic spelling errors. This study implicates that semantic stimulation could benefit the spelling development of children at risk for or with dyslexia.

Beyond the Senses: How Self-Directed Speech and Word Meaning Structure Impact Executive Functioning and Theory of Mind in Individuals With Hearing and Language Problems.

Many individuals with developmental language disorder (DLD) and individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing (D/HH) have social-emotional problems, such as social difficulties, and show signs of aggression, depression, and anxiety. These problems can be partly associated with their executive functions (EFs) and theory of mind (ToM). The difficulties of both groups in EF and ToM may in turn be related to self-directed speech (i.e., overt or covert speech that is directed at the self). Self-directed speech is thought to allow for the construction of non-sensory representations (i.e., representations that do not coincide with direct observation). Such non-sensory representations allow individuals to overcome the limits set upon them by the senses. This ability is constrained by the development of word meaning structure (i.e., the way words are understood). We argue that the greater ability to construct non-sensory representations may result in more enhanced forms of EF and ToM. We conclude that difficulties in EF, ToM, and social-emotional functioning in those with hearing and language problems may be accounted for in terms of word meaning impairments. We propose that word meaning structure and self-directed speech should be considered in assigning EF and ToM treatments to individuals with DLD and those who are D/HH.

The Impact of the Digital Home Environment on Kindergartners' Language and Early Literacy.

We examined whether a digital home literacy environment could be distinguished from a (traditional) analog home literacy environment, and whether both were related to kindergartners' language and literacy levels, taking parental expectations into account. Caregivers of 71 kindergarteners filled out a questionnaire on the home environment (expectations, activities, and materials), and the children were assessed on language (vocabulary and grammar) and literacy (begin phoneme awareness, segmentation skill, and grapheme knowledge) skills. Results showed that a digital environment could be distinguished from an analog environment. However, only the analog environment was related to children's language abilities. Parental expectations were related directly to both language and literacy abilities. The fact that there was no relation between the digital home environment and language and literacy outcomes might indicate large variation in the quality of the digital home environment. More attention is needed to this part of daily life when growing up in a digital society.

Linguistic precursors of advanced math growth in first-language and second-language learners.

BACKGROUND: Language plays an important role in the development of mathematics. Previous research has shown that both basic and advanced linguistic skills relate to fifth-grade advanced mathematics (i.e., geometry and fractions), but these effects have not yet been investigated longitudinally or in a linguistically diverse population. AIMS: The present study first examined the differences between first-language and second-language learners in advanced mathematics. Second, we investigated the extent to which the basic and advanced linguistic skills of first-language and second-language learners directly and indirectly (through arithmetic) predict their growth in advanced mathematics from fifth to sixth grade. METHODS AND PROCEDURES: Participants were 153 first-language and 80 second-language learners from 10 to 12 years of age. Classroom as well as individual measures were administered. OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: First, the results showed lower scores for second-language learners on advanced mathematics. Second, for both groups of language learners, basic linguistic skills were found to indirectly predict the growth in advanced mathematics via arithmetic skills, whereas advanced linguistic skills directly predicted the growth in geometry and fractions. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: These results highlight the general need for opportunities to learn the basic and advanced linguistic skills associated with mathematics over individual native language background.

Modality and redundancy effects, and their relation to executive functioning in children with dyslexia.

Children with dyslexia are often provided with audio-support to compensate for their reading problems, but this may intervene with their learning. The aim of the study was to examine modality and redundancy effects in 21 children with dyslexia, compared to 21 typically developing peers (5th grade), on study outcome (retention and transfer knowledge) and study time in user-paced learning environments and the role of their executive functions (verbal and visual working memory, inhibition, and cognitive flexibility) on these effects. Results showed no effects on retention knowledge. Regarding transfer knowledge, a modality effect in children with dyslexia was found, and a reversed redundancy effect in typically developing children. For transfer knowledge, written text with pictures supported knowledge gain in typically developing children, but not in children with dyslexia who benefited more from auditory-presented information with pictures. Study time showed modality and reversed redundancy effects in both groups. In all children, studying in a written text with pictures condition took longer than with audio replacing the text or being added to it. Results also showed that executive functions were related to learning, but they did not differ between the groups, nor did they impact the found modality and redundancy effects. The present research thus shows that, irrespectively of children's executive functions, adding audio-support for all children, can potentially lead to more efficient learning.

Effects of elaborate feedback during practice tests: Costs and benefits of retrieval prompts.

This study explores the effect of feedback with hints on students' recall of words. In three classroom experiments, high school students individually practiced vocabulary words through computerized retrieval practice with either standard show-answer feedback (display of answer) or hints feedback after incorrect responses. Hints feedback gave students a second chance to find the correct response using orthographic (Experiment 1), mnemonic (Experiment 2), or cross-language hints (Experiment 3). During practice, hints led to a shift of practice time from further repetitions to longer feedback processing but did not reduce (repeated) errors. There was no effect of feedback on later recall except when the hints from practice were also available on the test, indicating limited transfer of practice with hints to later recall without hints (in Experiments 1 and 2). Overall, hints feedback was not preferable over show-answer feedback. The common notion that hints are beneficial may not hold when the total practice time is limited. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Predicting responsiveness to a sustained reading and spelling intervention in children with dyslexia.

The present study aimed to predict responsiveness to a sustained two-phase reading and spelling intervention with a focus on declarative and procedural learning respectively in 122 second-grade Dutch children with dyslexia. We related their responsiveness to intervention to precursor measures (phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming ability, letter knowledge, and verbal working memory) and related word and pseudoword reading and spelling outcomes of the sustained intervention to initial reading and spelling abilities, and first-phase, initial treatment success. Results showed that children with dyslexia improved in reading accuracy and efficiency and in spelling skills during the two phases of the intervention although the gap with typical readers increased. In reading efficiency, rapid automatized naming, and in reading and spelling accuracy phoneme deletion predicted children's responsiveness to intervention. Additionally, children's initial reading abilities at the start of the intervention directly (and indirectly, via initial treatment success, in reading efficiency) predicted posttest outcomes. Responsiveness to intervention in spelling was predicted by phoneme deletion, and spelling at posttest was indirectly, via initial treatment success, predicted by children's initial spelling abilities. Finally, children's initial treatment success directly predicted reading efficiency and spelling outcomes at posttest.

Enhanced semantic involvement during word recognition in children with dyslexia.

We investigated whether children with dyslexia show enhanced semantic involvement as compensation for deficient phonological processing during reading. Phonological and semantic processing during reading and moderating effects of word frequency and word length in children with and without dyslexia were examined using a picture-word priming paradigm. Participants were 61 children with dyslexia and 50 typical readers in Grade 6 of primary school. Primes were either semantically or phonologically (shared onset and rime) related or unrelated to their target word. Results showed that priming effects were stronger in children with dyslexia than in typical readers in the semantic condition but did not differ between groups in the phonological condition. Overall, word length and word frequency effects were stronger for children with dyslexia than for typical readers, but word length and word frequency did not affect priming effects differently for the two groups. In both groups, only semantic priming effects were stronger for low-frequency longer words. Finally, individual word and pseudoword reading efficiency correlated with priming effects only in the semantic condition and only in children with dyslexia. It can be concluded that children with dyslexia, compared with typical readers, rely more on semantic information in word reading but do not show deficient phonological activation during reading compared with typical readers.