What spelling errors can tell us about the development of processes involved in children's spelling.

Introduction: Spelling is an essential foundation for reading and writing. However, many children leave school with spelling difficulties. By understanding the processes children use when they spell, we can intervene with appropriate instruction tailored to their needs. Methods: Our study aimed to identify key processes (lexical-semantic and phonological) by using a spelling assessment that distinguishes different printed letter strings/word types (regular and irregular words, and pseudowords). Misspellings in the test from 641 pupils in Reception Year to Year 6 were scored using alternatives to binary correct versus incorrect scoring systems. The measures looked at phonological plausibility, phoneme representations and letter distance. These have been used successfully in the past but not with a spelling test that distinguishes irregularly spelled words from regular words and pseudowords. Results: The findings suggest that children in primary school rely on both lexical-semantic and phonological processes to spell all types of letter string, but this varies depending on the level of spelling experience (younger Foundation/Key stage 1 and older Key stage 2). Although children in younger year groups seemed to rely more on phonics, based on the strongest correlation coefficients for all word types, with further spelling experience, lexical processes seemed to be more evident, depending on the type of word examined. Discussion: The findings have implications for the way we teach and assess spelling and could prove to be valuable for educators.

Orthographic forms affect speech perception in a second language: Consonant and vowel length in L2 English.

ItalianL1 speakers of EnglishL2 produce the same English sound as longer if spelled with two than with one letter, following Italian grapheme-phoneme conversion rules. Do Italian listeners perceive short and long sounds in English homophonic word pairs that are spelled with a single letter or a digraph (finish-Finnish; morning-mourning)? In Experiment 1, 50 ItalianL1-EnglishL2 bilinguals and 50 English controls performed a Consonant Perception task and a Vowel Perception Task. They heard English homophonic word pairs containing a target sound spelled with one or two letters and indicated whether the two words contained the same sounds or not. For half of the listeners a picture was used to activate target words (Auditory-Visual Input group). Bilinguals in this group perceived different sounds in homophonic pairs. Experiment 2 tested whether naturalistic exposure reduces orthographic effects on speech perception by comparing learners, sequential bilinguals, and English controls (all n = 30) with Auditory-Visual Input. Orthographic form (spelling) affected consonant perception in both of the second language listener groups. Learners were less affected than bilinguals. Analyses indicated that this was because of the learners' high proficiency. It appears that ItalianL1 speakers of EnglishL2 make a long-short contrast for consonants-unattested in English-and illusorily perceive it in spoken English homophonous words. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Understanding differing outcomes from semantic and phonological interventions with children with word-finding difficulties: A group and case series study.

Developmental Language Disorder occurs in up to 10% of children and many of these children have difficulty retrieving words in their receptive vocabulary. Such word-finding difficulties (WFD) can impact social development and educational outcomes. This research aims to develop the evidence-base for supporting children with WFD and inform the design and analysis of intervention studies. We included 20 children (age 6 to 8) with WFD each of whom participated in two interventions one targeting semantic attributes and the other phonological attributes of target words. The interventions, employing word-webs, were carefully constructed to facilitate direct comparison of outcome which was analysed at both group and case-series level. The study used a robust crossover design with pre-intervention baseline, between-intervention wash-out and post-intervention follow-up testing. We incorporated: matching of item sets on individual performance at baseline, independent randomisation of order of intervention and items to condition, blinding of assessor, evaluation of fidelity and control items. The interventions were clinically feasible, with weekly sessions over six weeks. Intervention improved children's word-finding abilities with statistically significant change only during treatment phases of the study and not over baseline, wash-out or follow-up phases. For the group the semantic intervention resulted in a gain of almost twice as many items as the phonological intervention, a significant difference. However, children differed in their response to intervention. Importantly, case-series analysis revealed outcomes predictable on the basis of children's theoretically driven language profiles. Taking account of individual profiles in determining choice of intervention would enable more children to benefit. The study provides new evidence to inform and refine clinical practice with this population. Future studies should be designed such that results can be analysed at both group and case series levels to extend theoretical understanding and optimise use of appropriate interventions.

Intervention for a lexical reading and spelling difficulty in two Greek-speaking primary age children.

An intervention study was carried out with two nine-year-old Greek-speaking dyslexic children. Both children were slow in reading single words and text and had difficulty in spelling irregularly spelled words. One child was also poor in non-word reading. Intervention focused on spelling in a whole-word training using a flashcard technique that had previously been found to be effective with English-speaking children. Post-intervention assessments conducted immediately at the end of the intervention, one month later and then five months later showed a significant improvement in spelling of treated words that was sustained over time. In addition, both children showed generalisation of improvement to untrained words and an increase in scores in a standardised spelling assessment. The findings support the effectiveness of theoretically based targeted intervention for literacy difficulties.

Computational modeling of interventions for developmental disorders.

We evaluate the potential of connectionist models of developmental disorders to offer insights into the efficacy of interventions. Based on a range of computational simulation results, we assess factors that influence the effectiveness of interventions for reading, language, and other cognitive developmental disorders. The analysis provides a level of mechanistic detail that is generally lacking in behavioral approaches to intervention. We review an extended program of modeling work in four sections. In the first, we consider long-term outcomes and the possibility of compensated outcomes and resolution of early delays. In the second section, we address methods to remediate atypical development in a single network. In the third section, we address interventions to encourage compensation via alternative pathways. In the final section, we consider the key issue of individual differences in response to intervention. Together with advances in understanding the neural basis of developmental disorders and neural responses to training, formal computational approaches can spur theoretical progress to narrow the gap between the theory and practice of intervention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Intervention for children with word-finding difficulties: a parallel group randomised control trial.

PURPOSE: The study investigated the outcome of a word-web intervention for children diagnosed with word-finding difficulties (WFDs). METHOD: Twenty children age 6-8 years with WFDs confirmed by a discrepancy between comprehension and production on the Test of Word Finding-2, were randomly assigned to intervention (n = 11) and waiting control (n = 9) groups. The intervention group had six sessions of intervention which used word-webs and targeted children's meta-cognitive awareness and word-retrieval. RESULT: On the treated experimental set (n = 25 items) the intervention group gained on average four times as many items as the waiting control group (d = 2.30). There were also gains on personally chosen items for the intervention group. There was little change on untreated items for either group. CONCLUSION: The study is the first randomised control trial to demonstrate an effect of word-finding therapy with children with language difficulties in mainstream school. The improvement in word-finding for treated items was obtained following a clinically realistic intervention in terms of approach, intensity and duration.

HelexKids: A word frequency database for Greek and Cypriot primary school children.

In this article, we introduce HelexKids, an online written-word database for Greek-speaking children in primary education (Grades 1 to 6). The database is organized on a grade-by-grade basis, and on a cumulative basis by combining Grade 1 with Grades 2 to 6. It provides values for Zipf, frequency per million, dispersion, estimated word frequency per million, standard word frequency, contextual diversity, orthographic Levenshtein distance, and lemma frequency. These values are derived from 116 textbooks used in primary education in Greece and Cyprus, producing a total of 68,692 different word types. HelexKids was developed to assist researchers in studying language development, educators in selecting age-appropriate items for teaching, as well as writers and authors of educational books for Greek/Cypriot children. The database is open access and can be searched online at www.helexkids.org .

A sublexical training study for spelling in a biliterate Greek- and English-speaking child.

RI is an emergent trilingual boy, literate in Greek and English, with difficulties in reading and spelling in both languages. Assessment with non-literacy tests revealed a deficit in phonological ability and in visual memory for sequentially presented characters. RI took part in a training programme that targeted sublexical spelling processes. Post-intervention assessment revealed improvement in reading and spelling in Greek but not in English. Assessments of lexical and sublexical skills showed improvement in nonword spelling and nonword reading for Greek. For English, there was some indication of improvement in nonword reading at delayed post-intervention testing, but no evidence of improvement in nonword spelling. Possible reasons for the difference in outcome for the two languages are considered, including the level of transparency of written Greek and English.

Evidence for semantic involvement in regular and exception word reading in emergent readers of English.

We investigated the relationship between semantic knowledge and word reading. A sample of 27 6-year-old children read words both in isolation and in context. Lexical knowledge was assessed using general and item-specific tasks. General semantic knowledge was measured using standardized tasks in which children defined words and made judgments about the relationships between words. Item-specific knowledge of to-be-read words was assessed using auditory lexical decision (lexical phonology) and definitions (semantic) tasks. Regressions and mixed-effects models indicated a close relationship between semantic knowledge (but not lexical phonology) and both regular and exception word reading. Thus, during the early stages of learning to read, semantic knowledge may support word reading irrespective of regularity. Contextual support particularly benefitted reading of exception words. We found evidence that lexical-semantic knowledge and context make separable contributions to word reading.

Intervention for a multi-character processing deficit in a Greek-speaking child with surface dyslexia.

A case study with a 12-year-old boy, R.F., who was a monolingual speaker of Greek is reported. R.F. showed slow word reading and a difficulty in spelling irregular words but not nonwords. Assessments revealed that R.F. did not appear to have a phonological deficit, but indicated impaired multicharacter processing ability for visually presented letter arrays. On the basis of previous research linking multicharacter processing and reading we developed an intervention aimed at improving R.F.'s ability to report letter arrays of increasing length. Following a 9-week programme, improvement was observed, and investigation of R.F.'s reading revealed gains in single word reading speed and accuracy. The findings support the significance of intervention studies for testing hypotheses regarding causal relationships among cognitive processes and the notion of specific profiles of developmental dyslexia/dysgraphia in both opaque and transparent orthographies.