Effect of music integrated phonological awareness program on preschool cochlear implant users.

OBJECTIVES: Children with cochlear implants exhibit lower phonological awareness and sound discrimination skills compared to their normal-hearing peers. However, music training has been shown to have a positive effect on speech discrimination and awareness skills. METHODS: Our study included 23 cochlear implant users and 23 normal hearing participants aged 5-6 years with language skills. The aim was to observe the effect of a music-integrated phonological awareness program on cochlear implant users and to compare the phonological awareness skills of children with cochlear implants before and after online training with their normal hearing peers. RESULTS: Results showed that the trained study group scored higher on the Scale of Early Childhood Phonological Awareness (PASECP) after training than the control group (p < 0.05). In addition, SMRT scores increased between before and after training in the study group, and Mismatch Negativity (MMN) amplitudes increased and latencies decreased as a result of training (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The study suggests that phonological awareness training integrated with music can effectively improve the phonological awareness skills of children with cochlear implants and has the potential to enable them to achieve phonological awareness levels similar to or even better than their normal hearing peers.

Phonological awareness and RAN contribute to Chinese reading and arithmetic for different reasons.

The present study investigated how phonological awareness and rapid automatized naming (hereafter, RAN), simultaneously contributed to Chinese reading and arithmetic fluency. Specifically, we proposed a new hypothesized mechanism that processing speed would mediate the relations of RAN with Chinese reading and arithmetic fluency. One hundred and forty-five Chinese children at the fifth grade were administered with a battery of measures, including three phonological processing measures, character reading, and whole number computation, as well as nonverbal IQ, and vocabulary knowledge. Path analyses revealed that phonological awareness and RAN were uniquely related to character reading and arithmetic fluency, while phonological memory was not significantly correlated to either character reading or arithmetic fluency, after controlling for age, nonverbal IQ, and vocabulary knowledge. Further analysis indicated that processing speed demonstrated a mediating effect on the importance of RAN in character reading, rather than in arithmetic fluency. Results underscore the potential importance of phonological awareness and RAN in character reading and arithmetic fluency, and the mediating role of processing speed in RAN to promote Chinese character reading fluency.

Teleneuropsychology intervention in phonological awareness for children with specific learning disorder with reading and mathematical difficulties.

Specific learning disorder (SLD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects 5-15% of school-aged children worldwide. Often, difficulties in reading (SLD-RD) and mathematics (SLD-MD) occur together. Deficits in phonological awareness (PA) have been identified as the common factor between the two difficulties. Intervention in PA has been shown to be effective in SLD-RD; however, it is not clear whether it is also effective in SLD-MD. Neuropsychological intervention is usually conducted face-to-face, but when the patient is in a remote location or during extraordinary situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic, tele neuropsychology (TeleNP) may be a suitable alternative. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a telerehabilitation program for PA to improve math skills in children with SLD-RD/SLD-MD. The study had an N-of-1 SCED design, and included six children aged 10-12 years with SLD-RD/SLD-MD. After four baseline measurements with an arithmetic verification paradigm, they were treated with TeleNP-PA. The effect on each participant was evaluated using visual analysis and the reliable change index. After the intervention, all participants showed improvement in arithmetic tasks, suggesting that the PA intervention had a positive influence on these skills.

Auditory Processing and Speech-Sound Disorders.

BACKGROUND: Speech-sound disorders (SSD) have been linked to auditory processing difficulties, and auditory processing disorders (APD) have been related to phonological awareness and literacy development. To this date, there has not been a systematic literature review investigating the results of psychophysiology and language assessments related to SSD and APD in children. METHODS: The literature search was conducted in PubMed, Medline EBSCO, and Scopus to identify studies with children diagnosed/suspected of having APDs and SSDs. The quality of methodology in the selected articles was evaluated with the Newcastle Ottawa Scale. RESULTS: Seven out of 378 relevant studies met the selection criteria. The findings were summarized for children with SSD and APD based on (a) metalinguistic and literacy skills, (b) cognitive abilities, and (c) temporal processing abilities. Three articles indicated that children with APD and SSD exhibit lower temporal task accuracy and reaction time. In two studies, children with SSD exhibited lower scores in discrimination, sequencing, and recall of brief stimuli in rapid succession. CONCLUSIONS: This review revealed associations between SSD severity and APD that may underline low performance in metalinguistic skills. Diagnostic assessments have been proposed based on the review to adequately identify children with SSD and APD and provide useful information for more suitable intervention.

Evaluation of the multiple-deficit hypothesis among dyslexic Arabic-speaking children.

This study examined the multiple-deficit hypothesis among Arabic-speaking elementary school students. A total of 90 students, divided into three main groups based on their performance on an Arabic word-reading task: dyslexic (n = 30), regular age-matched (n = 30), and 3rd-grade regular students, who were matched to the dyslexic group in regard to their reading proficiency level (n = 30). Participants underwent a nine-domain Arabic reading experiment that measured accuracy and fluency to evaluate general reading proficiency. The performance of Arabic dyslexic students was significantly worse than age-matched controls, but similar to young matched controls based on the reading level of each cognitive task. Moreover, dyslexic students showed deficits in three or more cognitive functions, depending on severity. This study adds to the limited empirical research on the double-deficit hypothesis and its extension to the multiple-domain model among young Arabic students.

The influence of segmental and suprasegmental phonological awareness on word and pseudoword reading-A comparison between native English speakers and native Chinese speakers of English.

Segmental and suprasegmental phonological awareness (PA) are closely related to word reading skills in native speakers learning to read an alphabetic script as used in English. However, their roles in English word and pseudoword reading among native Chinese (NC) speakers, and how English proficiency might affect these relationships, remain less clear. This study examined the links between English segmental/suprasegmental PA and word/pseudoword reading in NC and native English (NE) speakers. Both child and adult participants were assessed on English segmental and suprasegmental PA, alongside vocabulary, at a single time point. The results showed that both segmental PA (elision and segmenting nonwords) and suprasegmental PA (aural suffix judgment and written suffix judgment) were significantly correlated with English real word and pseudoword reading of both NE and NC children, and NC adults, but not NE adults. Moreover, for NE and NC children, segmental PA correlated stronger with real word reading than suprasegmental PA after controlling for vocabulary. Among NC adults, both segmental and suprasegmental PA significantly contributed to real word reading. For pseudoword reading, after controlling for vocabulary, segmental PA had a stronger correlation among NC children and adults, while suprasegmental PA was more influential for NE children. This research gives insights into factors influencing NC speakers' English word reading ability, bearing essential implications for enhancing second language literacy in learners from a logographic background.

Phonological Awareness and Rapid Automatized Naming: The Mediating Effect of Word Reading and Spelling in Children with Developmental Dyslexia, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and Mild Intellectual Disability.

INTRODUCTION: In learning to read, children learn to integrate orthographic, phonological, and semantic codes into highly specified and redundant lexical representations. The aim is to test a proposed model for the relationship between phonological awareness (PA) and rapid automatized naming (RAN) as mediated by word reading (WR) and spelling (SP) in children with developmental dyslexia (DD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and mild intellectual disability (ID). METHODS: The relation between PA and RAN was found to be mediated by WR and SP in children with DD, ADHD, and mild ID. Three groups of children were included: DD children (N = 70), ADHD children (N = 68), and ID children (N = 69). This is a quantitative correlational, cross-sectional study investigating the strength and direction of relationships among proposed variables. RESULTS: The relation between PA and RAN was found to be mediated by WR and SP. Based on their correlation analysis, the researcher concluded that there are significant correlations between PA, RAN, WR, and SP. PA correlates positively with RAN and SP. RAN correlates positively with WR and SP. CONCLUSION: The study extended our knowledge of the relationship between PA and RAN as mediated by WR and SP in children with DD, ADHD, and mild ID. In practice, this is conducive to promote the utilization of "PA" and "RAN" so as to improve the early literacy skills (WR and SP) among children with DD, ADHD, and mild ID.

Phonological awareness training and phonological therapy approaches for specific language impairment children with speech sound disorders: a comparative outcome study.

PURPOSE: Children with specific language impairment (SLI) might present with speech sound disorder (SSD) and phonological awareness (PA) deficits which put them at risk of potential reading problems. This work aimed to organize an intervention program in Arabic for phonological training and to assess the effect of PA training versus the phonological therapy (PT) for children with SLI and SSD. METHODS: The study was carried out on 60 children with comorbid SLI and SSD, aged 5-7 years. Children were equally divided into two groups; each group received language therapy combined with (PT or PA training). Measures of language development, phonological output, and PA were taken before therapy and at 4 month post-therapy for all children. RESULTS: The two therapy groups made nearly the same amount of progress in the development of language and phonological production, with no significant differences regarding language age and percent of consonants correct (PCC). The PA training group progressed more on the PA skills than children who received PT over the same time. CONCLUSIONS: PA training could facilitate the development of phonological skills by targeting the child's awareness of phonemes and improving the production of sound patterns.

Dyslexia and dyscalculia: which neuropsychological processes distinguish the two developmental disorders?

This study analyses the specific neuropsychological profiles of children with dyslexia and/or dyscalculia, in particular concerning phonological awareness, lexical access, working memory and numerical processing. Four groups were selected, through a screening process that used strict criteria, from 1568 7-10-year-old children: 90 with typical development, 61 with dyslexia, 13 with dyscalculia, and 14 with dyslexia + dyscalculia. Children with dyslexia show a deficit in phonological processing, lexical access, and verbal working memory, especially with alphabetic stimuli. Children with developmental dyscalculia show a deficit of phonological processing, verbal working memory with digits and visual-spatial working memory. They also show an impairment in spatial representation of numbers and in the automatic access to numerical semantics to a greater extent than those with double disturbance. Children with dyslexia + dyscalculia show a profile generally characterized by the summation of the deficits of the two disorders, although they have a lower deficit in access to numerical semantics and mental representation of numbers.

Swipe, tap, read? Unveiling the effects of Touchscreen devices on Emergent Literacy Development in preschoolers.

Emergent literacy skills are vital for children's reading and writing development. While touchscreen devices have been linked to enhanced emergent literacy in developed countries, their impact in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), with limited access to quality apps, is underexplored. Thailand, classified as an upper-middle-income country, presents a unique context with its specific challenges in educational technology, which have not been extensively studied. This study examined the relationship between touchscreen device usage and emergent literacy development in Thai preschool children. Using a cross-sectional design, we analyzed data from 317 Thai children aged 5-6 years, assessing their emergent literacy skills and examining the association with touchscreen device usage through logistic regression analysis. Our findings showed that 79.5% of participants engaged with touchscreen devices, and there was an observed trend suggesting that exclusive tablet users might exhibit enhanced phonological awareness, letter naming, and rapid automatized naming skills. However, these potential improvements did not reach statistical significance when primary caregiver characteristics were taken into account. Our findings highlight the complexity of this relationship and underscore the need for further research to elucidate the potential influences of application quality and screen time engagement on emergent literacy, particularly in LMICs.

Longitudinal Predictors of Word Reading for Children with Williams Syndrome.

We examined the cognitive, language, and instructional predictors of early word-reading ability in a sample of children with Williams syndrome longitudinally. At Time 1, sixty-nine 6-7-year-olds (mean age = 6.53 years) completed standardized measures of phonological awareness, visual-spatial perception, vocabulary, and overall intellectual ability. Word-reading instruction type was classified as (systematic) Phonics (n = 35) or Other (n = 34). At Time 2, approximately three years later (mean age = 9.47 years), children completed a standardized assessment of single-word reading ability. Reading ability at Time 2 varied considerably, from inability to read any words to word-reading ability slightly above the level expected for age. The results of a multiple regression indicated that Time 1 word-reading instruction type, phonological awareness, and visual-spatial perception (as assessed by a matching letter-like forms measure) each explained significant unique variance in word reading at Time 2. A systematic phonics approach was associated with significantly better performance than other reading-instruction approaches. Exploratory analyses suggested that the relations between these factors were complex. Considered together, these findings strongly suggest that, in line with the Cumulative Risk and Resilience Model of reading disability, word-reading (dis)ability in Williams syndrome is probabilistic in nature, resulting from the interaction of multiple individual and environmental risk and protective factors. The results also have educational implications: Early word-reading instruction for children with Williams syndrome should combine systematic phonics and phonological awareness training while also incorporating letter discrimination instruction highlighting the visual-spatial differences between similar-appearing letters.

Phonological ability and neural congruency: Phonological loop or more?

OBJECTIVE: We explored neural components in Electroencephalography (EEG) signals during a phonological processing task to assess (a) the neural origins of Baddeley's working-memory components contributing to phonological processing, (b) the unitary structure of phonological processing and (c) the neural differences between children with dyslexia (DYS) and controls (CAC). METHODS: EEG data were collected from sixty children (half with dyslexia) while performing the initial- and final- phoneme elision task. We explored a novel machine-learning-based approach to identify the neural components in EEG elicited in response to the two conditions and capture differences between DYS and CAC. RESULTS: Our method identifies two sets of phoneme-related neural congruency components capturing neural activations distinguishing DYS and CAC across conditions. CONCLUSIONS: Neural congruency components capture the underlying neural mechanisms that drive the relationship between phonological deficits and dyslexia and provide insights into the phonological loop and visual-sketchpad dimensions in Baddeley's model at the neural level. They also confirm the unitary structure of phonological awareness with EEG data. SIGNIFICANCE: Our findings provide novel insights into the neural origins of the phonological processing differences in children with dyslexia, the unitary structure of phonological awareness, and further verify Baddeley's model as a theoretical framework for phonological processing and dyslexia.

Exploring the Relations of Morphological Awareness with Phonological Awareness and Vocabulary: The Case of the Greek Language.

Although relations between morphological awareness, phonological awareness, and vocabulary have been widely observed, questions remain about their precise associations. The purpose of the present study was to explore the relations of morphological awareness with two highly related linguistic skills (phonological awareness and vocabulary) in a transparent orthography with rich morphology. The study sample consisted of 121 (58 males, Mean age = 93.94 months, SD = 3.32) 2nd grade Greek-speaking children. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the three-factor model provided the best fit to the data, indicating that although morphological awareness, phonological awareness, and vocabulary are highly correlated, they represent distinct linguistic constructs. In addition, hierarchical regression analysis was used to examine the bidirectional effects between the three linguistic skills. Results revealed that both phonological awareness and vocabulary significantly contributed to morphological awareness, with phonological awareness having a stronger effect. Conversely, morphological awareness significantly affected both phonological awareness and vocabulary. The effect size from phonological awareness and vocabulary to morphological awareness was similar to the effect size reported from morphological awareness to phonological awareness and vocabulary. These results suggest that morphological awareness is highly associated with phonological awareness and vocabulary, being though a distinct skill. In addition, it seems that these linguistic skills have bidirectional effects with each other in first grades.

Intergenerational longitudinal associations between parental reading/musical traits, infants' auditory processing, and later phonological awareness skills.

The intergenerational transmission of language/reading skills has been demonstrated by evidence reporting that parental literacy abilities contribute to the prediction of their offspring's language and reading skills. According to the "Intergenerational Multiple Deficit Model," literacy abilities of both parents are viewed as indicators of offspring's liability for literacy difficulties, since parents provide offspring with genetic and environmental endowment. Recently, studies focusing on the heritability of musical traits reached similar conclusions. The "Musical Abilities, Pleiotropy, Language, and Environment (MAPLE)" framework proposed that language/reading and musical traits share a common genetic architecture, and such shared components have an influence on the heritable neural underpinnings of basic-level skills underlying musical and language traits. Here, we investigate the intergenerational transmission of parental musical and language-related (reading) abilities on their offspring's neural response to a basic auditory stimulation (neural intermediate phenotype) and later phonological awareness skills, including in this complex association pattern the mediating effect of home environment. One-hundred and seventy-six families were involved in this study. Through self-report questionnaires we assessed parental reading abilities and musicality, as well as home literacy and musical environment. Offspring were involved in a longitudinal study: auditory processing was measured at 6 months of age by means of a Rapid Auditory Processing electrophysiological paradigm, and phonological awareness was assessed behaviorally at 5 years of age. Results reveal significant correlations between parents' reading skills and musical traits. Intergenerational associations were investigated through mediation analyses using structural equation modeling. For reading traits, the results revealed that paternal reading was indirectly associated with children's phonological awareness skills via their electrophysiological MisMatch Response at 6 months, while maternal reading was directly associated with children's phonological awareness. For musical traits, we found again that paternal musicality, rather than maternal characteristics, was associated with children's phonological phenotypes: in this case, the association was mediated by musical environment. These results provide some insight about the intergenerational pathways linking parental reading and musical traits, neural underpinnings of infants' auditory processing and later phonological awareness skills. Besides shedding light on possible intergenerational transmission mechanisms, this study may open up new perspectives for early intervention based on environmental enrichment.

A meta-analysis of training effects on English phonological awareness and reading in native Chinese speakers.

Enhancing English phonological awareness is critical in promoting native English speakers' reading development. However, less attention has been paid to the role of phonological awareness development for English language learners in a logographic context. This meta-analysis aims to evaluate the effectiveness of training native Chinese speakers' English phonological awareness and reading across age groups. Thirty-three articles, including 37 independent samples, were identified as training studies that reported English phonological awareness as an outcome measure, and 16 articles, including 17 independent samples, featured training studies that reported reading as an outcome measure. Results based on a random-effect model revealed the effect sizes for overall English phonological awareness (including English syllable awareness, phoneme awareness, and rhyme awareness) and overall reading (including word reading and pseudoword reading) were g = 0.651 (n = 3137) and g = 0.498 (n = 1506), respectively. Specifically, instructional training exerted a small impact on word reading (g = 0.297), moderate effects on syllable awareness (g = 0.468) and pseudoword reading (g = 0.586), a medium to large effect on phoneme awareness (g = 0.736), and a large impact on rhyme awareness (g = 0.948). The moderator analyses yielded several significant findings. Regarding the English phonological awareness outcome, programs integrating lexical semantic knowledge exhibited the largest trend in enhancing native Chinese speakers' skills. Among all age groups, upper elementary students benefited most from instructional training. Furthermore, more intensive training had a greater impact than less intensive training. In terms of the reading outcome, similar to English phonological awareness findings, upper elementary students realized the greatest improvements. Additionally, unpublished articles indicated a larger training effect on reading than published ones. These findings provide practitioners with guidelines for delivering effective instruction to promote phonological awareness and reading ability for English language learners in a logographic language context.

Moving beyond our borders to inspire education change.

PURPOSE: This paper contextualises a keynote address delivered at the 2022 Speech Pathology Australia National Conference in Melbourne, Australia. The paper aligns with the conference theme of Beyond Borders from the perspective of moving beyond borders of regular practice to develop strong partnerships and networks within our communities to advocate and support necessary change. METHOD: Change or enhancement to current practice is necessary if we are to reduce current inequities in education experienced by many children in our communities, including those with communication challenges. Strengths-based and culturally responsive literacy approaches to supporting children within the context of their family and community are increasingly gaining support as we address this challenge. The Better Start Literacy Approach (Te Ara Reo Matatini), currently being implemented in junior school classrooms across New Zealand is described. It is one example of large-scale implementation of a strengths-based and culturally responsive early literacy approach, based on the science of reading. RESULT: Data support the effectiveness of the Better Start Literacy Approach in significantly enhancing the foundational literacy skills of 5- and 6-year-old children, including those who commence school with lower levels of oral language ability. CONCLUSION: Through establishing strong partnerships within communities, speech pathologists have much to offer in motivating systems level change to enhance early literacy success for all learners.

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.

Phonological and morphological literacy skills in English and Chinese: A cross-linguistic neuroimaging comparison of Chinese-English bilingual and monolingual English children.

Over the course of literacy development, children learn to recognize word sounds and meanings in print. Yet, they do so differently across alphabetic and character-based orthographies such as English and Chinese. To uncover cross-linguistic influences on children's literacy, we asked young Chinese-English simultaneous bilinguals and English monolinguals (N = 119, ages 5-10) to complete phonological and morphological awareness (MA) literacy tasks. Children completed the tasks in the auditory modality in each of their languages during functional near-infrared spectroscopy neuroimaging. Cross-linguistically, comparisons between bilinguals' two languages revealed that the task that was more central to reading in a given orthography, such as phonological awareness (PA) in English and MA in Chinese, elicited less activation in the left inferior frontal and parietal regions. Group comparisons between bilinguals and monolinguals in English, their shared language of academic instruction, revealed that the left inferior frontal was less active during phonology but more active during morphology in bilinguals relative to monolinguals. MA skills are generally considered to have greater language specificity than PA skills. Bilingual literacy training in a skill that is maximally similar across languages, such as PA, may therefore yield greater automaticity for this skill, as reflected in the lower activation in bilinguals relative to monolinguals. This interpretation is supported by negative correlations between proficiency and brain activation. Together, these findings suggest that both the structural characteristics and literacy experiences with a given language can exert specific influences on bilingual and monolingual children's emerging brain networks for learning to read.

Professional Development in Phonological Awareness for Early Childhood Educators in Low-Income, Urban Classrooms: A Pilot Study Examining Dosage Effects.

Providing high-quality literacy instruction in early childhood may positively affect the long-term outcomes of children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Previous research has shown that educators are generally lacking in their own phonological awareness knowledge and skills which could negatively impact the provision of effective instruction in code-focused early literacy skills. The purposes of this pilot study were to examine the effects of differing dosages of professional development in phonological awareness on early childhood educators' (ECEs) own phonological awareness skills and instructional practices, and to examine the effects on child outcomes. The comparison group consisted of 10 ECEs who were receiving professional development in emergent literacy and a sample of 59 children from their classrooms. The intervention group was composed of 10 similar ECEs who were in the same general professional development program but received an increased dosage of training focused on phonological awareness, and a sample of 53 children from their classrooms. Results showed that ECEs in the intervention group exhibited significantly greater improvements in their own phonological awareness skills and the quality of their instructional practices than the comparison group of ECEs. In addition, children in the intervention classrooms exhibited significantly larger gains on phonological awareness skills and upper-case alphabet knowledge. The results suggest that providing increased dosages of professional development focused on code-focused early literacy skills benefits both the ECEs and children in their classrooms. Implications of the current study and directions for future research are discussed.