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Lindner AL, Wijekumar K, Joshi RM. English Spelling Performance in Writing Samples Among Spanish-Speaking ELLs. JOURNAL OF LEARNING DISABILITIES 2022; 55:114-122. [PMID: 33383994 DOI: 10.1177/0022219420982995] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
The depth of the English orthography makes reading and spelling in English a difficult task; particularly for English language learners (ELLs) whose first language (L1) has a shallow orthography. Mastering spelling in English is a critical component of increasing the English literacy of ELLs. This study investigated the English spelling of 569 Spanish-speaking ELLs in Grades 4 to 6. Participants' writing samples were analyzed for spelling errors. Latent class analysis was utilized to discover hidden categories within the data using eight spelling error categories: (a) Vowel Omission; (b) Vowel Addition; (c) Vowel Substitution; (d) Vowel Sequence; (e) Consonant Omission; (f) Consonant Addition; (g) Consonant Substitution; (h) Consonant Sequence. Consonant- and vowel-based errors were nearly equal in each grade level. Latent class analysis resulted in a two-class model. Students in Class 1 made more types of errors than students in Class 2. As the grade level increased, the percentage of students in Class 2 increased. The results of this study show the effects of English and Spanish orthographies on the spelling of Spanish-speaking ELLs, with spelling errors occurring among both vowels and consonants. As omissions were the most prevalent errors in both classes, spelling instruction aimed at decreasing omissions should be considered for ELLs.
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Jasmin K, Dick F, Tierney AT. The Multidimensional Battery of Prosody Perception (MBOPP). Wellcome Open Res 2021; 5:4. [PMID: 35282675 PMCID: PMC8881696 DOI: 10.12688/wellcomeopenres.15607.2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/20/2021] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Prosody can be defined as the rhythm and intonation patterns spanning words, phrases and sentences. Accurate perception of prosody is an important component of many aspects of language processing, such as parsing grammatical structures, recognizing words, and determining where emphasis may be placed. Prosody perception is important for language acquisition and can be impaired in language-related developmental disorders. However, existing assessments of prosodic perception suffer from some shortcomings. These include being unsuitable for use with typically developing adults due to ceiling effects and failing to allow the investigator to distinguish the unique contributions of individual acoustic features such as pitch and temporal cues. Here we present the Multi-Dimensional Battery of Prosody Perception (MBOPP), a novel tool for the assessment of prosody perception. It consists of two subtests: Linguistic Focus, which measures the ability to hear emphasis or sentential stress, and Phrase Boundaries, which measures the ability to hear where in a compound sentence one phrase ends, and another begins. Perception of individual acoustic dimensions (Pitch and Duration) can be examined separately, and test difficulty can be precisely calibrated by the experimenter because stimuli were created using a continuous voice morph space. We present validation analyses from a sample of 59 individuals and discuss how the battery might be deployed to examine perception of prosody in various populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kyle Jasmin
- Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, Ehgam, TW20 0EX, UK
| | - Frederic Dick
- Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck University of London, London, WC1E 7HX, UK
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Jasmin K, Dick F, Tierney AT. The Multidimensional Battery of Prosody Perception (MBOPP). Wellcome Open Res 2021; 5:4. [PMID: 35282675 PMCID: PMC8881696 DOI: 10.12688/wellcomeopenres.15607.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/20/2021] [Indexed: 09/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Prosody can be defined as the rhythm and intonation patterns spanning words, phrases and sentences. Accurate perception of prosody is an important component of many aspects of language processing, such as parsing grammatical structures, recognizing words, and determining where emphasis may be placed. Prosody perception is important for language acquisition and can be impaired in language-related developmental disorders. However, existing assessments of prosodic perception suffer from some shortcomings. These include being unsuitable for use with typically developing adults due to ceiling effects and failing to allow the investigator to distinguish the unique contributions of individual acoustic features such as pitch and temporal cues. Here we present the Multi-Dimensional Battery of Prosody Perception (MBOPP), a novel tool for the assessment of prosody perception. It consists of two subtests: Linguistic Focus, which measures the ability to hear emphasis or sentential stress, and Phrase Boundaries, which measures the ability to hear where in a compound sentence one phrase ends, and another begins. Perception of individual acoustic dimensions (Pitch and Duration) can be examined separately, and test difficulty can be precisely calibrated by the experimenter because stimuli were created using a continuous voice morph space. We present validation analyses from a sample of 59 individuals and discuss how the battery might be deployed to examine perception of prosody in various populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kyle Jasmin
- Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, Ehgam, TW20 0EX, UK
| | - Frederic Dick
- Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck University of London, London, WC1E 7HX, UK
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Carvalhais L, Limpo T, Pereira LÁ. The Contribution of Word-, Sentence-, and Discourse-Level Abilities on Writing Performance: A 3-Year Longitudinal Study. Front Psychol 2021; 12:668139. [PMID: 34413810 PMCID: PMC8368977 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.668139] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2021] [Accepted: 06/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Writing is a foundational skill throughout school grades. This study analyzed the development of different levels of written language (word, sentence, and discourse) and explored the relationship between these levels and writing performance. About 95 Portuguese students from two cohorts-Grades 4-7 (n = 47) 6-9 (n = 48)-were asked to produce a descriptive text two times, with a 3-year interval. The produced texts were used to assess spelling, syntactic correctness and complexity, and descriptive discourse as well as text length and quality. The main results showed that there were improvements from Grades 4 to 7 and 6 to 9 in word- and sentence-level skills, along with increases in some dimensions of the descriptive discourse. Moreover, the older cohort performed better than the younger cohort in terms of spelling, syntactic complexity, and text quality, but not in terms of syntactic correctness, one dimension of the descriptive discourse, and text length. Regression analyses showed that writing performance was predicted by word and sentence levels in the younger cohort only, and by discourse-level variables in both cohorts. Overall, despite indicating a generalized growth in writing skills throughout schooling, this study also highlighted the areas that may need additional attention from teachers, mainly in terms of the descriptive features.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lénia Carvalhais
- Portucalense Institute for Human Development (INPP), Department of Psychology and Education, Universidade Portucalense, Porto, Portugal
| | - Teresa Limpo
- Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - Luísa Álvares Pereira
- Department of Education and Psychology, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal
- Centro de Linguística da Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal
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Magalhães S, Mesquita A, Filipe M, Veloso A, Castro SL, Limpo T. Spelling Performance of Portuguese Children: Comparison Between Grade Level, Misspelling Type, and Assessment Task. Front Psychol 2020; 11:547. [PMID: 32292373 PMCID: PMC7120319 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00547] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2019] [Accepted: 03/09/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
There is consensus among researchers that misspellings are something to avoid. However, misspellings also convey relevant information for researchers and educators. The present study is a first effort toward the analysis of misspellings produced by Portuguese children. Specifically, we aimed to examine the association between misspellings in dictation and composing tasks; compare misspellings across grade, type, and task; and test the contribution of different misspellings produced in dictation and in composition to text quality. For that, 933 Portuguese pupils in Grade 2 (n = 297), Grade 4 (n = 302), and Grade 6 (n = 334) performed a spelling-to-dictation task and wrote an opinion essay. Misspellings were categorized into phonetically inaccurate, phonetically accurate, and stress mark errors. Results showed correlations between the same type of misspellings across tasks for phonetically inaccurate errors in Grades 2 and 4, and phonetically accurate errors in Grade 2. Moreover, pupils produced more misspellings in dictation than composing tasks, and there was a progressive decrease in phonetically inaccurate and phonetically accurate misspellings across schooling, though stress mark errors were more frequent in Grade 4 than in other grades. Finally, spelling errors predicted text quality, particularly in younger children. Overall, these findings are aligned with extant results on spelling development and support current voices claiming for fine-grained analyses of misspellings. As they may vary across grade and task, and impact text quality differently, a detailed approach to spelling errors can provide valuable information on the development of this skill.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sofia Magalhães
- Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - Ana Mesquita
- Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - Marisa Filipe
- Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - Andreia Veloso
- Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - São Luís Castro
- Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - Teresa Limpo
- Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
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Beyond phonological awareness: Stress awareness and learning word spelling. LEARNING AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.lindif.2019.101755] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Calet N, Gutiérrez-Palma N, Defior S, Jiménez-Fernández G. Linguistic and non-linguistic prosodic skills in Spanish children with developmental dyslexia. RESEARCH IN DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES 2019; 90:92-100. [PMID: 31085452 DOI: 10.1016/j.ridd.2019.04.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2018] [Revised: 04/24/2019] [Accepted: 04/30/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The deficit on segmental phonology in developmental dyslexia is well established and according to recent studies this deficit extends to suprasegmental phonology or prosody. However, these studies have focused on word-level prosody. Further research is needed concerning prosodic deficit in dyslexia, especially with a Spanish-speaking population. AIMS The aim of this study was to investigate the role of linguistic (word and phrase-level) and non-linguistic prosodic skills in Spanish children with developmental dyslexia. METHOD AND PROCEDURE 48 Spanish children (8-9 years of age) from ten primary education schools were selected (24 children with developmental dyslexia and 24 chronological age-control children). Non-linguistic rhythm, word and phrase-level prosody, phonological awareness, nonverbal intelligence and reading aloud were assessed. RESULTS The results obtained show that children with developmental dyslexia scored lower than typically developing readers on non-linguistic rhythm and word and phrase-level prosody tasks. The differences remained statistically significant at the phrase level after controlling for word-level processing (phonological or prosodic), phonological awareness, non-linguistic rhythm and reading skills. CONCLUSIONS Children with developmental dyslexia in Spanish exhibit a core deficit in suprasegmental phonology, at linguistic and non-linguistic levels. The implications of suprasegmental phonology skills for reading acquisition disabilities are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nuria Calet
- Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology, University of Granada, Campus de la Cartuja s/n, 18071 Granada, Spain
| | - Nicolás Gutiérrez-Palma
- Department of Psychology, University of Jaén, Campus Las Lagunillas, Edificio Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educación II, 23071 Jaén, Spain
| | - Sylvia Defior
- Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology, University of Granada, Campus de la Cartuja s/n, 18071 Granada, Spain
| | - Gracia Jiménez-Fernández
- Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology, University of Granada, Campus de la Cartuja s/n, 18071 Granada, Spain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lindsay Heggie
- Faculty of Education, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
| | - Lesly Wade-Woolley
- University of South Carolina, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Columbia, South Carolina, USA
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Gutiérrez-Palma N, Defior S, Jiménez-Fernández G, Serrano F, González-Trujillo MC. Lexical stress awareness and orthographic stress in Spanish. LEARNING AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 2016. [DOI: 10.1016/j.lindif.2015.11.026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
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Defior S, Jiménez-Fernández G, Calet N, Serrano F. Learning to read and write in Spanish: phonology in addition to which other processes? / Aprendiendo a leer y escribir en español: además de la fonología, ¿qué otros procesos? STUDIES IN PSYCHOLOGY 2015. [DOI: 10.1080/02109395.2015.1078552] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022] Open
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Barbot B, Krivulskaya S, Hein S, Reich J, Thuma PE, Grigorenko EL. Identifying learning patterns of children at risk for Specific Reading Disability. Dev Sci 2015; 19:402-18. [PMID: 26037654 DOI: 10.1111/desc.12313] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2013] [Accepted: 02/26/2015] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Differences in learning patterns of vocabulary acquisition in children at risk (+SRD) and not at risk (-SRD) for Specific Reading Disability (SRD) were examined using a microdevelopmental paradigm applied to the multi-trial Foreign Language Learning Task (FLLT; Baddeley et al., 1995). The FLLT was administered to 905 children from rural Chitonga-speaking Zambia. A multi-group Latent Growth Curve Model (LGCM) was implemented to study interindividual differences in intraindividual change across trials. Results showed that the +SRD group recalled fewer words correctly in the first trial, learned at a slower rate during the subsequent trials, and demonstrated a more linear learning pattern compared to the -SRD group. This study illustrates the promise of LGCM applied to multi-trial learning tasks, by isolating three components of the learning process (initial recall, rate of learning, and functional pattern of learning). Implications of this microdevelopmental approach to SRD research in low-to-middle income countries are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Baptiste Barbot
- Department of Psychology, Pace University, New York, USA.,Child Study Center, Yale University, USA
| | | | | | - Jodi Reich
- Child Study Center, Yale University, USA.,Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Temple University, USA
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Alves LM, Reis C, Pinheiro Â. Prosody and reading in dyslexic children. DYSLEXIA (CHICHESTER, ENGLAND) 2015; 21:35-49. [PMID: 25363804 DOI: 10.1002/dys.1485] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2011] [Revised: 09/22/2014] [Accepted: 10/01/2014] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
This study investigates the role of prosody in the reading aloud of dyslexic children. Ten dyslexic and 30 non-dyslexic control children (mean age 9.5 and 9.9 years, respectively) were recorded when reading a text of appropriate level and subsequently asked to retell it and tested on its comprehension. The data were analysed acoustically by the WinPitchPro programme. The temporal and intonational processing of reading of the two groups were contrasted and revealed unusual characteristics of the dyslexic group with respect to what follows: (1) temporal processing (reduced speeds of reading and articulation and alterations in the number and duration of pauses); (2) variation of the fundamental frequency (limited ability to vary the melody at the phrasal and phonemic level); and (3) vowel stress patterning (difficulty in producing typical stress patterns, and of marking the pre-stressed and stressed syllables). Fulfilling its objective, the present study promotes advances in the understanding of the functioning of prosody in reading aloud in dyslexia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luciana Mendonça Alves
- Izabela Hendrix University, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil; UFMG (Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais), Belo Horizonte, Brazil
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