Reading, arithmetic, and task orientation--how are they related?

Predicting Reading Fluency Growth from Grade 2 to Age 23 with Parental and Child Factors

Purpose

Reading fluency establishes the basis for the strong literacy skills needed for academic success. We aim to trace how reading fluency develops from childhood to adulthood and identify factors that influence this development.

Method

In this study, 200 families were followed. All participating children (N = 200, 47% female) were ethnic Finns and spoke Finnish as their native language. The dataset included children's reading fluency assessments (in Grades 2, 3, and 8 and at age 23), their self-reports, and parental questionnaires. For data analysis, growth curve models that included cognitive, motivational, and parental predictors were constructed.

Results

Significant variations in both developmental rates and adult outcomes of reading fluency were found. The developmental rate was predicted by rapid automatized naming (RAN), letter knowledge, the formal home literacy environment (HLE) (measured in kindergarten) and reading motivation (measured in elementary school). Adult outcome (fluency at age 23) was predicted by RAN, letter knowledge, formal HLE, and parental dyslexia. Further, those who had parents with resolving reading difficulties were more likely to follow a resolving trajectory themselves compared with those whose parents had persistent reading difficulties.

Conclusion

Our findings offer novel insights into how reading fluency develops into adulthood and identify key areas for future research to better understand the mechanisms behind reading fluency development.

The Relationship between Working Memory and Arithmetic in Primary School Children: A Meta-Analysis

Working memory (WM) plays a crucial role in the development of arithmetic ability. However, research findings related to which factors influence the relationship between WM and arithmetic skills are inconsistent. The present meta-analysis aimed to examine the links between WM and arithmetic in primary school children and investigate whether this is dependent on WM domains (i.e., verbal, visual, spatial), child age, arithmetic operation type, and arithmetic task type. A total of 11,224 participants with an age range of 6- to 12 years, from 55 independent samples were included in the meta-analysis. Analysis of 46 studies with 187 effect sizes revealed an overall significant and medium correlation between WM and arithmetic. Heterogeneity analyses indicated that verbal WM showed a stronger correlation with arithmetic than visuospatial WM, and that correlations between verbal WM and arithmetic declined with age, whereas correlations between spatial-sequential, and spatial-simultaneous WM and arithmetic remained stable throughout development. Addition and subtraction were more involved in verbal WM than multiplication and division. Moreover, mental and written arithmetic showed comparable correlations with WM in all domains. These findings suggest moderation effects of WM domains, age, and operation types in the WM-arithmetic relationship and highlight the significant role of verbal WM in arithmetic ability in primary school children.

Task-avoidant behaviour and dyslexia: A follow-up from Grade 2 to age 20

Task-avoidant behaviour is correlated with reading skills and may have an impact on achieving educational and occupation goals in the long run. Longitudinal studies on task avoidance and its links to reading difficulties are non-existent, however. The present study examines changes and stability of task-avoidant behaviour from childhood (Grade 2), through adolescence (Grades 7 and 9), to early adulthood (age 20) among participants identified with (n = 46) and without dyslexia (n = 151) at Grade 2, with gender effects also examined. Results showed significant changes in task avoidance from Grade 2 to Grade 7 and from Grade 9 to age 20, wherein task avoidance increased from Grade 2 to Grade 9 and then decreased until age 20. Furthermore, low correlations obtained between task avoidance assessments over time indicated instability; thus, task avoidance at one point did not predict task avoidance later on. Differences between those with and without dyslexia emerged only at Grade 2, with higher task avoidance reported in the dyslexia group. Finally, no significant gender-related effects were found for task avoidance at any time point. Together, our findings imply that although task avoidance may be linked to dyslexia in the parental reports of the young study participants, this association does not persist in participants' self-reports at later ages.

RAN as a predictor of reading skills, and vice versa: results from a randomised reading intervention

Although phonemic awareness is a well-known factor predicting early reading development, there is also evidence that Rapid Automatized Naming (RAN) is an independent factor that contributes to early reading. The aim of this study is to examine phonemic awareness and RAN as predictors of reading speed, reading comprehension and spelling for children with reading difficulties. It also investigates a possible reciprocal relationship between RAN and reading skills, and the possibility of enhancing RAN by intervention. These issues are addressed by examining longitudinal data from a randomised reading intervention study carried out in Sweden for 9-year-old children with reading difficulties (N = 112). The intervention comprised three main elements: training of phonics, reading comprehension strategies and reading speed. The analysis of the data was carried out using structural equation modelling. The results demonstrated that after controlling for autoregressive effects and non-verbal IQ, RAN predicts reading speed whereas phonemic awareness predicts reading comprehension and spelling. RAN was significantly enhanced by training and a reciprocal relationship between reading speed and RAN was found. These findings contribute to support the view that both phonemic awareness and RAN independently influence early phases of reading, and that both are possible to enhance by training.

Predictors of reading literacy for first and second language learners

In this study an attempt was made to construct a multi-factor model predicting the development of reading literacy in the upper grades of primary school in the Netherlands for subgroups of 729 first language (L1) learners and 93 second language (L2) learners. Following a longitudinal design, it was explored to what extent the variation in reading literacy development in L1 and L2 from grade 4 to grade 6 can be explained from children's word decoding, language, mathematics and nonverbal reasoning skills, reading motivation and self confidence as well as their home reading resources. The results showed that L1 and L2 learners differed in reading literacy skills, language, mathematics, and reasoning skills. Structural equation modelling showed that the reading literacy development in both L1 and L2 learners could be explained from decoding, language, mathematics and reasoning skills, as well as their motivation and self-confidence. A striking difference was the fact that home reading resources had an impact on reading literacy in L1 learners but not in L2 learners.

Early precursors and enabling skills of reading acquisition

Research on early linguistic precursors and enabling skills of reading acquisition among young children is reviewed. Language development starts early in infancy when the child learns to categorize the speech sounds according to the pattern typical of the mother tongue. Equipped with these sound categories the child is ready to learn to segment words from the sound stream and to understand and to use words. The precise phonological representation of words will facilitate the important development of phonological awareness, a basic prerequisite for reading acquisition. This paper reviews some of my longitudinal research and training studies indicating the causal direction of the relation between phonological awareness and reading and includes some ongoing studies, where gender differences, socio-economic factors, dose-response-effects and motivational factors are explored. Preventive and remedial implications of the findings are pointed out. Finally, the complexity of the causal relationships between different aspects of early language development, including genetic influences and later reading is pointed out.

Preterm infant hippocampal volumes correlate with later working memory deficits

Children born preterm exhibit working memory deficits. These deficits may be associated with structural brain changes observed in the neonatal period. In this study, the relationship between neonatal regional brain volumes and working memory deficits at age 2 years were investigated, with a particular interest in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, parietal cortex and the hippocampus. While the eligible sample consisted of 227 very preterm children who were born at the Royal Women's Hospital, Melbourne prior to 30 weeks gestation or weighing <1250 g, 156 children had complete data sets. Neonatal magnetic resonance images of the brain were obtained at term equivalent age and subsequently parcellated into eight sub-regions, while the hippocampus was manually segmented. The relationship between brain volumes for these regions and performance on a working memory task (delayed alternation) at 2 years of age was examined. Very preterm children who perseverated on the working memory task had significantly smaller hippocampal volumes than very preterm children who exhibited intact working memory, even after adjusting for relevant perinatal, sociodemographic and developmental factors. Preterm children appear to have altered hippocampal volumes by discharge from hospital which may have a lasting impact on working memory function.