Expanding the developmental models of writing: A direct and indirect effects model of developmental writing (DIEW)

Measuring Linguistic Growth in Sentence-Level Writing Curriculum-Based Measures: Exploring Complementary Scoring Methods

PURPOSE

Picture-word writing curriculum-based measures (PW CBM-Ws) are technically sound, formative measures of descriptive, sentence-level writing but cannot estimate underlying linguistic skills. The purpose of this exploratory alternative scoring investigation was to apply metrics from language sample analysis (LSA) to PW CBM-Ws as a complementary measure of underlying language skills in beginning writers' sentence-level writing.

METHOD

LSA metrics were applied to 104 typically developing first through third graders' PW CBM-W samples across fall and spring semesters. Factorial analyses of variance with post hoc Bonferroni pairwise comparisons were applied after obtaining alternate-form reliability and criterion-related validity estimates.

RESULTS

Analyses revealed reliable discrimination between grades and significant growth between fall and spring semesters for three LSA metrics: mean length of T-unit in words, mean length of T-unit in morphemes, and number of different words. While mean length of T-unit in words and morphemes demonstrated evidence of discrimination and growth in first grade only, number of different words showed evidence of reliable discrimination and growth in first and third grades.

CONCLUSIONS

Mean length of T-unit in words, mean length of T-unit in morphemes, and number of different words showed evidence of adequate criterion-related validity, discrimination among grades, and sensitivity to growth when calculated using PW CBM-W samples to gauge underlying linguistic skills in first- and third-grade students. Implications and future directions for research are discussed.

SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL

https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.25050290.

The relation of bilingual cognitive skills to the second language writing performance of primary grade students

The purposes of the current study were to examine the effects of cognitive and reading skills (i.e., working memory [WM], oral language development [OLD], and reading skills) on second language (L2) writing performance as well as the changes in these relationships across different grades among Spanish-speaking children learning English. A battery of measures assessing English and Spanish WM, OLD, reading skills, and English writing were administered to 494 English learners in Grades 1 to 3. Path analysis was conducted for each grade separately in both English and Spanish models. The findings indicated that the relationships between English writing performance and English cognitive and reading skills became stronger as the grades increased. However, the relationships between English writing and the Spanish cognitive and reading determinants were mixed, indicating a statistically significant relationship with Spanish WM and reading skills for Grade 2 and 3 students but not with OLD across all grades. Implications for L2 writing development are discussed.

Implementing a Metalinguistic Approach to Secondary School Writing

PURPOSE

Writing is an essential skill that secondary students need to establish for success in their further education, careers, and lives. However, most secondary students in the United States do not achieve the level of writing proficiency expected to ensure academic and future success. One approach that is emerging more in the research literature is the use of a metalinguistic approach to writing.

METHOD

This tutorial begins with a discussion of current educational demands and performance trends in secondary-level academic writing and how secondary students and their educators are presently struggling to meet those demands. The tutorial continues further with a discussion of existing effective writing interventions, as well as current gaps in areas of writing intervention that have the potential to be filled if metalinguistic abilities are also targeted as part of comprehensive secondary-level writing instruction. The author then provides rationale for the use of a metalinguistic approach to secondary school writing including explanation of the metalinguistic processes of writing, how to target those processes while writing, and existing metalinguistic writing interventions. The tutorial concludes with step-by-step suggestions and methods for instructors/interventionists to implement a metalinguistic approach to academic writing with secondary students including (a) review of the critical aspects of students' academic writing expectations, (b) collection of baseline data of students' metalinguistic abilities, (c) facilitation of metalinguistic discussion while working on writing with students, and (d) differentiation of students' instructional level of support.

CONCLUSION

This tutorial will provide instructors/interventionists with the background information, rationale, and a framework to implement a metalinguistic approach to writing that can be utilized when working with secondary students during any academic writing task.

Oral discourse skills: Dimensionality of comprehension and retell of narrative and expository texts, and the relations of language and cognitive skills to identified dimensions

We examined the dimensionality of oral discourse skills (comprehension and retell of texts) and the relations of language and cognitive skills to the identified dimensions. Data were from 529 English-speaking second graders (Mage  = 7.42; 46% female; 52.6% Whites, 33.8% African Americans, 4.9% Hispanics, 4.7% two or more races, .8% Asian Americans, .6% American Indians, .2% Native Hawaiians, 2.5% unknown; data from 2014-2015 to 2016-2017). Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that oral discourse skills are best described as four related but dissociable dimensions of narrative comprehension, narrative retell, expository comprehension, and expository retell (rs = .59-.84). Language and cognitive skills had different patterns of relations to the identified dimensions and explained larger amounts of variance in comprehension than in retell.

Vocabulary Diversity in Personal Narratives Produced in Response to the Global TALES Protocol in Dutch-Speaking Students with and without Dyslexia

INTRODUCTION

This study examines whether there are differences in expressive vocabulary between participants with and without dyslexia in personal narratives in response to the Global TALES protocol.

METHODS

22 monolingual Dutch-speaking participants aged 11-16 with dyslexia and 22 age and gender-matched peers without dyslexia were assessed on measures of decoding, reading comprehension, and spelling of words, pseudowords, verbs, and sentences. The participants also produced personal narratives in response to the six prompts contained in the Global TALES protocol. We analyzed the personal narratives for expressive vocabulary and counted the total number of different words (TNDW).

RESULTS

The study revealed a significant relationship between TNDW and reading comprehension (r = 0.45, p = 0.002, BF10 = 17.70), spelling words (r = 0.42, p = 0.005, BF10 = 8.93), and spelling and writing conventions in sentences (r = 0.37, p = 0.016, BF10 = 3.11). The Global TALES protocol was successful in eliciting personal narratives in the Dutch-speaking participants with and without dyslexia. Participants with dyslexia used fewer different words (M = 192.27, SD = 64.37; 95% CI: [151.84-232.71]) compared to peers without dyslexia (M = 265.50, SD = 116.28; 95% CI: [225.06-305.93]; F(1, 42) = 6.68; p = 0.013; η2 = 0.14). When we compared the probability of models, Bayesian factors revealed moderate evidence for group differences in TNDW (BF = 3.94).

CONCLUSION

Our findings indicate that older school-age participants with dyslexia may lag behind their peers in expressive vocabulary in a personal narrative discourse task that is relevant to everyday functioning. The results of this study highlight the relationship between expressive vocabulary and reading comprehension and the importance of the assessment of spoken language skills in children with dyslexia. Reading problems might lead to less advanced spoken language, which in turn may negatively affect the expressive vocabulary growth in individuals with dyslexia.

Developmental Language Disorder and Writing: A Scoping Review From Childhood to Adulthood

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study was to conduct a scoping review of literature focused on the effects of developmental language disorder (DLD) on writing skills across the life span to highlight gaps in our knowledge of how to support writing for this population.

METHOD

We adopted the five-step framework for conducting scoping reviews outlined by Arksey and O'Malley (2005) to identify literature focused on writing outcomes for individuals with DLD in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood.

RESULTS

Seventy-two studies from 1991 to 2022 met review criteria. Results indicated that spelling may be an area of relative weakness for individuals with DLD across the life span. Children and adolescents with DLD also may have relative difficulty with grammar, organization, cohesion, and length of written output. Research on the writing skills of adults with DLD is too sparse to draw broad conclusions about the writing skills of this subset of the population with DLD.

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, research into the writing skills of individuals with DLD is limited, and more information is needed to inform functional evidence-based approaches to assessment and intervention of writing for those with DLD from childhood through adulthood. Additionally, more focus on electronic writing in research is needed, as only two studies included in this review examined typed writing in any form. Results of this review also indicate a need for systematic, uniform approaches to defining and measuring writing skills for those who experience language difficulties.

SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL

https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.23596797.

Contributions of attentional control, hyperactivity-impulsivity, and reading skills to performance on a fourth-grade state writing test

Writing proficiency facilitates higher achievement in educational and professional endeavors, yet most students fail to meet national writing benchmarks by the end of high school. Attentional control and overall reading skill are documented to result in better writing quality; however, most research on these relationships has focused on early elementary students (K-3rd grade. This project evaluated the relationship between attentional control, hyperactivity-impulsivity, word reading, and reading comprehension to overall writing performance on a high-stakes writing test. Participants included 266 fourth-grade struggling readers who completed the Strengths and Weaknesses of ADHD Symptoms and Normal Behavior (SWAN; Swanson et al., 2001, 2012) for attentional control and hyperactivity-impulsivity, the Woodcock-Johnson III (WJ-III; Woodcock et al., 2001) Letter-Word Identification test for word reading, the WJ-III Passage Comprehension test for reading comprehension, and the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) writing test for overall writing. Hyperactivity-impulsivity was not related to word reading (β = 0.02, p > .05), reading comprehension (β = 0.06, p > .05), or writing (β = 0.14, p > .05), whereas attentional control (β = 0.51, p < .01) and reading comprehension (β = 0.55, p < .001) contributed to overall writing. Reading comprehension (β = 0.55, p < .01) had a greater impact on writing than word reading (β = 0.13, p > .05), which suggests that as academic rigor increases in the upper elementary school grades (4th grade and higher), basic skills are less predictive of success on complex tasks such as writing. Implications for increasing writing proficiency through research and practice are discussed.

Reading-to-Writing Mediation model of higher-order literacy

Introduction

Writing difficulties frequently manifest comorbidly with reading challenges, and reading is implicated in particular acts of writing, such as reviewing and editing. Despite what is known, however, there remain significant barriers to understanding the nature of reading-writing relations, as few studies are comprehensive in the number and types of literacy skills evaluated. This study consists of a secondary data analysis of two studies employing structural equation modeling (SEM) to evaluate relations among reading and writing components skills independently, using the Direct and Inferential Mediation Model (DIME) of reading comprehension and Not-so-Simple View of Writing (NSVW) as theoretical frameworks.

Methods

We examine relations between reading and writing components from these models with a sample of upper elementary students with/at-risk for learning disabilities (n = 405). Lower-order components included word reading, vocabulary, handwriting and spelling. Higher-order components included background knowledge, reading strategies, inferencing, planning, editing, and revision. The literacy outcomes were oral and silent reading fluency, reading comprehension, and writing quality and productivity. We systematically build a Reading-to-Writing Mediation (RWM) model by first merging the DIME and NSVW components in a direct effects model (Aim 1), expanding the joint model to include reading and writing fluency (Aim 2), evaluating indirect effects between DIME and NSVW component skills (Aim 3), and finally, evaluating indirect effects with reading and writing fluency (Aim 4).

Results

The findings suggest that higher order fluency and comprehension skills are differentially related to writing activities and products.

Discussion

The pattern of results helps elucidate the mechanisms of how various reading and writing skills transfer and relate. The results have implications for targeted and implicit instruction in multicomponent interventions and the use of screeners to identify areas of risk.

In a split second: Handwriting pauses in typical and struggling writers

Introduction

A two-second threshold has been typically used when analyzing the writing processes. However, there is only a weak empirical basis to claim that specific average numbers and durations of pauses may be associated with specific writing processes. We focused on handwriting execution pauses, because immature writers are known to struggle with transcription skills. We aimed to provide an evidence-based account of the average number and duration of handwriting pauses in the mid-Primary grades and to identify process-level markers of writing difficulties.

Methods

Eighty 3rd and 5th graders, with and without writing difficulties, participated in the study. We examined pauses in a handwriting-only task, to be able to isolate those which could only be attributed to handwriting processes. Letter features were considered, as well as children's handwriting fluency level.

Results

The average duration of handwriting pauses was around 400ms, in line with assumptions that transcription pauses would fall under the 2,000ms threshold. We found that 3rd graders made more and longer pauses than 5th graders. Struggling writers made a similar number of pauses across grades than typically-developing children, although they were significantly longer, even after controlling for the effect of handwriting fluency.

Discussion

Our findings provide an evidence-based account of the duration of handwriting pauses. They also suggest that children need fewer and shorter handwriting pauses as they progress in automatizing transcription. However, some young writers struggle with letter formation even after 3 to 5 years of instruction.

Relating transcription, executive functions and text quality in Grades 2–3: A cross‐lagged panel analysis

BACKGROUND

It has been suggested that children's writing is dependent on transcription and executive functions. However, there is a need for more research examining the relationships among those variables in primary school children, given that most existing studies are cross-sectional and assess transcription and executive functions separately, and there are scarce and mixed longitudinal findings.

AIMS

This study used a cross-lagged panel model to explore the relationships among transcription skills, executive functions and text quality from Grade 2 to Grade 3.

SAMPLE

The sample included 353 Portuguese children (195 boys, 155 girls) in Grade 2, who were reassessed in Grade 3.

METHODS

Children were assessed on transcription, executive functions and writing tasks at two time points.

RESULTS

Transcription skills and executive functions in Grade 2 positively predicted the same variables in Grade 3. At Grade 2, transcription skills were associated with executive functions and text quality. At Grade 3, we only found an association between executive functions and text quality. Finally, text quality in Grade 2 predicted transcription skills in Grade 3, but both transcription and executive functions in Grade 2 did not predict text quality in Grade 3.

CONCLUSIONS

Transcription skills and executive functions seem to be stable over time, but previous performance on these skills does not seem to predict later text quality. Overall, these findings do put into question the direction of the typically assumed relationships, especially between transcription and text quality. Findings also provide information that can guide the development of instructional programmes in primary school.

Contribution of oral narrative textual competence and spelling skills to written narrative textual competence in bilingual language-minority children and monolingual peers

This study investigates the developmental pattern and relationships between oral narrative textual skills, spelling, and written narrative textual skills in monolingual and bilingual language-minority (BLM) children, L1-Chinese and L2-Italian. The aims were to investigate in monolingual and BLM children: (1) the developmental patterns of oral and writing skills across primary school years; (2) the pattern of relationships (direct and mediated) between oral narrative textual competence, spelling skills, and written narrative textual competence with age and socio-economic status (SES) taken under control. In total, 141 primary school children from grades 2 to 5 in Central Italy (44% BLM, 56% monolinguals) aged between 7 and 11 years (M-age = 8.59, SD = 1.13; 41% girls, 59% boys) obtained scores for oral and written narrative textual competence, spelling accuracy in dictation, and written texts. One-way ANOVA and ANOVA with robust method (Welch test) analyses and Bonferroni’s correction showed that BLM children had poorer spelling skills in dictation and written narrative textual competence (i.e., text structure) than their monolingual peers. After preliminary correlation analysis, the results of hierarchical regression showed that the relationship between oral and written narrative textual competence is completely mediated by spelling accuracy in BLM children. These results suggest that adequate performance in written narrative textual competence depends on adequate spelling accuracy in writing stories. The Sobel test verified the power of this mediation. In monolinguals, the strongest predictor of written narrative textual competence is oral narrative textual competence. This relation is stronger in older children whose spelling skills are automatized. The identified pattern of relationships shows a complex network of oral and written processes. The scarce spelling skills characterizing BLM children may explain why spelling skills determine a low written narrative textual level. Scarce spelling skills absorb cognitive resources, hindering high-level cognitive processes that regulate narrative production. In monolinguals, the medium of writing does not impact narrative textual competence. Children’s oral narrative textual competence easily transfers into their written narrative productions. These findings have implications for the assessment and instruction of literacy skills in young BLM children and their monolingual peers.

Do Written Language Bursts Mediate the Relations of Language, Cognitive, and Transcription Skills to Writing Quality?

In this study, we examined burst length and its relation with working memory, attentional control, transcription skills, discourse oral language, and writing quality, using data from English-speaking children in Grade 2 (N = 177; M _age = 7.19). Results from structural equation modeling showed that burst length was related to writing quality after accounting for transcription skills, discourse oral language, working memory, and attentional control. Burst length completely mediated the relations of attentional control and handwriting fluency to writing quality whereas it partially mediated the relations of working memory and spelling to writing quality. Discourse oral language had a suppression effect on burst length but was positively and independently related to writing quality. Working memory had an indirect relation to burst length via transcription skills whereas attentional control had a direct and indirect relation. These results suggest roles of domain-general cognitions and transcription skills in burst length, and reveal the nature of their relations to writing quality.

Expanding the Direct and Indirect Effects Model of Writing (DIEW): Reading-Writing Relations, and Dynamic Relations As a Function of Measurement/Dimensions of Written Composition

Within the context of the Direct and Indirect Effects model of Writing, we examined a dynamic relations hypothesis, which contends that the relations of component skills, including reading comprehension, to written composition vary as a function of dimensions of written composition. Specifically, we investigated (a) whether higher order cognitive skills (i.e., inference, perspective taking, and monitoring) are differentially related to three dimensions of written composition-writing quality, writing productivity, and correctness in writing; (b) whether reading comprehension is differentially related to the three dimensions of written composition after accounting for oral language, cognition, and transcription skills; and whether reading comprehension mediates the relations of discourse oral language and lexical literacy to the three dimensions of written composition; and (c) whether total effects of oral language, cognition, transcription, and reading comprehension vary for the three dimensions of written composition. Structural equation model results from 350 English-speaking second graders showed that higher order cognitive skills were differentially related to the three dimensions of written composition. Reading comprehension was related only to writing quality, but not to writing productivity or correctness in writing; and reading comprehension differentially mediated the relations of discourse oral language and lexical literacy to writing quality. Total effects of language, cognition, transcription, and reading comprehension varied largely for the three dimensions of written composition. These results support the dynamic relation hypothesis, role of reading in writing, and the importance of accounting for dimensions of written composition in a theoretical model of writing.

Crosslinguistic Transfer of Higher Order Cognitive Skills and Their Roles in Writing for English-Spanish Dual Language Learners

We investigated the dimensionality and relations between L1 and L2 writing skills in narrative and informational genres, and higher order cognitive skills-inference, perspective taking, and comprehension monitoring-for Spanish-English dual language learners in primary grades. Dimensions of written composition and higher order cognitive skills were examined, comparing nine alternative models. Data from 317 dual language learners in Grades 1 and 2 were used in confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. For the dimensionality of written composition, a unidimensional model, where writing was characterized as a single underlying construct across languages (Spanish and English) and genres (narrative & opinion), fit the data best. With regard to the dimensionality of higher order cognitive skills, data supported a bifactor model with (a) a general factor that captures common variance across languages and across inference, perspective taking, and comprehension monitoring skills and (b) specific factors by language (Spanish and English). The higher order cognition general factor was fairly strongly related to writing quality (.59), and the relation remained even after accounting for sex, poverty status, grade level, English learner status, school, and biliterate status. These relations were similar for students in English immersion program and Spanish-English dual immersion programs. These results indicate potential cross-language transfer of higher order cognitive skills, and the roles of higher order cognitions in written composition for Spanish-English dual language learners.

Does Perspective Taking Matter for Writing? Perspective Taking in Source-Based Analytical Writing of Secondary Students

Perspective taking, one's knowledge of their own mental and emotional states and inferences about others' mental and emotional states, is an important skill for writing development. In the present study, we examined how perspective taking is expressed in writing and how it is related to overall writing quality. We analyzed seventh graders' source-based analytical essays (N = 195) to investigate (1) the extent to which students incorporated perspective taking in their essays, (2) how the extent of perspective taking in essays differ by students' sex and English learner status, and (3) the extent to which perspective taking in writing is associated with overall writing quality. Findings revealed that students wrote more from their own perspective than that of others. Moreover, the results of multi-level analyses suggested that female students exhibited more varied perspectives but there was no meaningful difference by English learner status. Lastly, greater extent of perspective taking, particularly that of higher level of perspectives (i.e., dual perspective), was associated with better writing quality, after accounting for students' demographic backgrounds (e.g., sex, poverty status, English learner status) and essay length. These results underscore the importance of writing from multiple perspectives on writing quality.

The Not-So-Simple View of Writing in Struggling Readers/Writers

Research suggests that executive function, motivation, transcription, and composition processes are implicated in the writing quality and productivity of children with and without learning difficulties. However, numerous components embedded within these constructs create both conceptual and empirical challenges to the study of written expression. These challenges are reflected in the writing research by way of poor delineation of constructs and insufficient distinction among domain general resources (e.g. working memory) versus processes related to the academic domain of writing (e.g. pre-planning), as well as among lower- (e.g. handwriting) and higher-order (e.g. editing) writing-specific processes. The current study utilizes the Not-so-Simple View of Writing (NSVW) as an organizing framework for examining the relations among multiple components, correlates, and attributes of writing in a sample of struggling readers/writers (n = 402) in grades 3-5. Data were collected on measures of (a) handwriting, spelling, planning, revision, and editing, derived from the Test of Oral Written Language (TOWL-4), (b) executive function derived from the NIH Examiner, and (c) motivation/self-efficacy derived from the Student Contextual Learning Scale. Structural equation modeling was utilized to test direct and indirect relations in the NSVW model. Results showed generally moderate correlations among observed/latent variables and found support for relations among writing-specific processes. Domain-general resources (executive function and motivation/self-efficacy) were related to spelling directly and indirectly to writing. Domain-specific processes (handwriting, spelling, planning, editing, and revision) were related to writing. The results have implications for explicit instruction of writing processes and for future research on empirical models.

Control and value appraisals and online multiple-text comprehension in primary school: The mediating role of boredom and the moderating role of word-reading fluency

BACKGROUND

Online multiple-text comprehension is a key skill of the 21st Century, yet the study of its relations with boredom in young students has been disregarded. Boredom is an achievement emotion expected to be predicted negatively by antecedents like control and value appraisals and to be associated to a negative performance. Notwithstanding its documented domain-specificity, scarce attention has been paid to investigating these relations with primary-school students in the reading domain, and specifically for online multiple-text comprehension, and to how such relations are moderated by basic cognitive abilities.

AIMS

Considering separately two settings (homework, test), we studied the mediation of boredom in the relation between control-value appraisals and online multiple-text comprehension in primary-school students, focusing on the moderating role of word-reading fluency.

SAMPLE

Participants were 334 fourth and fifth graders.

METHODS

We evaluated students' reading-related self-efficacy and task-value, reading-related boredom for homework and tests, word-reading fluency, and online multiple-text comprehension.

RESULTS

Path analyses revealed negative relations between control-value appraisals and boredom for homework and tests, and between boredom and online multiple-text comprehension for tests only. For the latter, word-reading fluency moderated the relation between appraisals, boredom, and comprehension: Boredom negatively related to comprehension only for students with high word-reading fluency.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings are discussed focusing on antecedents of online multiple-text comprehension as a literacy skill critical in the 21st Century. We underlined their implications for learning in general and specifically for the current educational changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Decoding and comprehension skills mediate the link between a small-group reading programme and English national literacy assessments

BACKGROUND

Despite the fact that literacy instruction is a main focus of primary education, many children struggle to meet nationally set standards.

AIMS

We aimed to test which components of a comprehensive reading programme (ABRACADABRA: https://eur03.safelinks.protection.

OUTLOOK

com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdoi.org%2F10.1186%2FISRCTN18254678&data=04%7C01%7Cjanet.vousden%40ntu.ac.uk%7C880280e0b00749df855308d94068a0bb%7C8acbc2c5c8ed42c78169ba438a0dbe2f%7C1%7C0%7C637611640381216902%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=%2B4U9sGfofkyCPEY7lWz8n3TPoMOAeJMXyFwdhW6EpUw%3D&reserved=0) mediated the effect of the programme on nationally assessed literacy outcomes.

SAMPLE

Following blind allocation, 516 Year 1 pupils from 40 schools were randomized to the programme group, and 908 Year 1 pupils, to a control condition.

METHODS

Pupils in the programme completed 20 weeks of instruction in grapheme/phoneme knowledge, decoding, and comprehension. Control children received regular classroom instruction.

RESULTS

Children in the programme group were significantly better at these taught skills after the programme finished (effect sizes: grapheme/phoneme knowledge, β = .33, 95% CI [0.09-0.57]; decoding, β = .26, 95% CI [0.09-0.43]; and comprehension, β = .26, 95% CI [0.05-0.47]). Improvements in the programme group's decoding and comprehension skills fully mediated the improvements in national literacy assessments serving as a delayed post-test 12 months after the programme. Programme group pupils were 2.3 (95% CI [1.4-4.1]) times more likely to achieve/exceed the expected standard in reading, and 1.8 (95% CI [1.2-2.6]) times more likely to achieve/exceed the expected standard in writing due to an increase in the trained skills.

CONCLUSIONS

These results provide strong evidence that a programme that incorporates decoding and comprehension instruction for typically developing beginning readers improves distal educational outcomes in reading and writing through increasing proficiencies targeted by the reading programme.

The Simple Views of Reading and Writing: Frameworks for Interpretation of the Woodcock–Johnson IV

The simple views of reading (SVRs) and writing (SVWs) reflect useful frameworks for the psychoeducational evaluation of literacy difficulties. They describe reading comprehension and written expression as the outcome of oral language, decoding, and transcription skills. Prior research has demonstrated that these components explain the vast majority of variance in comprehension and written expression. However, subtests’ specific task demands can influence the relationships among these components within the models. As a result, practitioners should know the degree to which various test batteries operationalize these frameworks. Using correlations from school-age participants provided in the technical manual, these analyses investigated the SVR and SVW within the Woodcock–Johnson IV battery through structural equation modeling. Results suggest that the battery’s measures conform to many of the expectations stemming from the SVR/SVW. However, its comprehension and written expression measures appear less language-influenced and more affected by decoding/spelling. Implications for psychoeducational practice are discussed.

The Simple Views of Reading and Writing in the Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement, 3rd Edition

The simple views of reading (SVR) and writing (SVW) provide useful foundations for the interpretation of psychoeducational achievement batteries. Research has established that oral language, decoding, and transcription explain significant variance in reading comprehension and written composition, respectively. However, the specific task demands of subtests influence the relationships among these constructs. As a result, the degree to which the KTEA-3’s tasks conform to findings associated with the SVR and SVW are not known. These analyses evaluated the degree to which the KTEA-3 oral language and decoding or transcription tests explained variance in reading comprehension, and written expression. Results inform practitioners as to the relative contributions of each component and useful knowledge when determining which battery to use in psychoeducational evaluation.

Is Retell a Valid Measure of Reading Comprehension?

Retell is used widely as a measure of reading comprehension. In this meta-analysis, we evaluated the relation between retell and other measures of reading comprehension among students in Grades 1-12. Data from 23 studies (82 effect sizes; N = 4,705 participants) showed a moderate relation between retell and other measures of reading comprehension, r = .46. Moderation analyses revealed that the relation was stronger when reading comprehension was measured by cloze or maze tasks than when measured using a multiple-choice format. In addition, the relation was weaker in higher grades, but this was largely explained by text genre or the number of prompts in retell. The relation between 'oral' retell and reading comprehension was stronger with a greater number of prompts provided during retell tests. In contrast, results did not differ by other features of retell such as reading mode (oral or silent), text genres of retell (narrative or informational), or use of different oral retell evaluation methods (e.g., number of words or ideas, overall quality). Overall, the results indicate a moderate relation, on average, between retell and other measures of reading comprehension. However, the moderate magnitude indicates caution for using retell as the sole measure of reading comprehension. The results also indicate a need for a better understanding about more systematic approaches to retell assessment (e.g., number and kind of prompts in the case of oral retell) as a measure of reading comprehension.

The Impact of Orthography on Text Production in Three Languages: Catalan, English, and Spanish

Learning to write effectively is key for learning and participation in social communities. In English, transcription skills (handwriting and spelling) constrain written production at the early stages of learning to write. The effect of transcription diminishes with age, when reading skills enhance text production. Less is known about how transcription and reading interact with writing in other languages. In this study, we explore the relationships between spelling, reading and the length and quality of written text produced by primary school children speaking three different languages: Catalan, English, and Spanish. These languages are good test cases for models of writing development as they contrast orthographically and morphologically. Participants produced a written narrative text and completed standardized assessments of handwriting, spelling, reading decoding, and reading comprehension. Language had a significant effect on text production measures: young Spanish children produced longer texts which were of higher quality than the other two cohorts. They also produced the lowest number of spelling errors both at the root and for affixed morphemes. By contrast, the English children produced the highest number of both types of errors. The Catalan children did not differ significantly from their English peers for root level spelling but produced significantly fewer spelling errors at the affixed morpheme level. To test how transcription and reading skills impact on text production skills, we conducted regression analysis for each language. Different patterns of relationships between transcription, reading and text production emerged. In Catalan only handwriting fluency accounted for significant variance in text productivity and quality. By contrast, for the English children significant variance in productivity was accounted for by reading and handwriting fluency and for text quality by handwriting fluency and spelling. For the Spanish children reading skills were the significant factor for text quality. No other models were significant. Implications for developmental models of writing development are discussed.

Theory of mind mediates the relations of language and domain-general cognitions to discourse comprehension

Theory of mind has received intensive attention in research as an important skill to develop. Furthermore, recent evidence indicates its role in discourse comprehension. In the current study, we examined the mediating role of theory of mind in the relations of foundational language and cognitive skills (working memory, attentional control, vocabulary, and grammatical knowledge) to discourse comprehension using the direct and indirect effects model of text comprehension and production (Kim, 2016) as a theoretical framework, and using longitudinal data from kindergarten to Grade 2. Structural equation model results showed that theory of mind partially mediated the relations in both grades, and the effects (standardized regression weights) were similar in kindergarten and Grade 2. Interestingly, the relations of language and cognitive skills to theory of mind differed in kindergarten versus Grade 2. Language and cognitive skills had moderate to strong longitudinal stability, and these skills in kindergarten were indirectly related to discourse comprehension in Grade 2 via the language and cognitive skills in Grade 2. These results support the mediating role of theory of mind as well as the nature of structural and longitudinal relations among language and cognitive skills and to discourse comprehension.

Advanced theory of mind uniquely contributes to children's multiple-text comprehension

This study examined the contribution of advanced theory of mind (AToM), operationalized as second- or higher-order recursive mentalistic reasoning, to multiple-text comprehension in fourth and fifth graders (N = 184). The role of AToM was analyzed by taking into account children's individual characteristics (i.e., age, gender, prior topic knowledge, word reading fluency, vocabulary knowledge, and single-text comprehension) and task features (i.e., contrast between positions on the topic of two sets of texts). Mixed models analysis revealed that AToM uniquely contributed to comprehension of multiple texts over and above the individual and task variables. In addition, the contribution of AToM to the comprehension of multiple texts did not significantly differ for the two tasks despite differences in contrast between positions on the topic. Results indicate that children's ability to consider different perspectives and mental states is a relevant unique predictor of multiple-text comprehension.

Relations between Reading and Writing: A Longitudinal Examination from Grades 3 to 6

We investigated developmental trajectories of and the relation between reading and writing (word reading, reading comprehension, spelling, and written composition), using longitudinal data from students in Grades 3 to 6 in the US. Results revealed that word reading and spelling were best described as having linear growth trajectories whereas reading comprehension and written composition showed nonlinear growth trajectories with a quadratic function during the examined developmental period. Word reading and spelling were consistently strongly related (.73 ≤ rs ≤ .80) whereas reading comprehension and written composition were weakly related (.21 ≤ rs ≤ .37). Initial status and linear slope were negatively and moderately related for word reading (-.44) whereas they were strongly and positively related for spelling (.73). Initial status of word reading predicted initial status and growth rate of spelling; and growth rate of word reading predicted growth rate of spelling. In contrast, spelling did not predict word reading. When it comes to reading comprehension and writing, initial status of reading comprehension predicted initial status (.69), but not linear growth rate, of written comprehension. These results indicate that reading-writing relations are stronger at the lexical level than at the discourse level and may be a unidirectional one from reading to writing at least between Grades 3 and 6. Results are discussed in light of the interactive dynamic literacy model of reading-writing relations, and component skills of reading and writing development.

Impact of handwriting training on fluency, spelling and text quality among third graders

As recent studies and theoretical assumptions suggest that the quality of texts composed by children and adolescents is affected by their transcription skills, this experimental field trial aims at investigating the impact of combined handwriting/spelling training on fluency, spelling and text quality among normally developing 3rd graders (N = 175). In addition to the combined handwriting/spelling training group, the sample includes two other intervention groups, a handwriting training group and a spelling training group as well as a reading fluency training control group. The participating teachers (N = 11) and their students were randomly assigned to the different intervention and control conditions, which were scheduled to last 20 units (each unit lasts 15 min) distributed over 5 weeks (4 units/week). Data collection was administered both before (pre-test) and after (post-test) the intervention as well as 3 months later (follow-up). Measures included group-administered tests and tasks (spelling, visuo-motor integration, copy task, and composing) and individually administered tests and tasks (working memory and several handwriting tasks on the digitizing tablet). As handwriting automaticity (measured on the digitizing tablet) was already high at the beginning of the study, the intervention was not able to improve it further. In consequence, an intervention effect on the quality of composed texts was not observed. Instead, text quality was predicted by working memory, fluency, spelling, and gender irrespective of the intervention.

The Effects of Genetic and Environmental Factors on Writing Development

Researchers have identified sources of individual differences in writing across beginning and developing writers. The aim of the present study was to further clarify the sources of this variability by investigating the extent to which there are differences in genetic and environmental factors underlying the associations between lexical diversity, syntactic knowledge, and semantic cohesion knowledge in relation to writing. Differences were examined across two developmental phases of writing: beginning (i.e., elementary school) and developing (i.e., middle school). Participants included 262 twin pairs (Mage = 10.88 years) in elementary school and 247 twin pairs (Mage = 13.21 years) in middle school. Twins were drawn from the Florida Twin Project on Reading, Behavior, and Environment. Biometric models were conducted separately for subgroups defined by phase of writing development. Results indicated significant etiological differences in writing components across the two phases, such that effects associated with genes and non-shared environment were greater while effects associated with shared environment were lower in developing writers as compared to beginning writers. Furthermore, results showed that child-specific environment was the largest contributor to individual differences in writing components and their covariation for both beginning and developing writers. These results imply that even direct instruction about writing in schools may be having different effects on children based on their unique experiences.

Cognitive ability influences on written expression: Evidence for developmental and sex-based differences in school-age children

Some studies have demonstrated that the Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) cognitive abilities influence writing; however, little research has investigated whether CHC cognitive abilities influence writing the same way for males and females across grades. We used multiple group structural equation models to investigate whether CHC cognitive ability influences on written expression differed between grades or sex using the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children, Second Edition and the Kaufman Tests of Educational Achievement, Second Edition co-normed standardization sample data (N=2117). After testing for consistent measurement of cognitive abilities across grades and sex, we tested whether the cognitive ability influences on written expression were moderated by grade level or sex. An important developmental shift was observed equally across sex groups: Learning Efficiency (Gl) influences decreased whereas Crystallized Ability (Gc) influences increased after fourth grade. Further, Short-Term Memory (Gsm) and Retrieval Fluency (Gr) influences on written expression depended on sex at grades 1-4, with larger Gr influences for females and larger Gsm influences for males. We internally replicated our main findings using two different cognitive explanatory models, adding further support for the developmental and sex-based differential cognitive ability influences on writing. Explanatory cognitive models of writing need to incorporate development, and possibly, sex to provide an expanded understanding of writing development and guard against potential generalizability issues characteristic of special population (i.e., male-female) studies.

Theorization and an Empirical Investigation of the Component-Based and Developmental Text Writing Fluency Construct

We discuss a component-based, developmental view of text writing fluency, which we tested using data from children in Grades 2 and 3. Text writing fluency was defined as efficiency and automaticity in writing connected texts, which acts as a mediator between text generation (oral language), transcription skills, and writing quality. We hypothesized that in the beginning phase, text writing fluency would be largely constrained by transcription skills (spelling and handwriting), while at a later phase, oral language would make an independent contribution to text writing fluency. Furthermore, we hypothesized that text writing fluency would have a stronger relationship with writing quality at a later phase than at an earlier phase. We operationalized text writing fluency using two curriculum-based measurement writing scores: percentage correct word sequences and correct minus incorrect word sequences. Results revealed that in Grade 2, only transcription skills were uniquely related to text writing fluency, whereas in Grade 3, oral language was also related to text writing fluency. Text writing fluency was weakly related to writing quality in Grade 2 but strongly related to writing quality in Grade 3, over and above oral language and transcription skills. In both grades, oral language and handwriting fluency were independently related to writing quality. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Critical Issues in the Understanding of Young Elementary School Students at Risk for Problems in Written Expression: Introduction to the Special Series

In this introduction to the special series "Critical Issues in the Understanding of Young Elementary School Students at Risk for Problems in Written Expression," we consider some of the contextual factors that have changed since a similar special issue was published in the Journal of Learning Disabilities in 2002. We also explore how the five articles included in this special series address the following important themes: early writing development, identification of students with writing difficulties, and effective interventions for struggling writers. In conclusion, we envision future directions to advance the field.