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Le numérique comme outil pédagogique pour l’apprentissage de la lecture et des mathématiques : du laboratoire à la salle de classe
Abstract
La lecture est la colonne vertébrale de tous les apprentissages. Les étudesrécentes de l’OCDE montrent que 40.5 % des collégiens ne maitrisent pas la lectureet que 21.5 % sont même en grande difficulté. Face à ce problème, les outilsnumériques peuvent offrir aujourd’hui des solutions « de première intention » au seinde l’école bien avant que les élèves soient en échec. Dans cette thèse, nous avonsdéveloppé une version française du jeu sérieux finlandais GraphoGame que nousavons testé sur des élèves scolarisés dans des écoles de Réseaux d’ÉducationPrioritaire. La première étude de validation randomisée et contrôlée, qui a été effectuéeauprès d’enfants de CP et CE1 à risques de dyslexie, a permis de constater uneprogression en lecture de mots plus importante après l’entraînement GraphoGamequ’après un entraînement non-informatisé ou un entraînement mathématiqueinformatisé. Une seconde expérimentation à grande échelle sur mille élèves de CP amontré que les élèves ayant suivi l’entraînement en lecture avec GraphoGame ont eude meilleurs résultats aux tâches essentielles à l’apprentissage de la lecture(décodage, conscience phonologique et reconnaissance de mots) que les élèves ayantsuivi un entrainement numérique en mathématiques. Cependant, nos résultatsmontrent aussi l’importance de la prise en compte du niveau initial de l’élève (lesmeilleurs progrès sont obtenus pour les élèves les plus faibles) et l’engagement dansle jeu, reflétant la persévérance et la motivation de l’élève. Nos résultats montrent doncdes effets spécifiques du jeu qui se généralisent à des activités de lecture en dehorsdu jeu et qui semblent perdurer bien au-delà de l’expérimentation. Une versioncomplète de GraphoGame Français est aujourd’hui gratuitement disponible sur toutesles plateformes en France.
... En effet, pour valider un logiciel ou une application éducative, la plupart du temps, le groupe expérimental avec l'outil numérique est comparé soit à un groupe contrôle passif sans intervention additionnelle (e.g., Potier Watkins et al., 2020 ;Ruiz et al., 2017), soit à un groupe actif mais entrainé sur une autre compétence, souvent une application numérique de mathématique (e.g., Lassault, 2021 ;Potier Watkins et al., 2020 ;Ruiz et al., 2017 le choix des exercices en lien avec la progression de la classe, le nombre d'exercices réalisés, les feedbacks, les aides, le geste moteur). Cette longue liste souligne la difficulté extrême que représente, dans ce type de recherche en milieu scolaire, la mise en place de groupes contrôles actifs équivalents aux groupes expérimentaux. ...
... logiciel permet de faire significativement progresser les élèves sur leur connaissance du code alphabétique, en conscience phonémique, en décodage et en compréhension écrite et orale, mais pas en fluence de décodage, ni en vocabulaire.L'application GraphoGame, adaptée en français parRuiz et al., (2017), a été testée à deux reprises en CP en France, révélant des effets positifs, mais modestes, sur la lecture de mots(Ruiz et al., 2017) et la conscience phonologique(Lassault, 2021). Cependant, la méta-analyse de McTigue et al., 2019, portant sur l'efficacité de l'application GraphoGame utilisée dans un vingtaine de pays, suggère qu'une telle application n'est efficace, pour améliorer le niveau de lecture des enfants, que lorsqu'elle est associée à une interaction très forte de l'adulte (taille d'effet générale g = -0.02 ...
... La version française a pris en compte certains critères ergonomiques pour améliorer la présentation de l'application. Un test utilisateur a été effectué auprès de 20 enseignants(Lassault, 2021), mais les détails de la procédure utilisée et les résultats de ce test ne sont pas disponibles.L'application Kalulu (Dehaene, 2020) a été développée dans le cadre d'un projet de recherche, pour entrainer les élèves en lecture et en mathématiques. Son efficacité a été étudiée en comparant un groupe entrainé avec Kalulu-lecture à un groupe contrôle actif entrainé avec Kalulu-mathématiques. Les résultats ont montré que l'application permettait aux élèves entrainés de significativement plus progresser que ceux du groupe contrôle, en lecture de mots et en compréhension de phrases. ...
L’apprentissage de la lecture est une activité complexe qui requiert, au CP, un enseignement explicite et structuré, souvent guidé par une méthode de lecture (i.e., un ensemble d’outils pour l’enseignant et les élèves) éditée. Une équipe pluridisciplinaire, composée d’enseignants, de chercheurs et d’un éditeur (les Éditions Hatier), a choisi de proposer une nouvelle méthode de lecture pour le CP, basée sur les preuves : la méthode Lili CP. Une telle méthode se doit d’être utile (efficace) pour les apprentissages des élèves, mais elle doit aussi être utilisable (facile à prendre en main) et acceptable (compatible avec la classe) pour les enseignants et les élèves, afin de pouvoir être largement adoptée. L’objectif principal de cette thèse était d’évaluer l’utilité, l’utilisabilité et l’acceptabilité de certains outils et de certaines séquences de la méthode en cours de conception, afin d’identifier des pistes concrètes d’amélioration.Notre recherche a débuté par une analyse des pratiques des potentiels futurs utilisateurs. Un questionnaire diffusé à large échelle a mis en évidence la grande diversité des pratiques enseignantes au CP et les principaux critères de choix d’une méthode de lecture. Une étude a révélé l’excellent niveau d’utilisabilité et d’acceptabilité du matériel original d’entrainement à la combinatoire prévu dans Lili CP. Deux interfaces différentes du guide pédagogique au format web ont été comparées, en terme d’utilisabilité et d’acceptabilité également, permettant de dégager la pertinence de certains choix de présentation pour la future méthode. Dans une étude expérimentale, nous avons évalué l’efficacité d’une séquence d’enseignement explicite de la compréhension conçue pour Lili CP, sur les acquis des élèves dans ce domaine. La comparaison à un groupe contrôle actif (i.e., ayant suivi une autre séquence, plus classique, d’enseignement de la compréhension) a démontré l’intérêt de ce type de séquence pour la compétence entrainée.Enfin, deux versions (basique et gamifiée) de l’application numérique ECRIMO, développée pour Lili CP et visant à entrainer l’écriture de mots en autonomie, ont été évaluées sur les trois dimensions d’utilité, d’utilisabilité et d’acceptabilité. L’application, dans ses deux versions, obtient d’excellents scores d’utilisabilité et d’acceptabilité. Les entrainements avec ECRIMO, dans ses deux versions, se sont révélés aussi efficaces qu’un entrainement à l’encodage sous forme d’exercices classiques de dictée dirigés par l’enseignant. Dans tous les groupes entrainés, les progrès en encodage sont plus importants que dans le groupe contrôle et sont visibles surtout chez les élèves ayant déjà un bon niveau d’encodage en début de CP. Enfin, pour ces élèves, la version basique a engendré un progrès plus important que la version gamifiée.Ce travail doctoral apporte une démonstration de la possibilité et de l’intérêt de conduire une évaluation intégrée des outils éducatifs qui doivent être étudiés dans les trois dimensions d’utilité, d’utilisabilité et d’acceptabilité, avant leur diffusion à grande échelle sur le terrain. Il se conclut par la proposition d’une nouvelle démarche intégrée de conception et d’évaluation d’outils pédagogiques.
... This was done to reduce teacher effects and biases due to social comparisons between teachers who believed to be in the "good" treatment group (i.e., the GG intervention) as opposed to the "bad" control group '(i.e., the math intervention). We have previously seen that teachers who believed to be in the control group (math intervention) increased the intensity of the reading instruction because they felt that their students were disadvantaged and that their own teaching skills were being evaluated (Lassault, 2021). The down-side of our quasi-experimental design was that it turned out that the math group started out at a significantly higher level at T1 than the GG group on all reading measures. ...
... Thus, we could only compare the reading age of the GG-intervention group one year later to the norms on a standardized reading test that was administered at T1, T2 and T2 + 1 year. While the reading age of the children in the GG group was 3 months below their chronological age at T1, their reading age was identical to their chronological age at T2 and this was also the case at the 1-year follow-up (see, Lassault, 2021). ...
Purpose
This study was designed to assess the efficiency of a French version of GraphoGame (GG) against an equally engaging math intervention (Fiete Math, FM) in a large school sample of children from socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods in grade 1 (N = 921).
Method
The intervention was implemented in two different cohorts who used GG or FM for about four months four times a week for 30 minutes. Gains in reading and mathematics were assessed before and after intervention. Given the nested nature of the data, results were analyzed using hierarchical linear mixed effect models with intervention and initial pretest level as fixed effects and individuals and classes as random effects.
Results
We found positive intervention effects of GG on phoneme awareness (effect size, ES = 0.23), orthographic choice (ES = 0.27) and word reading fluency (ES = 0.18). FM had a significant effect on math achievement (ES = 0.28) but not number comparison. Correlations between intervention gains and game variables (overall accuracy, number of levels played) suggest that the effects of GG were specific.
Conclusions
Positive effects for focused digital reading and math interventions were found in a large school sample of children from socially disadvantaged neighborhoods.
This article summarizes the main research on cross-linguistic differences in the field of reading development. This research is at the origin of a universal theory of normal and impaired reading development and questions the narrow “Anglocentric” vision of reading. We present some of the findings that validated this theory in children, adults and bilinguals. Finally, we discuss the implications of this research for teaching and our understanding of impaired reading development.
Developmental dyslexia is a lifelong impairment affecting 5 to 10% of the population. In French-speaking countries, although a number of standardized tests for dyslexia in children are available, tools suitable to screen for dyslexia in adults are lacking. In this study, we administered the Alouette reading test to a normative sample of 164 French university students without dyslexia and a validation sample of 83 students with dyslexia. The Alouette reading test is designed to screen for dyslexia in children since it taps skills that are typically deficient in dyslexia (i.e., phonological skills). However, the test's psychometric properties have not previously been available, and it is not standardized for adults. The results showed on the Alouette test that dyslexics were impaired on measures of accuracy, speed, and efficiency (accuracy/reading time). We also found significant correlations between the Alouette reading efficiency and phonological efficiency scores. Finally, when considering the Alouette test, speed-accuracy tradeoffs were found in both groups and optimal cut-off scores were determined using ROC curves analysis, yielding excellent discriminatory power, with 83.1% sensitivity and 100% specificity for reading efficiency. Thus, this study supports the Alouette test as a sensitive and specific screening tool for adults with dyslexia.
In this study, we concurrently investigated 3 possible causes of dyslexia—a phonological deficit, visual stress, and a reduced visual attention span—in a large population of 164 dyslexic and 118 control French children, aged between 8 and 13 years old. We found that most dyslexic children showed a phonological deficit, either in terms of response accuracy (92.1% of the sample), speed (84.8%), or both (79.3%). Deficits in visual attention span, as measured by partial report ability, affected 28.1% of dyslexic participants, all of which also showed a phonological deficit. Visual stress, as measured by subjective reports of visual discomfort, affected 5.5% of dyslexic participants, not more than controls (8.5%). Although phonological variables explained a large amount of variance in literacy skills, visual variables did not explain any additional variance. Finally, children with comorbid phonological and visual deficits did not show more severe reading disability than children with a pure phonological deficit. These results (a) confirm the importance of phonological deficits in dyslexia; (b) suggest that visual attention span may play a role, but a minor one, at least in this population; (c) do not support any involvement of visual stress in dyslexia. Among the factors that may explain some differences with previously published studies, the present sample is characterized by very stringent inclusion criteria, in terms of the severity of reading disability and in terms of exclusion of comorbidities. This may exacerbate the role of phonological deficits to the detriment of other factors playing a role in reading acquisition.
The spatiotemporal dynamics of morphological, orthographic, and semantic processing were investigated in a primed lexical decision task in French using magnetoencephalography (MEG). The goal was to investigate orthographic and semantic contributions to morphological priming and compare these effects with pure orthographic and semantic priming. The time course of these effects was analyzed in anatomically defined ROIs that were selected according to previous MEG and fMRI findings. The results showed that morphological processing was not localized in one specific area but distributed over a vast network that involved left inferior temporal gyrus, left superior temporal gyrus, left inferior frontal gyrus, and left orbitofrontal gyrus. Second, all morphological effects were specific, that is, in none of the ROIs could morphology effects be explained by pure orthographic or pure semantic overlap. Third, the ventral route was sensitive to both the orthographic and semantic "part" of the morphological priming effect in the M350 time window. Fourth, the earliest effects of morphology occurred in left superior temporal gyrus around 250 msec and reflected the semantic contribution to morphological facilitation. Together then, the present results show that morphological processing is not just an emergent property of processing form or meaning and that semantic contributions to morphological facilitation can occur as early as 250 msec in the left superior temporal gyrus.
This paper provides an overview of the GraphoGame method. Both theoretical and methodological aspects related to the method are presented. The method’s guiding principles are based on the prevailing theories and experimental research findings on learning and teaching basic reading skills in alphabetic languages, especially from the point of view of a struggling reader. Because the nature of the target language and its relation to its writing system play central roles in the GraphoGame method, this approach requires the method to be flexible in order to be valid for learners of different languages and orthographies. Thus, the aim of the developed technology is to provide an appropriate reading support tool for all learners—from struggling learners to typical learners—in any language environment. We present an overview of results gained from GraphoGame intervention studies as well as challenges for the usability of the method.
Dyslexia is more than just difficulty with translating letters into sounds. Many dyslexics have problems with clearly seeing letters and their order. These difficulties may be caused by abnormal development of their visual “magnocellular” (M) nerve cells; these mediate the ability to rapidly identify letters and their order because they control visual guidance of attention and of eye fixations. Evidence for M cell impairment has been demonstrated at all levels of the visual system: in the retina, in the lateral geniculate nucleus, in the primary visual cortex and throughout the dorsal visuomotor “where” pathway forward from the visual cortex to the posterior parietal and prefrontal cortices. This abnormality destabilises visual perception; hence, its severity in individuals correlates with their reading deficit. Treatments that facilitate M function, such as viewing text through yellow or blue filters, can greatly increase reading progress in children with visual reading problems. M weakness may be caused by genetic vulnerability, which can disturb orderly migration of cortical neurones during development or possibly reduce uptake of omega-3 fatty acids, which are usually obtained from fish oils in the diet. For example, M cell membranes require replenishment of the omega-3 docosahexaenoic acid to maintain their rapid responses. Hence, supplementing some dyslexics’ diets with DHA can greatly improve their M function and their reading.
Computer-assisted learning is known to be an effective tool for improving learning in both adults and children. Recent years have seen the emergence of the so-called ‘serious games (SGs)’ that are flooding the educational games market. In this paper, the term ‘serious games’ is used to refer to video games (VGs) intended to serve a useful purpose. The objective was to review the results of experimental studies designed to examine the effectiveness of VGs and SGs on players' learning and engagement. After pointing out the varied nature of the obtained results and the impossibility of reaching any reliable conclusion concerning the effectiveness of VGs and SGs in learning, we stress the limitations of the existing literature and make a number of suggestions for future studies.
Which children go on to develop dyslexia? Since dyslexia has a multifactorial etiology, this question can be restated as: what are the factors that put children at high risk for developing dyslexia? It is argued that a useful theoretical framework to address this question is Pennington's (2006) multiple deficit model (MDM). This model replaces models that attribute dyslexia to a single underlying cause. Subsequently, the generalist genes hypothesis for learning (dis)abilities (Plomin and Kovas, 2005) is described and integrated with the MDM. Next, findings are presented from a longitudinal study with children at family risk for dyslexia. Such studies can contribute to testing and specifying the MDM. In this study, risk factors at both the child and family level were investigated. This led to the proposed intergenerational MDM, in which both parents confer liability via intertwined genetic and environmental pathways. Future scientific directions are discussed to investigate parent-offspring resemblance and transmission patterns, which will shed new light on disorder etiology.
The most influential theory of learning to read is based on the idea that children rely on phonological decoding skills to learn novel words. According to the self-teaching hypothesis, each successful decoding encounter with an unfamiliar word provides an opportunity to acquire word-specific orthographic information that is the foundation of skilled word recognition. Therefore, phonological decoding acts as a self-teaching mechanism or 'built-in teacher'. However, all previous connectionist models have learned the task of reading aloud through exposure to a very large corpus of spelling-sound pairs, where an 'external' teacher supplies the pronunciation of all words that should be learnt. Such a supervised training regimen is highly implausible. Here, we implement and test the developmentally plausible phonological decoding self-teaching hypothesis in the context of the connectionist dual process model. In a series of simulations, we provide a proof of concept that this mechanism works. The model was able to acquire word-specific orthographic representations for more than 25 000 words even though it started with only a small number of grapheme-phoneme correspondences. We then show how visual and phoneme deficits that are present at the outset of reading development can cause dyslexia in the course of reading development.
The literature suggests that a complex relationship exists between the three main skills involved in reading comprehension (decoding, listening comprehension and vocabulary) and that this relationship depends on at least three other factors orthographic transparency, children's grade level and socioeconomic status (SES). This study investigated the relative contribution of the predictors of reading comprehension in a longitudinal design (from beginning to end of the first grade) in 394 French children from low SES families.
Reading comprehension was measured at the end of the first grade using two tasks one with short utterances and one with a medium length narrative text. Accuracy in listening comprehension and vocabulary, and fluency of decoding skills, were measured at the beginning and end of the first grade. Accuracy in decoding skills was measured only at the beginning. Regression analyses showed that listening comprehension and decoding skills (accuracy and fluency) always significantly predicted reading comprehension. The contribution of decoding was greater when reading comprehension was assessed via the task using short utterances. Between the two assessments, the contribution of vocabulary, and of decoding skills especially, increased, while that of listening comprehension remained unchanged.
These results challenge the 'simple view of reading'. They also have educational implications, since they show that it is possible to assess decoding and reading comprehension very early on in an orthography (i.e., French), which is less deep than the English one even in low SES children. These assessments, associated with those of listening comprehension and vocabulary, may allow early identification of children at risk for reading difficulty, and to set up early remedial training, which is the most effective, for them.
The purpose of this study was to assess the development of both phonological and orthographic skills in normally achieving and dyslexic readers The subjects were 257 dyslexic and 342 normally achieving readers, matched at eight reading levels They were administered the Woodcock (1987) Word Attack Subtest, a measure of phonological skills requiring the reading of pseudowords, and an orthographic awareness task designed to measure awareness of the properties of English words and the probable sequences and positions of letters within words The dyslexics had significantly higher scores than the normally achieving readers on the orthographic awareness task However, the normally achieving readers had significantly higher scores on the Word Attack Subtest Therefore, the difficulties with phonological processing and the increased orthographic awareness of the dyslexics may indicate a reading strategy that relies more on the visual than the phonological features of words
In alphabetic writing systems, the consistency of grapheme-phoneme (GP) and phoneme-grapheme (PG) relations is a key factor in learning to read and write. The difficulty of the tasks facing beginning readers/spellers in different orthographies is typically estimated using quantitative data on the consistency of GP or PG relations in the written words to which children are exposed. However, until now, these relations have been examined independently of morphological analysis. The present study aims to examine the contribution of morphological information (mainly inflectionalmorphology) to the consistency of GP and PG correspondences in a set of nearly 10,000 words found in French primary school readers (Lété et al., 2004). The database generated during this study, Manulex_morpho, has been made available via the internet
The influence of orthographic transparency on the prevalence of dyslexia subtypes was examined in a review of multiple-case studies conducted in languages differing in orthographic depth (English, French, and Spanish). Cross-language differences are found in the proportion of dissociated profiles as a function of the dependent variables (speed or accuracy), the classification method (classical vs. regression-based methods), and the control sample (chronological age vs. reading level controls). The classical method results in a majority of mixed profiles, whereas the regression-based method results in a majority of dissociated profiles. However, the regression-based method appears to result in less reliable subtypes within and between languages. Finally, reading-level comparisons revealed that the phonological subtype reflects a deviant developmental trajectory across all languages, whereas the surface subtype corresponds to a delayed developmental trajectory. The results also indicate that reading speed should be considered to correctly classify dyslexics into subtypes, at least in transparent orthographies.
Positive long-term effects of phoneme awareness training in kindergarten were found in this study with children of dyslexic parents. Thirty-five at-risk children (attending 26 different classes) participated in an intensive 17-week program in their regular kindergarten classes designed to help them improve in phoneme awareness. Follow-up measures indicated that the trained children outperformed 47 untrained at-risk controls in both word and nonword reading in Grades 2, 3, and 7. For the very poorest readers, significant effects were found--even in Grade 7 reading comprehension. However, the trained at-risk children were found to lag behind a 2nd control group of 41 not-at-risk children in most aspects of reading. Treatment-resistant children had relatively poor phonological representations of known words. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Recent studies suggest that performance attendant on visual word perception is affected not only by the “traditional” feedforward
inconsistency (spelling → phonology) but also by its feedback inconsistency (phonology → spelling). The present study presents
a statistical analysis of the bidirectional inconsistency for all French monosyllabic words. We show that French is relatively
consistent from spelling to phonology but highly inconsistent from phonology to spelling. Appendixes B and C list prior and
conditional probabilities for all inconsistent mappings and thus provide a valuable tool for controlling, selecting, and constructing
stimulus materials for psycholinguistic and neuropsychological research. Such large-scale statistical analyses about a language’s
structure are crucial for developing metrics of inconsistency, generating hypotheses for cross-linguistic research, and building
computational models of reading.
Although the causes of dyslexia are still debated, all researchers agree that the main challenge is to find ways that allow a child with dyslexia to read more words in less time, because reading more is undisputedly the most efficient intervention for dyslexia. Sophisticated training programs exist, but they typically target the component skills of reading, such as phonological awareness. After the component skills have improved, the main challenge remains (that is, reading deficits must be treated by reading more--a vicious circle for a dyslexic child). Here, we show that a simple manipulation of letter spacing substantially improved text reading performance on the fly (without any training) in a large, unselected sample of Italian and French dyslexic children. Extra-large letter spacing helps reading, because dyslexics are abnormally affected by crowding, a perceptual phenomenon with detrimental effects on letter recognition that is modulated by the spacing between letters. Extra-large letter spacing may help to break the vicious circle by rendering the reading material more easily accessible.
Fully integrated into the everyday lives of millions of young people throughout the world, video games are a vital part of contemporary culture and society. But the reaction of many authorities and the majority of educators has been to discredit video games by assuming their negative effects. After more than two decades of research, however, many studies have been published that have gradually led to a more complex, nuanced, and useful understanding of video games. This article focuses on one of the most interesting alternative perspectives--that of their educational potential as teaching and learning tools. After justifying this point of view, we offer a critical review of previous research on the subject; and finally reach some conclusions on the advantages of using video games for educational purposes.
The aim of the longitudinal study was to investigate whether a computer application designed for remedial reading training can enhance letter knowledge, reading accuracy, fluency, and spelling of at-risk children. The participants, 7-year-old Finnish school beginners (N=166), were assigned to 1 of 3 groups: (a) regular remedial reading intervention (n=25), (b) computer-assessed reading intervention (n=25), and (c) mainstream reading instruction (n=116). Based on the results, computer-assisted remedial reading intervention was highly beneficial, whereas regular type of intervention was less successful. The results indicated that at-risk children require computer-based letter-name and letter-sound training to acquire adequate decoding and spelling skills, and to reach the level of their non-at-risk peers.
Dissecting Dyslexia and Learning
Difficulties in learning to read, despite reasonable effort and instruction, form the basis of dyslexia. Gabrieli (p. 280 ; see the cover) now reviews the latest research into the causes of dyslexia. Neuroimaging studies may give early notice of impending dyslexia, and it is hoped that early interventions may lessen the impact of dyslexia. Learning occurs in many settings. Humans uniquely use the formalized settings of schools and curriculum. Infants and children also do plenty of learning outside these settings, often intermingling social interactions. Meltzoff et al. (p. 284 ) survey the variety of learning contexts that people experience and discuss how recent advances in neuroscience and robotics are driving a new synthesis of learning.
Countries must learn how to capitalize on their citizens' cognitive resources if they are to prosper, both economically and socially. Early interventions will be key.
We examined brain activation, as measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging, during problem solving in seven young, healthy participants. Participants solved problems selected from the Raven's Progressive Matrices Test, a test known to predict performance on a wide range of reasoning tasks. In three conditions, participants solved problems requiring (1) analytic reasoning; (2) figural or visuospatial reasoning; or (3) simple pattern matching that served as a perceptual-motor control. Right frontal and bilateral parietal regions were activated more by figural than control problems. Bilateral frontal and left parietal, occipital, and temporal regions were activated more by analytic than figural problems. All of these regions were activated more by analytic than match problems. Many of these activations occurred in regions associated with working memory. Figural reasoning activated areas involved in spatial and object working memory. Analytic reasoning activated additional areas involved in verbal working memory and domain-independent associative and executive processes. These results suggest that fluid reasoning is mediated by a composite of working memory systems.
A group of 1st-graders who were administered a battery of reading tasks in a previous study were followed up as 11th graders. Ten years later, they were administered measures of exposure to print, reading comprehension, vocabulary, and general knowledge. First-grade reading ability was a strong predictor of all of the 11th-grade outcomes and remained so even when measures of cognitive ability were partialed out. First-grade reading ability (as well as 3rd- and 5th-grade ability) was reliably linked to exposure to print, as assessed in the 11th grade, even after 11th-grade reading comprehension ability was partialed out, indicating that the rapid acquisition of reading ability might well help develop the lifetime habit of reading, irrespective of the ultimate level of reading comprehension ability that the individual attains. Finally, individual differences in exposure to print were found to predict differences in the growth in reading comprehension ability throughout the elementary grades and thereafter.
A connectionist feedforward network implementing a mapping from orthography to phonology is described. The model develops a view of the reading system that accounts for both irregular word and pseudoword reading without relying on any system of explicit or implicit conversion rules. The model assumes, however, that reading is supported by 2 procedures that work successively: a global procedure using knowledge about entire words and an analytic procedure based on the activation of word syllabic segments. The model provides an account of the basic effects that characterize human skilled reading performance including a frequency by consistency interaction and a position-of-irregularity effect. Furthermore, early in training, the network shows a performance similar to that of less skilled readers. It also offers a plausible account of the patterns of acquired phonological and surface dyslexia when lesioned in different ways.
Experiments previously reported in the literature suggest that people with dyslexia have a deficit in categorical perception. However, it is still unclear whether the deficit is specific to the perception of speech sounds or whether it more generally affects auditory function. In order to investigate the relationship between categorical perception and dyslexia, as well as the nature of this categorization deficit, speech specific or not, the discrimination responses of children who have dyslexia and those of average readers to sinewave analogues of speech sounds were compared. These analogues were presented in two different conditions, either as nonspeech whistles or as speech sounds. Results showed that children with dyslexia are less categorical than average readers in the speech condition, mainly because they are better at discriminating acoustic differences between stimuli belonging to the same category. In the nonspeech condition, discrimination was also better for children with dyslexia, but differences in categorical perception were less clear-cut. Further, the location of the categorical boundary on the stimulus continuum differed between speech and nonspeech conditions. As a whole, this study shows that categorical deficit in children with dyslexia results primarily from an increased perceptibility of within-category differences and that it has a speech-specific component. These findings may have profound implications for learning and re-education.
One possible reason why people with dyslexia have problems in learning to read is that some neuronal pathways involved in vision and hearing are damaged. That theory may need to be revised.
Thirty-four second grade children read target homophonic pseudowords (e.g., slurst/slirst) in the context of real stories in a test of the self-teaching theory of early reading acquisition. The degree of orthographic learning was assessed with three converging tasks: homophonic choice, spelling, and target naming. Each of the tasks indicated that orthographic learning had taken place because processing of target homophones (e.g., yait) was superior to that of their homophonic controls (e.g., yate). Consistent with the self-teaching hypothesis, we obtained a substantial correlation (r=.52) between orthographic learning and the number of target homophones correctly decoded during story reading. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that neither RAN tasks nor general cognitive ability predicted variance in orthographic learning once the number of target homophones correctly decoded during story reading had been partialed out. In contrast, a measure of orthographic knowledge predicted variance in orthographic learning once the number of targets correctly decoded had been partialed. The development of orthographic knowledge appears to be not entirely parasitic on decoding ability. (c) 2002 Elsevier Science (USA).
The development of phonological and orthographic processing was studied from the middle of Grade 1 to the end of Grade 4 (age 6; 6-10 years) using the effects of regularity and of lexicality in reading aloud and in spelling tasks, and using the effect of pseudohomophony in a silent reading task. In all the tasks, signs of reliance on phonological processing were found even when indicators of reliance on orthographic processing appeared. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to determine which early skills predict later reading achievement. Pseudoword and irregular word scores were used as measures for phonological and orthographic skills, respectively. Only middle of Grade 1 phonological reading skills accounted for independent variance in end of Grade 4 orthographic skills. Conversely, from the middle to the end of Grade 1, and from the end of Grade 1 to the end of Grade 4, both orthographic and phonological skills accounted for independent variance in later orthographic skills. In the prediction of phonological skills, only the unique contribution of earlier phonological skills was significant. Thus, phonological and orthographic processing appear to be reciprocally related, rather than independent components of written word recognition. However, very early reliance on the phonological procedure seems to be the bootstrapping mechanism for reading acquisition.
Most studies in adults with developmental dyslexia have focused on identifying the deficits responsible for their persistent reading difficulties, but little is known on how these readers manage the intensive exposure to written language required to obtain a university degree. The main objective of this study was to identify certain skills, and specifically vocabulary skills, that French university students with dyslexia have developed and that may contribute to their literacy skills. We tested 20 university students with dyslexia and 20 normal readers (matched on chronological age, gender, nonverbal IQ, and level of education) in reading, phonological, vocabulary breadth (number of known words), and vocabulary depth (accuracy and precision) tasks. In comparing vocabulary measures, we used both Rasch model and single case study methodologies. Results on reading and phonological tasks confirmed the persistence of deficits in written word recognition and phonological skills. However, using the Rasch model we found that the two groups performed at the same level in the vocabulary breadth task, whereas dyslexics systematically outperformed their chronological age controls in the vocabulary depth task. These results are supplemented by multiple case studies. The vocabulary skills of French university students with dyslexia are well developed. Possible interpretations of these results are discussed.
To clarify the role of decoding in reading and reading disability, a simple model of reading is proposed, which holds that reading equals the product of decoding and comprehension. It follows that there must be three types of reading disability, resulting from an inability to decode, an inability to comprehend, or both. It is argued that the first is dyslexia, the second hyperlexia, and the third common, or garden variety, reading disability.
Two experiments examine the effects of two computer-based interventions, one with grapho-syllabic training (GST) and another with grapho-phonemic training (GPT) on the development of word recognition and reading comprehension in French children during Grade 1 and Grade 2. In Exp 1, poor readers (N = 27) in second grade were selected and divided into three equal groups, one GST group, one GPT group and a control group. After the session training (10 h), the children from the grapho-syllabic training group outperformed their counterparts in word reading. In Exp 2, poor readers in first grade (N = 18) were divided in two groups, a GST group and a GPT group. Six sessions were conducted in order to examine the possible long-term effect of training (10 h) during 16 months. The results revealed an effect of grapho-syllabic training on silent word recognition, word reading aloud and reading comprehension. A computer-assisted learning (CAL) system based on the syllable, which is considered to be the phonological and orthographic unit that is used by French young readers, could be a promising tool to help poor readers decode words and consequently boost their word recognition and reading comprehension capabilities.
Previous research has demonstrated that phonological sensitivity is an important causal skill for decoding. This study evaluated the use of computer-assisted instruction (CAI) to provide training in phonological sensitivity skills to preschoolers at-risk for reading problems. Forty-five children ranging in age from 44 to 64 months (M = 55.1, SD = 6.07) were randomly assigned to a CAI group or a control group. Children exposed to CAI made significantly greater gains on rhyming and elision skills compared to the control group. Expressive vocabulary scores were predictive of pre- to posttest growth. Children in the CAI condition positively rated participation in the training program. Results provide preliminary support for CAI to improve the phonological sensitivity skills of preschoolers who are at-risk.
INTRODUCTION
Cet ouvrage propose une synthèse des connaissances actuelles sur l’apprentissage de la lecture et la dyslexie. Trois choix fondamentaux ont guidé sa rédaction :
-Présenter une synthèse des travaux de recherche les plus robustes (pour ceux qui sont anciens) et les plus novateurs (pour ceux qui sont récents) ;
-Présenter des aspects pratiques liés aux méthodes d’enseignement de la lecture ainsi qu’au dépistage et à la prévention des difficultés de lecture ;
-Mettre en évidence ce qui est universel et ce qui dépend des spécificités d’une orthographe particulière dans l’apprentissage de la lecture et la dyslexie.
Le chapitre 1 fait le point sur cinq questions classiques relatives à l’apprentissage de la lecture et la dyslexie : Quel est le niveau en lecture des enfants français ? Quelle est l’incidence du niveau cognitif, de la latéralité manuelle et du genre sur l’apprentissage de la lecture ? Qu’est-ce que la dyslexie ?
Le chapitre 2 présente les concepts essentiels pour comprendre les processus mis en œuvre dans la lecture et son apprentissage. La première partie traite des relations entre compréhension écrite et lecture de mots et des effets du contexte sur la lecture de mots. Cette partie est suivie par une présentation des principaux modèles et résultats de la recherche sur la lecture experte, celle d’un adulte qui sait lire.
Le chapitre 3 est consacré à l’apprentissage normal (ou typique) de la lecture, celui qui s’effectue sans difficultés notoires. La première partie présente un cadre de référence permettant d’analyser les problèmes auxquels l’apprenti lecteur est confronté dans les différents systèmes d’écritures et, surtout, dans les écritures alphabétiques ainsi que les caractéristiques majeures de ces écritures. Les deux parties suivantes portent, d’une part, sur le développement des procédures de reconnaissance des mots écrits et, d’autre part, sur les capacités reliées à la lecture qui facilitent son apprentissage. La fin du chapitre est consacrée aux études sur le traitement visuel lors de la lecture chez l’apprenti lecteur.
Le chapitre 4 est centré sur les manifestations de la dyslexie. Son objectif est de déterminer, d’une part, les compétences en lecture qui sont déficientes chez les dyslexiques et d’autre part, l’existence, et la prévalence, des profils dissociés de type dyslexie « phonologique » et dyslexie « visuelle ». La première question est abordée à partir de l’examen d’études de groupes, les deux autres à partir de l’examen d’études de « cas multiples », qui prennent en compte des populations importantes de dyslexiques afin d’évaluer les différents profils et leur proportion.
Le chapitre 5 présente les explications de la dyslexie, en particulier l’hypothèse phonologique selon laquelle la dyslexie proviendrait d’un trouble spécifique du traitement du langage ainsi que les hypothèses alternatives qui rendent compte de cette pathologie par des déficits sensoriels (auditifs ou visuels) et/ou moteurs.
Le dernier chapitre envisage quelques implications pratiques qui permettent de répondre aux questions suivantes: quelles sont les méthodes d’apprentissage de la lecture les plus efficaces ? Quels sont les moyens permettant d’identifier de façon précoce les compétences ultérieures en lecture et de prévenir les difficultés dans ce domaine ?
Cet ouvrage, qui s’adresse aux chercheurs, aux étudiants, aux enseignants et à tous les praticiens au contact d’enfants apprentis lecteurs et/ou de dyslexiques, présente donc un intérêt à la fois théorique et pratique puisqu’il propose une synthèse de travaux de recherche récents publiés dans des revues internationales à comité de lecture (cf. ci dessous: "Production et sélection des connaissances scientifiques dans les revues internationales à comité de lecture") et qu’il intègre des informations relatives aux méthodes d’enseignement de la lecture ainsi qu’au dépistage et à la prévention des difficultés de lecture.
Changements effectués pour la nouvelle édition: Nous avons examiné les travaux parus depuis la 1ère édition du livre ainsi que les citations de ceux qui étaient dans les deux précédentes éditions. Les choix suivants ont été faits le plus systématiquement possible :
1.Ne tenir compte que des travaux cités dans le Web of Science ;
2.Intégrer en priorité les travaux les plus récents sur le français ;
3.Ne garder, parmi les travaux cités les plus anciens, que ceux qui, d’après le Web of Science, ont eu un fort impact.
Dans l’ensemble, un peu plus de 220 publications nouvelles ont été intégrées et un peu mois de 200 ont été supprimées.
Production et sélection des connaissances scientifiques dans les revues internationales à comité de lecture
Les revues internationales à comité de lecture sont pratiquement toutes de langue anglaise, ce qui facilite l’accès à tous les chercheurs, quelle que soit leur langue, aux travaux conduits dans différents pays. Toutefois, les travaux publiés dans ces revues, tout comme les experts qui évaluent les articles, sont issus de différents pays. Les articles sont expertisés par au moins deux chercheurs qualifiés qui acceptent les articles (immédiatement ou sous réserve de modifications plus ou moins importantes), le taux de rejet des articles (le plus souvent pour des problèmes de méthode) est élevé : de l’ordre de 70 à 95 % selon les revues.
Ces travaux sont répertoriés dans le « Web of Science » (WoS), qui est un service d’information sur les publications de recherche édité par « Institute for Scientific Information » du groupe canadien Thomson Reuters. Le WoS donne accès à plusieurs bases de données (par exemple: Social Sciences Citation Index ; Arts & Humanities Citation Index ; Science Citation Index Expanded). Il est diffusé en France par « Bibliosciences », entre autres, qui est le portail d’information scientifique multidisciplinaire du CNRS et de l’INSERM.
Ce mode de fonctionnement garantit la qualité des publications. Il présente toutefois l’inconvénient de rendre les travaux de recherche peu accessibles aux praticiens des pays non anglophones. C’est la raison pour laquelle se sont développées, dans chaque pays, des collections de diffusion des savoirs présentant des synthèses des travaux de recherche pour un public plus ou moins large. Un exemple pour un public très large, allant des parents aux enseignants, est l’ouvrage publié aux éditions Odile Jacob en 2011 sous la direction de Dehaene. Le présent ouvrage est un exemple destiné à un public plus spécialisé : les chercheurs, les étudiants, les enseignants et tous les praticiens au contact d’apprentis lecteurs et/ou de dyslexiques (éducateurs, psychologues, orthophonistes, médecins…).
Learning to read is extremely difficult for about 10% of children; they are affected by a neurodevelopmental disorder called dyslexia [1, 2]. The neurocognitive causes of dyslexia are still hotly debated [3-12]. Dyslexia remediation is far from being fully achieved [13], and the current treatments demand high levels of resources [1]. Here, we demonstrate that only 12 hr of playing action video games-not involving any direct phonological or orthographic training-drastically improve the reading abilities of children with dyslexia. We tested reading, phonological, and attentional skills in two matched groups of children with dyslexia before and after they played action or nonaction video games for nine sessions of 80 min per day. We found that only playing action video games improved children's reading speed, without any cost in accuracy, more so than 1 year of spontaneous reading development and more than or equal to highly demanding traditional reading treatments. Attentional skills also improved during action video game training. It has been demonstrated that action video games efficiently improve attention abilities [14, 15]; our results showed that this attention improvement can directly translate into better reading abilities, providing a new, fast, fun remediation of dyslexia that has theoretical relevance in unveiling the causal role of attention in reading acquisition.
We report an empirical comparison of the effectiveness of two theoretically motivated computer-assisted reading interventions (CARI) based on the Finnish GraphoGame CARI: English GraphoGame Rime (GG Rime) and English GraphoGame Phoneme (GG Phoneme). Participants were 6–7-year-old students who had been identified by their teachers as being relatively poor at reading. The students were divided into three groups. Two of the groups played one of the games as a supplement to normal classroom literacy instruction for five sessions per week for a period of 12 weeks. The third group formed an untreated control. Both games led to gains in reading, spelling, and phonological skills in comparison with the untreated control group. The two interventions also had some differential effects. The intervention gains were maintained at a four-month follow-up.
作者报告一项有关两个干预教学法成效比较的验证研究,该两个干预教学法均是以理论驱动的计算机辅助阅读教学法,并建基于芬兰「计算机辅助阅读干预教学图像游戏」发展而成;该两个干预教学法是「英语韵脚图像游戏」和「英语音素图像游戏」。研究对象都是被教师确认为阅读能力较差的6至7岁的学生。这些学生被分成三组。两组分别使用其中一个游戏,为期 12周, 每周5课节,作为补充正常课堂读写教学的干预教学。第三组是没有实验处理的对照组。使用游戏的两组,较没有使用游戏的对照组,能在阅读、拼写和语音技能的成绩方面均有所提升。两个干预教学各有一些不同的影响。干预教学所提升的成绩,能在四个月的跟进期间得到维持。
Les informamos sobre una comparación empírica de la eficiencia de dos intervenciones de lectura de motivación teórica asistida por una computadora (CARI por sus siglas en inglés) basada en el CARI GraphoGame sueco: GraphoGame Rime inglés (GG Rime) y GraphoGamePhoneme inglés (GG Phoneme). Los participantes eran estudiantes entre los 6 y 7 años de edad quienes habían sido identificados por sus maestros como relativamente pobres lectores. Se formaron tres grupos de estudiantes. Dos de los grupos jugaron uno de los juegos como algo adicional a la instrucción usual de alfabetización en la clase cinco veces a la semana por 12 semanas. El tercer grupo no participó en los juegos, siendo el grupo de control. Ambos juegos incrementaron las habilidades de lectura y ortografía, y las destrezas fonológicas en comparación al grupo de control. Las dos intervenciones también tuvieron algunos efectos diferenciales. A los cuatro meses de la intervención todavía se mantenían las ganancias obtenidas debido a la intervención.
Aвтopыпpoвoдятэмпиpичecкoecpaвнeниeэффeктивнocтидвyxтeopeтичecкиoбocнoвaнныx, кoмпьютepизиpoвaнныxмeтoдoвoбyчeниячтeнию, ocнoвaнныxнaвapиaцияxизвecтнoйфинcкoйгpaфичecкoйигpы CARI: гpaфo-игpa c aнглийcкимиpифмaми (GG Rime) и гpaфo-игpa c aнглийcкимифoнeмaми (GG Phoneme). B экcпepимeнтeyчacтвoвaли 6-7-лeтниe дeти, кoтopыxyчитeляпpизнaличитaющимиxyжecвepcтникoв.Учeникoвpaздeлилинaтpигpyппы.Двeгpyппы – в дoпoлнeниe к тpaдициoннoмyoбyчeниючтeнию – игpaлинaypoкax в oднyизигpпятьpaз в нeдeлю в тeчeниe 12 нeдeль.Tpeтья (кoнтpoльнaя) гpyппaнeпoдвepгaлacьдoпoлнитeльнoмyвмeшaтeльcтвy.Пocpaвнeниюкoнтpoльнoйгpyппoйocтaльныeyчeникизaмeтнoyлyчшилинaвыкичтeния, пpaвoпиcaния и звyкopaзличeния.Haблюдaлиcьoпpeдeлeнныeoтличия и мeждypeзyльтaтaмидвyxэкcпepимeнтaльныxгpyпп.Дoпoлнитeльнaяпpoвepкaчepeзчeтыpeмecяцaпoдтвepдилaycтoйчивocтьoбpeтeнныxдeтьминaвыкoв.
Nous rendons compte de la comparaison empirique de deux interventions en lecture motivées théoriquement et assistées par ordinateur (CARI) basées sur le Grapho-Game finlandais CARI : le GraphoGame Rime (GG Rime) en anglais et le GraphoGamePhoneme (GG Phoneme) en anglais. Les participants sont des élèves de 6-7 ans identifiés par leur professeur comme étant relativement peu avancés en lecture. Les élèves ont été répartis en trois groupes. Deux d'entre eux ont joué à l'un des jeux, en plus de l'enseignement de la littératie effectué normalement dans la classe à raison de cinq séances par semaine pendant une durée de douze semaines. Le troisième groupe constituait un groupe contrôle non-soumis à un traitement. Les deux jeux ont permis des progrès en lecture, en écriture et en compétences phonologiques par comparaison avec le groupe contrôle sans traitement. Les deux interventions ont présenté également des effets différentiels. Les bénéfices des interventions étaient maintenus lors d'un suivi quatre mois plus tard.
نقدّم معطيات عن مقارنة تجريبية لفعالية تدخلَيْ القراءة ذات الدافع النظري بمساعدة حاسوبية وهي مبنية على اللعبة الخطية الفنلندية واللعبة الخطية الإنجليزية للمقطع النهائي (جي جي رايم) واللعبة الخطية الصوتية (جي جي فونيم). وكان المشاركون طلاب تتراوح أعمارهم بين 6-7 سنوات قد تعينوا من قبل معلميهم كقراء يواجهون صعوبة في القراءة. إذ انقسم الطلاب إلى ثلاثة أقسام. وقد لعب قسمان لعبةً من الألعاب تكميلةً لتعليمهم المعرفي العادي في الصف خمس جلسات بالأسبوع لمدة 12 أسبوعاً. أما القسم الثالث فأنهم تشكلوا مجموعة ضابطة غير معالجة. لقد أدت اللعبتان إلى تحسنات في القراءة والهجاء والمهارات الصوتية بالمقارنة إلى المجموعة الضابطة غير المعالجة. وقد كان للتدخلين بعض التأثيرات المتفرقة. إذ بقيت التحسنات التدخلية على نفس الوتيرة في الجلسة المتابعة التي أقيمت بعد أربعة أشهر.
Examined the instructional effectiveness of DaisyQuest I and II, a computer program designed to increase phonological awareness in young children. In Exp 1, with 27 Ss (aged 57–79 mo), 12 Ss worked on the DaisyQuest program for 20 sessions of approximately 20–25 min each. Ss in the trained group showed significantly greater gains in phonological awareness than did the 15 Ss who did not receive training. In Exp 2, with 69 kindergartners (aged 65–94 mo), a more completely developed version of DaisyQuest was evaluated. After an average of 4.9 hrs of training with DaisyQuest, the 34 Ss in the experimental group significantly outperformed the 35 no-treatment controls on 3 different measures of phonological awareness. Training with DaisyQuest compares favorably with teacher-led programs of longer duration that have been evaluated in previous research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The present study investigated the nature of visual spatial attention deficits in adults with developmental dyslexia, using a partial report task with five-letter, digit, and symbol strings. Participants responded by a manual key press to one of nine alternatives, which included other characters in the string, allowing an assessment of position errors as well as intrusion errors. The results showed that the dyslexic adults performed significantly worse than age-matched controls with letter and digit strings but not with symbol strings. Both groups produced W-shaped serial position functions with letter and digit strings. The dyslexics' deficits with letter string stimuli were limited to position errors, specifically at the string-interior positions 2 and 4. These errors correlated with letter transposition reading errors (e.g., reading slat as "salt"), but not with the Rapid Automatized Naming (RAN) task. Overall, these results suggest that the dyslexic adults have a visual spatial attention deficit; however, the deficit does not reflect a reduced span in visual-spatial attention, but a deficit in processing a string of letters in parallel, probably due to difficulty in the coding of letter position.
In this study we examined the benefits of computer programs designed to supplement regular reading instruction in an urban public school system. The programs provide systematic exercises for mastering word-attack strategies. Our findings indicate that first graders who participated in the programs made significant reading gains over the school year. Their post-test scores were slightly (but not significantly) greater than the post-test scores of control children who received regular reading instruction without the programs. When analyses were restricted to low-performing children eligible for Title I services, significantly higher post-test scores were obtained by the treatment group compared to the control group. At post-test Title I children in the treatment group performed at levels similar to non-Title I students.
The aim of this study was to investigate the role of several specific neurocognitive functions in developmental dyslexia (DD). The performances of 60 dyslexic children and 65 age-matched normally reading children were compared on tests of phonological abilities, visual processing, selective and sustained attention, implicit learning, and executive functions. Results documented deficits in dyslexics on both phonological and non-phonological tasks. More stringently, in dyslexic children individual differences in non-phonological abilities accounted for 23.3% of unique variance in word reading and for 19.3% in non-word reading after controlling for age, IQ and phonological skills. These findings are in accordance with the hypothesis that DD is a multifactorial deficit and suggest that neurocognitive developmental dysfunctions in DD may not be limited to the linguistic brain area, but may involve a more multifocal cortical system.
This paper argues that education should become more evidence-based. The distinction is made between using existing research and establishing high-quality educational research. The need for high-quality systematic reviews and appraisals of educational research is clear. Evidence-based education is not a panacea, but is a set of principles and practices for enhancing educational policy and practice.
This study aims to show that training using a computer game incorporating an audio-visual phoneme discrimination task with phonological units, presented simultaneously with orthographic units, might improve literacy skills. Two experiments were conducted, one in secondary schools with dyslexic children (Experiment 1) and the other in a speech-therapy clinic with individual case studies (Experiment 2). A classical pre-test, training, post-test design was used. The main findings indicated an improvement in reading scores after short intensive training (10 h) in Experiment 1 and progress in the reading and spelling scores obtained by the dyslexic children (training for 8 h) in Experiment 2. These results are discussed within the frameworks of both the speech-specific deficit theory of dyslexia and the connectionist models of reading development.
Visual-attentional theories of dyslexia predict deficits for dyslexic children not only for the perception of letter strings but also for non-alphanumeric symbol strings. This prediction was tested in a two-alternative forced-choice paradigm with letters, digits, and symbols. Children with dyslexia showed significant deficits for letter and digit strings but not for symbol strings. This finding is difficult to explain for visual-attentional theories of dyslexia which postulate identical deficits for letters, digits and symbols. Moreover, dyslexics showed normal W-shaped serial position functions for letter and digit strings, which suggests that their deficit is not due to an abnormally small attentional window. Finally, the size of the deficit was identical for letters and digits, which suggests that poor letter perception is not just a consequence of the lack of reading. Together then, our results show that symbols that map onto phonological codes are impaired (i.e. letters and digits), whereas symbols that do not map onto phonological codes are not impaired. This dissociation suggests that impaired symbol-sound mapping rather than impaired visual-attentional processing is the key to understanding dyslexia.
Developmental dyslexia affects up to 10 per cent of the population and it is important to understand its causes. It is widely assumed that phonological deficits, that is, deficits in how words are sounded out, cause the reading difficulties in dyslexia. However, there is emerging evidence that phonological problems and the reading impairment both arise from poor visual (i.e., orthographic) coding. We argue that attentional mechanisms controlled by the dorsal visual stream help in serial scanning of letters and any deficits in this process will cause a cascade of effects, including impairments in visual processing of graphemes, their translation into phonemes and the development of phonemic awareness. This view of dyslexia localizes the core deficit within the visual system and paves the way for new strategies for early diagnosis and treatment.
Speech perception deficits in developmental dyslexia were investigated in quiet and various noise conditions. Dyslexics exhibited clear speech perception deficits in noise but not in silence. Place-of-articulation was more affected than voicing or manner-of-articulation. Speech-perception-in-noise deficits persisted when performance of dyslexics was compared to that of much younger children matched on reading age, underscoring the fundamental nature of speech-perception-in-noise deficits. The deficits were not due to poor spectral or temporal resolution because dyslexics exhibited normal 'masking release' effects (i.e. better performance in fluctuating than in stationary noise). Moreover, speech-perception-in-noise predicted significant unique variance in reading even after controlling for low-level auditory, attentional, speech output, short-term memory and phonological awareness processes. Finally, the presence of external noise did not seem to be a necessary condition for speech perception deficits to occur because similar deficits were obtained when speech was degraded by eliminating temporal fine-structure cues without using external noise. In conclusion, the core deficit of dyslexics seems to be a lack of speech robustness in the presence of external or internal noise.
: Reading impairment is the major learning disability in childhood. Most previous studies were done on English-speaking populations. Yet, it has been argued that the English writing system exacerbates phonological deficits because of its exceptionally high inconsistency between spelling and sound. Thus, cross-language studies are needed to explore the universal versus language-specific factors underlying reading impairment. The goal of the present research was to study biological, socioeconomic, cognitive, and behavioral factors underlying poor reading in French-speaking second grade children.
: A total of 1062 children from 20 different schools in the city of Paris participated in the study. After an initial test phase, children with a suspected impairment in reading acquisition were assessed individually. Subsequently, 100 poor readers and 50 controls were matched for sex, age, school, and neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES). They underwent comprehensive medical, cognitive, and behavioral assessment complemented by individual socioeconomic data.
: The average prevalence of reading impairment was around 12% in our sample. It was highly influenced by neighborhood SES, varying from 3.3% in high SES to 24.2% in low SES areas. Among the individual SES variables, low maternal education significantly distinguished poor from typical readers. Multiple regression analyses showed that reading outcome was best predicted by phonological awareness skills and attention deficits.
: The majority of poor readers come from low SES areas. As in the English literature, the most robust predictor for reading impairment is phonological awareness. In addition, behavioral problems, such as attention deficits, seem to aggravate reading deficits for children with weak phonological awareness skills.
The self-teaching hypothesis proposes that phonological recoding functions as a self-teaching mechanism enabling the learner to independently acquire an autonomous orthographic lexicon. Successful decoding encounters with novel letter strings provide opportunities to learn word-specific print-to-meaning connections. Although it may not play a central role in skilled word recognition, phonological recoding, by virtue of its self-teaching function, is regarded as critical to successful reading acquisition. This paper elaborates the self-teaching hypothesis proposed by Jorm and Share (1983), and reviews relevant evidence. Key features of phonological recoding include an item-based rather than stage-based role in development, the progressive "lexicalization" of the process of recoding, and the importance of phonological awareness and contextual information in resolving decoding ambiguity. Although phonological skills have been shown to be primary in reading acquisition, orthographic processing appears to be an important but secondary source of individual differences. This implies an asymmetrical pattern of dissociations in both developmental and acquired reading disorders. Strong relationships between word recognition, basic phonological processing abilities and phonemic awareness are also consistent with the self-teaching notion. Finally, it is noted that current models of word recognition (both PDP and dual-route) fail to address the quintessential problem of reading acquisition-independent generation of target pronunciations for novel orthographic strings.
We examined reading and phonological processing abilities in English and German dyslexic children, each compared with two control groups matched for reading level (8 years) and age (10-12 years). We hypothesised that the same underlying phonological processing deficit would exist in both language groups, but that there would be differences in the severity of written language impairments, due to differences in orthographic consistency. We also hypothesized that systematic differences due to orthographic consistency should be found equally for normal and dyslexic readers. All cross-language comparisons were based on a set of stimuli matched for meaning, pronunciation and spelling. The results supported both hypotheses: On a task challenging phonological processing skills (spoonerisms) both English and German dyslexics were significantly impaired compared to their age and reading age controls. However, there were extremely large differences in reading performance when English and German dyslexic children were compared. The evidence for systematic differences in reading performance due to differences in orthographic consistency was similar for normal and for dyslexic children, with English showing marked adverse effect on acquisition of reading skills.
Experiment 1 examined the time course of orthographic learning among Grade 3 children. A single encounter with a novel orthographic string was sufficient to produce reliable recall of orthographic detail. Moreover, newly acquired orthographic information was retained 1 month later. These data support the logistic learning functions featured in contemporary connectionist models of reading rather than a "threshold" model of orthographic learning. Experiments 2 and 3 examined self-teaching among novice readers. In contrast to the findings from less regular orthographies such as English and Dutch, beginning readers of a highly regular orthography (Hebrew) appear to be relatively insensitive to word-specific orthographic detail, reading in a nonlexical "surface" fashion. These results suggest fundamental differences between shallow and deep orthographies in the development of orthographic sensitivity.