Does Training in Syllable Recognition Improve Reading Speed? A Computer-Based Trial With Poor Readers From Second and Third Grade

Abstract

This research evaluated the ability to retrieve and fluently name serially presented familiar items, known as rapid automatized naming (RAN), as an underlying skill in reading disability and its role in a reading fluency intervention. The specificity of RAN on reading was examined in two studies among children with learning difficulties. These two studies showed that RAN was most strongly related to reading disabilities (RD), and less clearly related to math or attention deficits. This was especially true when RD was defined as reading speed or fluency. The association between RAN and RD was also examined within the framework of the double-deficit hypothesis (DDH), in which RAN is assumed to contribute independently to RD along with phonological awareness. The results among children with learning difficulties supported the DDH in that RAN was not related to phonological awareness but had a unique connection with reading fluency and speed. Children with double-deficit performed poorer in reading and spelling skills compared to the groups with a single deficit or controls. The reading fluency intervention, conducted among children with poor reading skill, showed significant effects on the repeated recognition of sublexical units (syllables). Moreover, a wordlevel transfer effect, which was also the strongest syllable-level intervention effect, was found for infrequent syllables. Reading fluency gains were greatest for the children with the lowest pre-intervention reading skills. The results showed that although RAN was associated with initial reading speed, it did not have an effect on the intervention gains. These studies strengthen the role of RAN as an independent skill underlying reading disabilities in a transparent language (Finnish) where reading disabilities are most strongly manifested as dysfluent reading. While comorbid learning problems were common and should be acknowledged in the assessment and intervention of reading, the slow naming speed found here indicated deficits specific to reading fluency. Despite the persistent nature of naming and reading fluency deficits, reading fluency does not seem to be resistant to intervention even when accompanied with naming speed deficits.Keywords: rapid automatized naming, reading disabilities, reading fluency, reading speed, learning disability, comorbidity, reading intervention Tämän tutkimuksen keskiössä olivat lukemisen sujuvuus sekä nopea sarjallinen nimeäminen (rapid automatized naming, RAN), kyky hakea mielestä ja nimetä sujuvasti sarjallisessa muodossa esitettyjä tuttuja nimikkeitä. Tässä tutkimuksessa arvioitiin erityisesti RAN:n roolia lukemisvaikeuksien taustataitona sekä sen yhteyttä lukemisen sujuvuuden kuntouttamiseen. RAN:n spesifiä yhteyttä lukemiseen tutkittiin kahdessa osatutkimuksessa, joiden kohderyhmänä olivat kouluikäiset oppimisvaikeuksiset lapset. Tulokset osoittivat, että RAN oli matematiikan ja tarkkavuuden ongelmia vahvemmin yhteydessä lukemisvaikeuksiin, erityisesti kun lukemisvaikeus oli määritelty lukemisen nopeuden tai suj...

An evaluation of the effectiveness of a computer‐assisted reading intervention

“…However, since then a number of computer interventions with non-English speakers have been found to be very effective. These include Finnish (Saine, Lerkkanen, Ahonen, Tolvanen & Lyytinen, 2010;Heikkila, Mikko, Narhi, Westerholm & Ahonen, 2013;Lyytinen, Ronimus, Alanko, Poikkeus & Taanila, 2007), Spanish (Jiménez et al, 2007) and French (Ecalle, Kleinz & Magnan, 2013;Magnan & Ecalle, 2006). Because these non-English languages have more consistent relations between graphemes and phonemes, this may explain their effectiveness in contrast to computer interventions with Englishspeaking children which face the challenge of inconsistent grapheme-phoneme relationships.…”

“…Because the intervention did not focus on speed-related tasks, the improvements might have been because children became more efficient at accessing phonological material and/or translating visual stimuli into a phonological form. It is also worth noting that Torgesen et al (2010) have reported positive effects of a computer intervention on naming speed with children in the United States, however, Heikkila et al (2013) failed to produce a similar effect with Finnish children.…”

Is School a Better Environment Than Home for Digital Game-Based Learning? The Case of GraphoGame

“…The electroencephalogram (EEG) data collected in the study suggest that GraphoGame use also may be beneficial in modulating the neural basis of phonetic discrimination. Heikkilä et al (2013) found that a brief intervention with GraphoGame increased children's reading speed of the syllables encountered in the game.…”

“…Research has shown that digital games can enhance children's learning, with positive effects found, for example, in the development of reading skills (e.g., Heikkilä, Aro, Närhi, Westerholm, & Ahonen, 2013;Magnan & Ecalle, 2006;Saine, Lerkkanen, Ahonen, Tolvanen, & Lyytinen, 2010, 2011 and mathematical skills (e.g., Miller & Robertson, 2011;Shin, Sutherland, Norris, & Soloway, 2012). Additionally, children usually are very eager to use digital learning games (e.g., Rosas et al, 2003;Tüzün, Yılmaz-Soylu, Karakuş, İnal, & Kızılkaya, 2009).…”

The effects of age and sublexical automaticity on reading outcomes for students with reading disabilities

“…In these transparent languages, one focus has been on speeded sublexical reading and its relation to reading fluency. Training studies have focused on identification of syllables (e.g., Heikkilä, Aro, Närhi, Westerholm, and Ahonen, 2013;Huemer, Aro, Landerl, and Lyytinen, 2010) and onset consonant-clusters (e.g., Hintikka, Landerl, Aro, and Lyytinen, 2008;Thaler, Ebner, Wimmer, and Landerl, 2004), and have examined letter cluster versus individual letter training (e.g., Marinus, de Jong, and van der Leij, 2012). Following relatively short, speeded training with these various sublexical units presented in isolation or within words, studies have generally found increased rate of reading both trained and untrained words containing these clusters (e.g., Hintikka et al, 2008;Thaler et al, 2004).…”