Naming Speed and Reading: From Prediction to Instruction

Abstract

Current theoretical interpretations of naming speed and the research literature on its relation to reading are reviewed in this article. The authors examine naming speed's effects across languages and the shape of its relationship to reading. Also considered is the double‐deficit hypothesis, by which students with both slow naming speed and low phonological awareness are hypothesized to be most at‐risk for reading disability. Finally, the instructional literature regarding attempts to improve naming speed and use of naming speed as a predictor of response to intervention is reviewed. The authors conclude that naming speed is uniquely associated with a range of reading tasks across orthographies, and that early identification would be improved by the inclusion of naming speed measures. The poor response to instruction of students who have slow naming speed should be considered when designing interventions. Further work is required to specify the theoretical nature of naming speed and to determine how to help students with slow naming speed. لقد تمت مراجعة التفسيرات النظرية الجارية تجاه سرعة التحديد والأبحاث العلمية بشأن علاقتها بالقراءة في هذه المقالة. إذ يفحص المؤلفون تأثيرات سرعة التحديد عبر اللغات وشكل علاقتها بالقراءة. كما تم الأخذ في الاعتبار نظرية النقصان المتضاعف التي تقول لما يجمع البطء في سرعة التحديد والوعي الضعيف في الصوتيات عند الطالب فيفترض أنه في خطر من العجز في القراءة. وفي الختام تمت مراجعة الأبحاث التعليمية المتعلقة بالمساعي في تحسين سرعة التحديد واستخدام سرعة التحديد كمنبئ للإجابة للتدخل. وينتهي المؤلفون إلى أن سرعة التحديد متعلقة بشكل فريد بمدى من واجبات القراءة عبر الخطوط وأن التعريف المبكر سيتحسن من خلال انضمان مقاييس سرعة التحديد. ويُفترَض أن الاستجابة الضعيفة لتعليم الطلاب الذين يعانون من سرعة التحديد البطيئة أن يأخذهم بعين الاعتبار عند تصميم التدخلات. وهذا يتطلب أكثر جهد لتعريف طبيعة نظرية سرعة التحديد وتعيين كيفية مساعدة الطلاب الذين عندهم سرعة التحديد البطيئة. 本文评审现时有关命名速度的理论解释及命名速度与阅读之关系的文献。作者首先考查在不同的语言中命名速度的影响力及命名速度与阅读之关系的情形；继而探讨双缺失这个假设，也就是命名速度慢及语音意识低的学生最容易有阅读障碍的假设。最后作者评审教学文献，考查提高命名速度及使用命名速度作为干预教学效应预测因子的尝试。作者在结论中指出：在不同的语言表音方式中，命名速度与一系列的阅读学习任务均具有独特的关联；把命名速度评估纳入考核测试中会有助改善命名速度能力的早期鉴定；在设计干预教学时应考虑到命名速度慢的学生对教学反应差的问题；以及有需要进一步研究命名速度的理论性质，及确定帮助命名速度慢的学生的方法。 On analyse dans cet article les interprétations théoriques courantes de la vitesse de dénomination et la littérature de recherche concernant ses relations avec la lecture. Les auteurs analysent les effets de la vitesse de lecture à travers les langues et la forme de sa relation à la lecture. On analyse également l'hypothèse du double déficit selon laquelle les élèves ayant à la fois une vitesse de dénomination lente et une conscience phonologique faible sont considérés comme présentant le plus de risques de difficultés en lecture. On analyse enfin la littérature pédagogique sur les essais d'amélioration de la vitesse de lecture et d'utilisation de la vitesse de dénomination comme prédicteur de la réponse à l'intervention. Les auteurs concluent que la vitesse de dénomination est associée uniquement à un ensemble de tâches de lecture li...

Enhancement of brain event-related potentials to speech sounds is associated with compensated reading skills in dyslexic children with familial risk for dyslexia

“…This is in line with previous research reporting that rapid naming ability is relatively persistent until adulthood van den Bos, Zijlstra, & lutje Spelberg, 2002;Vukovic, Wilson, & Nash, 2004). It has also been shown that rapid naming plays a more significant role in more regular languages, like the highly transparent Finnish language, than in opaque languages like English (Bradley & Bryant, 1983;de Jong & van der Leij, 1999;Kirby, Georgiou, Martinussen, & Parrila, 2010;Wimmer, Landerl, & Schneider, 1994). However, the aforementioned associations were seen only in the at-risk group, although the majority of the at-risk children had caught up with the controls in reading speed by adolescence.…”

“…In fact, children learning to read the more transparent languages read rather accurately and fluently at a basic level after the first school year (Seymour et al, 2003), and their phoneme awareness also develops faster (Cossu, 1999). Consequently it has been argued that the predictive ability of rapid naming and phonology on subsequent reading achievement varies in relation to the transparencies of the languages: phonological skills play a more significant role in opaque orthographies, compared to rapid naming in transparent languages (Bradley & Bryant, 1983;de Jong & van der Leij, 1999;Kirby, Georgiou, Martinussen, & Parrila, 2010;Wimmer, Landerl, & Schneider, 1994). However, not all studies support this claim (Landerl et al, 2012).…”

The Role of Phonological Awareness and Rapid Automatized Naming in the Prediction of Reading Difficulties in Portuguese

“…On the other hand, Wolf and her colleagues (e.g., Bowers & Wolf, 1993;Wolf & Bowers 1999) have suggested that RAN indexes processes that are, at least in part, independent of phonology, including attention, visual discrimination, integration of visual information with stored phonological and semantic representations, and access and retrieval of phonological labels. In support of their view, they have shown that defi cits in RAN and PA often dissociate, and that defi cits in RAN can predict literacy diffi culties even in the absence of defi cits in PA. Perhaps more importantly for the purpose of the present study, there is evidence that defi cits in both RAN and PA are often associated with more severe and persistent literacy diffi culties than isolated defi cits in RAN or PA (Kirby et al, 2010). This may be particularly true of orthographies more consistent than the English orthography.…”

“…This relationship has been shown in practically every language in which it has been tested, including Portuguese (e.g., Albuquerque, 2012;Justi & Roazzi, 2012), and regardless of variations in other predictors of literacy ability, such as verbal and non-verbal skills, general processing speed, and phonological awareness (Kirby et al, 2010). Nonetheless, there has been much disagreement regarding the explanation underlying this relationship.…”

“…Since the seminal work of Denckla and Rudel (1976), a large body of research has demonstrated a strong relationship between rapid automatized naming (RAN) and both concurrent and future literacy skills (see Kirby, Georgiou, Martinussen, &Parrila, 2010, andNorton &Wolf, 2012, for reviews). This relationship has been shown in practically every language in which it has been tested, including Portuguese (e.g., Albuquerque, 2012;Justi & Roazzi, 2012), and regardless of variations in other predictors of literacy ability, such as verbal and non-verbal skills, general processing speed, and phonological awareness (Kirby et al, 2010).…”