Prosody and Reading in Dyslexic Children

Abstract

This study investigates the role of prosody in the reading aloud of dyslexic children. Ten dyslexic and 30 non-dyslexic control children (mean age 9.5 and 9.9 years, respectively) were recorded when reading a text of appropriate level and subsequently asked to retell it and tested on its comprehension. The data were analysed acoustically by the WinPitchPro programme. The temporal and intonational processing of reading of the two groups were contrasted and revealed unusual characteristics of the dyslexic group with respect to what follows: (1) temporal processing (reduced speeds of reading and articulation and alterations in the number and duration of pauses); (2) variation of the fundamental frequency (limited ability to vary the melody at the phrasal and phonemic level); and (3) vowel stress patterning (difficulty in producing typical stress patterns, and of marking the pre-stressed and stressed syllables). Fulfilling its objective, the present study promotes advances in the understanding of the functioning of prosody in reading aloud in dyslexia.

Caracterização da fluência de leitura em escolares do Ensino Fundamental II

“…Studies undertaken as a reference confirm that there are strong links between reading fluency, decoding and comprehension (2)(3)(4)12,22,23) . When reading rates are slowed down, working memory is impaired resulting in poorer understanding of the text read and reducing levels of reading fluency and comprehension, which in turn lead to lower academic performance (24,25) .…”

“…A fluent reader can read quickly and recognise words automatically and read with correct phrasing and pronunciation, i.e. the ability to read using appropriate intonation and appropriate tonic markings for words and phrases (1)(2)(3)(4)(5) .…”

Parâmetros prosódicos de leitura em escolares do segundo ao quinto ano do ensino fundamental

“…Studies have shown that in the comparison of reading aloud between dyslexic children and a control group, considering the prosodic parameters of F0 (maximum, minimum, tessitura, and reading speed), typical readers produce melodic variations and reading speed more appropriately than children with dyslexia (11,12) .…”

Metodologias de análise da velocidade de fala: um estudo piloto

“…This study sought to describe the performance of fluent adults in different speech rate measures. Studies show that the analysis of speech rate has proven valuable in evaluating individuals with typical and altered speech development (1,2,15,16,(19)(20)(21)(22)(23) . However, there is no consensus on the best methodology for assessing speech rate, which should be associated with the clinician's objective.…”

“…These temporal measures and variables were used in further studies of the reading performance of adults (14) , of the reading performance of children (15) , of the reading performance of children with dyslexia (16) , in the speech performance of military commanders (17) , in the speech performance of stutterers and fluent individuals (5,18) , among others.…”