is available in the PDF

Discussion.Abstract non available.

The difficulties in writing among children with dyslexia are equally severe as and certainly more persistent than those they face in reading. In the present study, we compared the performance of 22 elementary school children (3rd and 5th graders) with dyslexia and 22 typically developing children, matched on gender, age, and non-verbal intelligence, on a picture-elicited narrative task. Participants’ written samples were evaluated in terms of productivity, complexity at the sentence and text levels, punctuation and capitalization, spelling accuracy, and text organization (cohesion and coherence). Groups differed chiefly in terms of spelling accuracy and cohesion, as non-dyslexic participants performed better. Qualitative analyses of the narratives produced allowed us to compare further and gain insight into the children’s spelling and text organization abilities in each group. Coherence appeared to be the domain in which children with and without dyslexia demonstrate the greatest similarities. More specifically, all of them face difficulties in controlling the macrostructure of their narratives, namely how the contents of the pictures may be interrelated, an ability that is necessary for the construction of textual meaning. Results are discussed in relation to the limited so far research findings regarding written language production, especially concerning children with dyslexia. Also, directions of future research are indicated, along with implications for educational practice.

In recent years, there is an increased interest in exploring psycho-emotional dimensions of learning. Scholars emphasize the important roles of emotion and motivation, in parallel to cognitive functions, in facilitating performance and achievement at school. Within this framework, the present study aimed at offering preliminary findings regarding reading-related academic emotions and motivation in the middle childhood and pre-adolescence years; relevant evidence in the Greek context remains scarce. The sample consisted of students attending the 3rd (Ν = 85) and 5th (Ν = 76) grades of elementary school. Participants completed (a) the Achievement Emotions Questionnaire – Elementary School, (b) the Achievement Emotions – Questionnaire for Pre-adolescence, (c) the Motivation for Reading Questionnaire as well as (d) the Self-Regulation Questionnaire – Reading Motivation. The analyses revealed a decrease of motivation for pre-adolescents regarding reading in academic or recreational contexts. As far as academic emotions are concerned, the positive emotion of enjoyment for reading also decreased as a function of age. Furthermore, positive emotions were positively related with internal motives in contrast to negative emotions, which also correlated positively yet with external motives. The discussion section highlights the need for continuing this line of research, which could eventually inform the development of age-appropriate interventions in schools, aiming to boost autonomous motivation and positive affect connected with learning.

Η παρούσα έρευνα εξέτασε τις δεξιότητες προφορικού και γραπτού λόγου μαθητών με Ειδικές Εκπαιδευτικές Ανάγκες. Επιπλέον, συσχετίστηκαν τα ατομικά χαρακτηριστικά των εκπαιδευτικών με το γλωσσικό και ακαδημαϊκό προφίλ των μαθητών. Το δείγμα αποτέλεσαν 65 ειδικοί παιδαγωγοί και εκπαιδευτικοί πρωτοβάθμιας εκπαίδευσης. Τα υποκείμενα συμπλήρωσαν το Ερωτηματολόγιο Επικοινωνιακής Ικανότητας για 170 μαθητές, ηλικίας 6 έως 12 ετών. Τα αποτελέσματα έδειξαν ότι χαμηλότερες επιδόσεις στον προφορικό λόγο έχουν οι μαθητές που βρίσκονται στο φάσμα του Αυτισμού, καθώς και με Ειδική Γλωσσική Διαταραχή ή Προβλήματα Λόγου και Ομιλίας. Στο γραπτό λόγο, υψηλότερες επιδόσεις εντοπίστηκαν στους μαθητές του Αυτιστικού φάσματος, συγκριτικά με τις άλλες κατηγορίες μαθητών. Τέλος, διαπιστώθηκε ότι όσοι προετοιμάζονται και ενημερώνονται επαρκώς, έχουν περαιτέρω σπουδές και συνεργάζονται καλά με τους γονείς των μαθητών, οι μαθητές τους εμφανίζουν καλύτερες επιδόσεις στον προφορικό και γραπτό λόγο.