A sublexical training study for spelling in a biliterate Greek- and English-speaking child

Abstract

RI is an emergent trilingual boy, literate in Greek and English, with difficulties in reading and spelling in both languages. Assessment with non-literacy tests revealed a deficit in phonological ability and in visual memory for sequentially presented characters. RI took part in a training programme that targeted sublexical spelling processes. Post-intervention assessment revealed improvement in reading and spelling in Greek but not in English. Assessments of lexical and sublexical skills showed improvement in nonword spelling and nonword reading for Greek. For English, there was some indication of improvement in nonword reading at delayed post-intervention testing, but no evidence of improvement in nonword spelling. Possible reasons for the difference in outcome for the two languages are considered, including the level of transparency of written Greek and English.

A linguistic awareness intervention targeting spelling and written expression in a 10-year-old dyslexic child

“…In addition, we were able to find that raising awareness of spelling patterns and rules and combining this with phonological training can have a substantial positive impact on spelling and reading (Apel & Masterson, 2001;Treiman & Kessler, 2014;Treiman, 2017). Other researchers in the past, have suggested that training in spelling can generalise to reading (Niolaki et al, 2017;Kohnen et al, 2008) and we were also able to confirm that through our intervention. However, it is also interesting to note the Georgiou, Torppa, Landerl, Desrochers, Manolitsis, de Jong, and Parrila (2020) in a cross-linguistic longitudinal study exploring the bidirectional links between spelling and reading performance in Grade 1 and 2 children did not find a predicted link from spelling to reading, whereas the opposite was observed in our study.…”

“…Georgiou et al utilised younger typically performing children, thus, for children who have already developed good reading and spelling skills, this direction from spelling to reading might not be on a par to the significance of the direction for children who struggle with reading and spelling, like AM. Children with dyslexia will use any support given to strengthen the links between phonology and orthography and vice versa and especially when this is coupled with explicit teaching or morphological rules and orthographic patterns (see for similar results Conrad 2008;Niolaki et al, 2017;Kohnen et al, 2008).…”

“…Exception word reading is considered to be a measure of lexical processes and pseudoword reading a measure of sublexical processes (Bosse, 2015;Hagiliassis, Pratt, & Johnston, 2006). Identifying whether the child relies on lexical or sublexical processes can help the specialist dyslexia teacher tailor an appropriate intervention according to the child's profile (a lexical, sublexical or mixed profile, see single case studies by Niolaki, Terzopoulos & Masterson, 2014;Niolaki, et al, 2017;Broom & Doctor, 1995,a,b;Brunsdon, Hannan, Coltheart, & Nickels, 2002;Kohnen, Nickels, Brunsdon, & Coltheart, 2008;Rowse & Wilshire, 2007).…”

“…For reading, spelling and written expression, the past 50 years of research has indicated that a number of cognitive processes including phonological ability, phonological memory, rapid automatised naming (RAN), visual memory and visual attention span (VAS) differentiate good from poor achievers (see, Niolaki et al, 2014Niolaki et al, , 2017Berninger et al, 2002;Bosse, Tainturier, & Valdois, 2007;Castles & Coltheart, 1993;Ehri, Nunes, Stahl, & Willows, 2001;Georgiou, Torppa, Manolitsis, Lyytinen, & Parrila, 2012;Giles & Terrell, 1997;Goulandris & Snowling, 1991;Landerl et al, 2013;Savage & Frederickson, 2005;Snowling, 2000;Stainthorp, Powell, & Stuart, 2013;Valdois et al, 2003;Wolf & Bowers, 1999). We utilised assessments of these processes to explore whether, for AM, we might identify, for example, a selective phonological deficit, as suggested by the core phonological deficit hypothesis of dyslexia (Hulme & Snowling, 2009;Snowling, 2000), or a lexical deficit, found to be associated in the past with deficient Visual Attention Span (VAS), the visual attention span hypothesis (Bosse et al, 2007;Valdois et al, 2003), or impaired visual memory (Goulandris & Snowling, 1991).…”

“…Indeed, several studies have demonstrated that phonological decoding skills predict exception word reading (Vousden & Ellefson, 2016;Ricketts Davies, Masterson, Stuart, & Duff, 2016). Researchers have argued in the past that although reading and spelling are not mirror-image processes, skills targeted during spelling training can generalise to reading (Niolaki, et al, 2017;Kohnen et al, 2008). However, we must also acknowledge that http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 09/05/2021 14:58:13 | our training included reading of a text linked to AM's interests and practice in speedreading of continuous text at home using a stopwatch (although the main focus of the intervention was on spelling and written composition).…”