From ITPA Language Profiles to the Componential Analysis of Early Reading Processes

Abstract

This paper discusses the role of phonological and morphological processing in learning to read and spell. It is also a personal re ection on the author's research program in these areas for nearly 30 years, moving from language pro les of children with special needs to componential analysis of reading and spelling. Several studies on the effect of morphological processing on reading and spelling are outlined. It is suggested that the trend is towards a cross-linguistic framework and studies of psycholinguistic and neurocognitive levels of reading processes.

A Comparison of Spelling Performance Across Young Adults With and Without Dyslexia

“…Similarly, morphological awareness, or morphophonemic awareness, has been established as a predictor of spelling and other literacy skills (e.g., Allyn & Burt, 1998;Holmes & Castles, 2001;Kemp & Bryant, 2003;Leong, 2002) and an area of weakness in adults with dyslexia (Bruck, 1993;Deacon, Parrila, & Kirby, 2006;Leong, 1999). Morphemes are affixes and other linguistic units that often cannot stand alone (e.g., bound morphemes), despite being more complex than phonemes because they carry meaning and often consist of multiple sounds.…”

Revisiting Multifactor Models of Dyslexia: Do They Fit Empirical Data and What Are Their Implications for Intervention?

“…Although the role of morphological competence in reading has been clearly shown in several studies, [116][117][118][119][120], it is usually described as either a compensatory ability or a protective factor, whereas it could be viewed as one of the skills contributing to reading (as it is often highlighted in the literature about dyslexia in Chinese). As to semantic and syntactic abilities, they are usually considered as being unaltered in dyslexic individuals [46], although finer-grained investigation methods can highlight subtle but evident deficits in these skills as well [121][122][123][124][125].…”