Because multimedia computer programs may provide promising opportunities for the training of initial reading and spelling skills, two small‐scale pilot studies have been conducted with a ...recently‐developed program to examine its efficacy and impact on the motivation of the users. The first study is concerned with the use of the program in kindergarten children (K2). As there is no curriculum for these children, a computer program that is fully adaptive may well boost their independence in learning to read and spell. The main finding in this study was that kindergarten readers learned in up to 16 hours of computer practice as much as is normally attained in the first 3 months of formal reading instruction in the classroom. In the second study, reading‐disabled students with low levels of motivation engaged in computer‐based spelling practice. The most important finding in this study was that the amount of non‐task directed behaviour of those who had practised with the computer significantly decreased during both computer sessions and classroom sessions. In the discussion the way in which computers can be used most efficiently for the instruction of reading and spelling is analysed and suggestions for further research and development are presented.
The effects of a Dutch intervention program for dyslexia are reported. The program was individually tailored, depending on the style of reading, the phase of the learning process, and the ...intermediate results of the treatment. Two groups of participants were involved: (a) a group of children with pure dyslexia (n = 109) and (b) a group that had reading problems but also suffered from cognitive deficits or psychiatric symptoms (n = 29). Scores of reading single words and text at intake and after the intervention were analyzed to assess the efficacy of the intervention program. Furthermore, the effects of pre-intervention variables such as intelligence, reported speech, and language problems and of intervention variables such as the initial level of performance and the duration of the treatment were examined. Both groups benefitted from the intervention, but the children with pure dyslexia profited most. Neither of the groups could catch up the reading deficit. Intelligence and reported speech and language problems did not affect the treatment outcomes. Individual differences in treatment outcome were related to the absolute level of word reading and age at intake. In the group with comorbidity, the intervention program was more successful in relatively younger children. Within this group, the cognitive deficits and types of psychiatric problems were not related to the treatment.
Compares disabled readers and normal beginning readers on requesting help in the form of speech feedback during computer-based word reading. Finds that both disabled readers and beginners were not ...sensitive to word difficulty, and disabled readers remained dependent on the speech feedback. Discusses how profits of the procedures related to word decoding skill and metacognitive monitoring. (RS)
Examined whether children with reading problems could be taught to use multiletter patterns in word decoding. Testing used practiced words and similar and dissimilar nonpracticed words. Found that ...all types of practice were beneficial for the recognition of practiced words transfer to the reading of novel words appeared only when graphemic and orthographic aspects of words were strongly emphasized. (HTH)
Two experiments were conducted in which two ways of dealing with reading mistakes by beginning readers were systematically examined. In one condition (whole word), the whole correct word sound was ...provided when a reading error was made or when the pupil did not read the word within a certain time limit. In another condition (segmented feedback, the correct word sound was produced phoneme-by-phoneme when a reading error or an omission occurred. Learning effects, as measured by differences in reading times and the number of errors made in the pretest and the posttest, were compared with a control condition in which children received no feedback. The two experiments differed in terms of subjects (first graders with 9 months vs. 4 months of reading experience) and the rate of presenting the phonemes in the segmented-feedback condition (the phonemes were presented at a rate of 250 msec vs. 750 msec). The results of both experiments consistently showed a significant learning effect for the whole-word condition with regard to reading accuracy. In the first experiment, we found a reliable difference between the segmented-feedback and the control condition: more was learned in the segmented-feedback than in the control condition. In the second experiment, we found a significant difference between the whole-word condition and the segmented-feedback condition: more was learned in the whole-word condition than in the former condition. Thus, whole-word sound feedback was most helpful in both experiments, and the learning effects of segmented-feedback were intermediate between those of the whole-word condition and the control condition. Along with possible explanations, the results are discussed in terms of their implications for oral reading practice and the appropriate use of synthesized speech in independent computer-based reading exercises.
We found a partial deletion of the clotting factor VIII gene of about 2000 bp, spanning exon 5 and part of intervening sequence 4 and 5 in an isolated patient with severe haemophilia A. The mother of ...the patient, who appeared to be a non-carrier on the basis of coagulation assays and restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis in the family, turned out to be a mosaic for the deletion, not only in her germ cells, but also in various somatic cells. These findings suggest that the mutation is the result of an event in early embryogenesis. If mosaicism for a mutation, either gonadal or somatic, proves to be a common phenomenon in human genetics, it is imperative to reconsider genetic risks for (future) sibs of any apparently new mutant of a hereditary disease.
Investigates the use of speech feedback during independent word reading and its effects on the remediation of reading skills. Finds that speech feedback requests were not dependent on word ...difficulty. Concludes that the most promising way of giving support to the development of reading skills is to present segmented-word sound. (MG)
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