Reading and spelling difficulties in the ELT classroom

ELT Journal ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 71 (3) ◽  
pp. 295-304 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Gerlach
Keyword(s):  
Reading And Spelling ◽  
Reading And Spelling Difficulties

Collecting Words: A Clinical Example of a Morphology-Focused Orthographic Intervention

2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 544-560 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimberly A. Murphy ◽  
Emily A. Diehm
Keyword(s):  
Written Language ◽  
Morphological Knowledge ◽  
English Orthography ◽  
Word Level ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Language Pathology ◽  
The One ◽  
Critical Intervention ◽  
Reading And Spelling ◽  
Reading And Spelling Difficulties

Purpose Morphological interventions promote gains in morphological knowledge and in other oral and written language skills (e.g., phonological awareness, vocabulary, reading, and spelling), yet we have a limited understanding of critical intervention features. In this clinical focus article, we describe a relatively novel approach to teaching morphology that considers its role as the key organizing principle of English orthography. We also present a clinical example of such an intervention delivered during a summer camp at a university speech and hearing clinic. Method Graduate speech-language pathology students provided a 6-week morphology-focused orthographic intervention to children in first through fourth grade ( n = 10) who demonstrated word-level reading and spelling difficulties. The intervention focused children's attention on morphological families, teaching how morphology is interrelated with phonology and etymology in English orthography. Results Comparing pre- and posttest scores, children demonstrated improvement in reading and/or spelling abilities, with the largest gains observed in spelling affixes within polymorphemic words. Children and their caregivers reacted positively to the intervention. Therefore, data from the camp offer preliminary support for teaching morphology within the context of written words, and the intervention appears to be a feasible approach for simultaneously increasing morphological knowledge, reading, and spelling. Conclusion Children with word-level reading and spelling difficulties may benefit from a morphology-focused orthographic intervention, such as the one described here. Research on the approach is warranted, and clinicians are encouraged to explore its possible effectiveness in their practice. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.12290687

scholarly journals Hidden Problems in ESL Learners

1985 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Meara ◽  
Max Coltheart ◽  
Jackie and Masterson
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Writing System ◽  
Teaching English ◽  
Esl Learners ◽  
Reading And Spelling ◽  
Reading And Spelling Difficulties ◽  
Surface Dyslexia ◽  
The Way

This article reports a case of a native speaker of Spanish who has severe reading and spelling difficulties in English. These difficulties resemble those found in surface dyslexia. It is argued that he also has the same difficulties in Spanish, but the regular spelling system of Spanish prevented his difficulties from becoming apparent. We consider the possibility that the writing system of a speaker's L1can strongly influence the way he/she habitually handles words both in the Ll and in an L2, and the implications of this view for teaching English as a second language are discussed.

scholarly journals Second Graders’ Grapho-Motor Skill Learning and Verbal Learning: The Effects of Socio-Educational Factors

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chagit Hollander ◽  
Esther Adi-Japha
Keyword(s):  
Maternal Education ◽  
Verbal Learning ◽  
Motor Task ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Second Graders ◽  
Skill Learning ◽  
Verbal Task ◽  
Low Ses ◽  
Reading And Spelling ◽  
Reading And Spelling Difficulties

Introduction: Children from low socioeconomic status (SES) families, and in particular, those with a lower level of maternal education, show lower fine-motor skills and lower vocabulary scores than their SES peers whose mothers have a higher level of education. Furthermore, low SES children frequently have difficulties in reading and spelling. These difficulties are attributed to deficits in the acquisition of skills through practice, such as those required for developing visual-motor routines, alongside deficits in the intentional acquisition of knowledge, such as those required in verbal learning. The aim of the current study was to test the effect of two background factors: low maternal education (ME) and risk of reading and spelling difficulties on practice-dependent learning of a motor task and intentional learning of a verbal task in second graders from low SES families.Methods: In 2016/17, 134 low-SES second graders with higher and lower ME (95 typical learners and 39 with reading and spelling difficulties) were assessed with (a) the Invented Letter Task (ILT; a grapho-motor skill learning task) across five time-points (initial- and end-training Day 1; initial- and end-training Day 2; and 2-weeks post-training), as well as an ILT transfer task; and (b) The Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT; an intentional word-learning task in which a word list is read to children for five learning trials and is recalled 20 min later).Findings: Lower ME was associated with surplus segments in the performance of the motor task and its transfer to a novel condition as well as with lower recall on the verbal task, but not with the learning of both the motor and the verbal task. Having reading and spelling difficulties affected motor-task accuracy and also the way children learned the task, as evidenced by surplus segments at the beginning of Day 2, which were reduced with further practice.Conclusion: Low ME affected overall performance level. Reading and spelling difficulties resulted in atypical learning of the motor task. Future research on practice-dependent learning in the context of children coming from low SES families should focus on subgroups within this heterogeneous population.

scholarly journals Working Memory Functioning in Children With Poor Mathematical Skills

2015 ◽  
Vol 223 (2) ◽  
pp. 83-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Klesczewski ◽  
Janin Brandenburg ◽  
Anne Fischbach ◽  
Dietmar Grube ◽  
Marcus Hasselhorn ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Third Graders ◽  
Mathematical Skills ◽  
Memory Functioning ◽  
Mathematical Difficulties ◽  
Design Analyses ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Reading And Spelling ◽  
Reading And Spelling Difficulties ◽  
Additional Reading

Previous research on working memory (WM) in children with poor mathematical skills has yielded heterogeneous results, possibly due to inconsistent consideration of the IQ–achievement discrepancy and additional reading and spelling difficulties. To examine the impact of both, the WM of 68 average-achieving and 68 low-achieving third-graders in mathematics was assessed. Preliminary analyses showed that poor mathematical skills were associated with poor WM. Afterwards, children with isolated mathematical difficulties were separated from those with additional reading and spelling difficulties. Half of each group fulfilled the IQ–achievement discrepancy, resulting in a 2 (additional reading and spelling difficulties: yes/no) by 2 (IQ–achievement discrepancy: yes/no) factorial design. Analyses revealed that not fulfilling the IQ–achievement discrepancy was associated with poor visual WM, whereas additional reading and spelling difficulties were associated with poor central executive functioning in children fulfilling the IQ–achievement discrepancy. Therefore, WM in children with poor mathematical skills differs according to the IQ–achievement discrepancy and additional reading and/or spelling difficulties.

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