Reading Development

Abstract
The purpose of this research is to find out the extent to which IAIN Sultan Amai Gorontalo students understand reading and understand the meaning of native speakers, so a deep understanding of the words and sentences spoken by Lingua Marina is needed, and students can also practice listening skills. and also understanding in mastering a sentence in English.
Keywords: reading comprehension, lingua marina

This chapter excerpt describes how to approach sight words and sight word instruction in a reading curriculum.  This is appropriate from emergent level and beginning level readers as well as struggling readers at all levels.  Related video lectures are included at the end.

This study, conducted in the United Arab Emirates, piloted a curriculum to increase early grade reading fluency. A curriculum with enhanced perceptual features, such as font size and spacing was used with grade one students in four schools to detect any significant difference in students' reading speed and reading accuracy after one year. Three hundred forty-five grade one students participated in the pilot-174 in the intervention group and 171 in the control group (ds= 0.33 0.47). At the end of the year, students in the intervention group read more letters and words correctly on average in one minute (p < .01) and in an entire text (p < .01 for letters; p < .001 for words) than those in the control group. These results suggest that curriculum with perceptual enhancement may be useful in facilitating early Arabic reading fluency. ‫اﻟﻤﻠﺨﺺ‬

"Megaleh Temirin (Revealer of Secrets), ed. Jonatan Meir, Three volumes, Mosad Bialik, Jerusalem

Megaleh Temirin (Revealer of Secrets), first published in Vienna in 1819, is one of the sharpest and wittiest pieces of Jewish literature written in the first half of the nineteenth century, and is perhaps the most important piece of Hebrew prose composed before the stories of Mendele Mocher Seforim. A sly and complex story deriding Hasidism and Hasidim, it is told through the correspondence between the beadles of Hasidic courts and contemporary rabbis, and it presents a dark picture of  avaricious frauds and swindlers whose main concern was control over territory and the souls of believers, a goal achieved by beguiling the authorities and attacking all opponents. Perl lends his book a ‘Hasidic’ feel both in its physical design and in its language, presenting a Maskilic version of In Praise of the Ba’al Shem Tov that lays Hasidism bare so that no reader will ever be able to look at that, or any other Hasidic book, in the same way again. In addition to the book’s satiric sting, which would have been enough to bring its readers a dual pleasure, Perl’s hints at contemporary people and places, hidden within anagrams and numerological tricks. With the unraveling of these clues, which also include the use of actual Hasidic sources, the book is a valuable, contemporary view of historical reality. A meticulous reading of the book may therefore open a window on the hidden worlds of Hasidism and the Haskalah at the start of the nineteenth century.


The first volume (Imagined Hasidism) serves as an introduction to the complex satirical writings of Josef Perl of Tarnopol (1773-1839). At the center of the book stands an analysis of the satires, Megaleh Temirin (1819) and Bochen Tzadik (1838), including a systematic treatment of the ‘characters’ in the central works and a discussion of the dozens of manuscripts to be found in the Perl Archive in Jerusalem. Perl’s writings are analyzed here in the fuller context of Hebrew and Yiddish literature in general and Maskilic and Hasidic literature in particular, as well as other polemical writings and governmental records critical of Hasidism. The study thus presents a complex and nuanced picture of the relationship between literature and history, between the anti-Hasidic reports and the more complicated historical reality, and lays the groundwork for further research into the genre of nineteenth-century Maskilic satire.

The second and third volumes (Megaleh Temirin) present for the first time an annotated edition of Megaleh Temirin. It is based on the first edition and the scattered manuscripts and it includes a comparison to its Yiddish translation. The book is accompanied by appendices on its origins and contents, including fundamental treatments of several passages: an explication of the encoded names, the Hasidic sources used by the author, and the variants found in the manuscripts and in the only edition of the book in Yiddish.

The editor of the book, Professor Jonatan Meir, teaches in the Goldstein-Goren Department of Jewish Thought at Ben-Gurion University. He has published several articles on the Haskalah of Eastern Europe, Hasidism, and a number of varied topics in twentieth-century Kabbalah.


Contents

Volume 1  - Critical Edition

Concerning this edition
Key personalities
Sefer Megale Temirin – Critical Edition


Volume 2 - Appendixes:
1. Glossary, Abbreviations, Acronyms
2. Explanation of the Speaking Names
3. Perl’s Hasidic Sources
4. Manuscripts of Sefer Megale Temirin
5. Yiddish Introduction to Sefer Megale Temirin
Bibliographic Abbreviations

-------------------------------
Reviews:
(1) Dan Meron, 2013, ‘Megaleh Temirin’, Kivunim Hadashim 29, 55 pages (Hebrew)
(2) David Assaf, 2014, ‘Hasidim will not Read it but Tear it’, Haaretz, Tarbut ve-Sifrut, p .6 (Hebrew) http://onegshabbat.blogspot.co.il/2014/04/blog-post_18.html
(3) Eliezer Brodt, 2014, 'New book Announcement- Megale Temirin', The Seforim Blog http://seforim.blogspot.co.il/2014/01/new-book-announcement-megale-temirin.html
(4) Matan Hermoni, 2014,  הסבתא המופקרת של הספרות העבריתHaaretz, Sfarim (Hebrew) http://www.haaretz.co.il/.premium-1.2382365
(5) Shinichi Yamamoto, 2015, 山本　伸一, "ヨナタン・メイール編著『想像のハシディズム』", ユダヤ・イスラエル研究　第28号  http://www.waseda.jp/assoc-jsjs/jistudies.html
(6) David Biale and David Assaf,, 2015, 'Revealer Revealed', Jewish Review of Books, pp. 17-21  http://jewishreviewofbooks.com/articles/1454/revealer-revealed/
(7) Hillel Halkin, 2015, "Sex, Magic, Bigotry, Corruption- and the First Hebrew Novel', Mosaic Magazine,  http://mosaicmagazine.com/observation/2015/05/sex-magic-bigotry-corruption-and-the-first-hebrew-novel/
(8) Tomer Persico, 2015, "Interview", Lula'at haEl Blog, http://tomerpersico.com/2015/08/10/meir_perl/

A number of scholars in applied linguistics and reading proficiency have regularly underlined the significance of reading as a prerequisite to academic achievement and success. On that account, numerous studies have attempted to investigate a best course of action into presenting a new way of teaching reading proficiency. The present contribution attempts to investigate the probable effect of employing Harmer's Engage, Study and activate (ESA) elements involved in teaching of tasks in developing reading comprehension of EFL learners. For this reason, two intact groups of each containing 15 Iranian EFL learners from Chabahar Maritime University were enrolled. Prior to the study, before the actual classes were inducted, participants were administered an FCE reading pre-test to ensure both groups equivalence and homogeneity. Consequently, the control group was instructed based on the principles of Grammar-translation method (GTM) and the experimental group was instructed through implementation of ESA elements involved in teaching of reading tasks. Eventually, at the end of the treatment period, a post-test of FCE reading comprehension was administered to investigate their performance in reading comprehension. The results of the statistical analyses, i.e. independent sample t-test showed that the experimental group has significantly outperformed the control group; the learners also showed a positive overall tendency towards the teaching method based on ESA elements .It is expected that the pedagogical implication of the study would make considerable contribution to the works of EFL teachers, Researchers, policy makers and curriculum designers.

Although we spend considerable time and effort teaching students such skills as writing and presenting papers, little to no feedback is given on how to read.  We typically assume that graduate students have mastered this and rarely address it in any thematic way, even though reading well is absolutely crucial to doing good philosophy.  In this paper, I explain the methods I have come up with to read and to mark my readings, which aid both teaching and research.  Those whose scholarly character is not fully formed can try them out to see if they prove useful.  It is entirely possible of course that they bear fruit for no one but me.  Even if this is so, however, scholarship being a largely solitary, private affair, these descriptions may still be of something like an anthropological interest—the study of a scholar in his natural habitat.

Galletly, S. A. (2005). The Galletly Report: Reading-accuracy development, difficulties and instruction in Australia. Report submitted to the Australian National Inquiry into the Teaching of Literacy. CQU: Mackay, Qld.
There are very large amounts of rigorous reading research which have built knowledge on reading-accuracy development and difficulties, and effective reading-accuracy instruction for at-risk readers. There is thus extensive accumulated knowledge on reading-accuracy development, difficulties and instruction which has been available for many years.
Despite its availability, this knowledge is not incorporated in current Australian reading instruction, approximately 30% of Australian readers experience reading difficulties, and there is continuing divisiveness amongst Australian reading professionals on reading development, difficulties and instruction.
This study used the pragmatic paradigm, and was a multiphase longitudinal study using many features of grounded theory. It used critical analysis of the reading research literature to seek appropriate directions to take in order to develop effective Australian classroom reading instruction which would result in at-risk readers successfully mastering reading-accuracy.
The study contributes new knowledge in the following areas:
1. The impacts of English orthographic complexity on reading-accuracy development.
2. Cognitive load aspects of reading-accuracy development, difficulties and instruction.
3. A model of Core Literacy instruction, supporting building of optimal reading-accuracy instruction matched to individual children’s instructional needs.
4. Appraisal of current Australian instructional supports of reading-accuracy instruction.
5. Application of organisational learning theory to Australian reading instruction.
Positive directions for Australian governments, reading professionals, and education systems to move in, to achieve long-lasting effective solutions to current difficulties, and enable development of effective reading-accuracy instruction for at-risk readers.

Megaleh Temirin (Revealer of Secrets), first published in Vienna in 1819, is one of the sharpest and wittiest pieces of Jewish literature written in the first half of the nineteenth century, and is perhaps the most important piece of Hebrew prose composed before the stories of Mendele Mocher Seforim. A sly and complex story deriding Hasidism and Hasidim, it is told through the correspondence between the beadles of Hasidic courts and contemporary rabbis, and it presents a dark picture of  avaricious frauds and swindlers whose main concern was control over territory and the souls of believers, a goal achieved by beguiling the authorities and attacking all opponents. Perl lends his book a ‘Hasidic’ feel both in its physical design and in its language, presenting a Maskilic version of In Praise of the Ba’al Shem Tov that lays Hasidism bare so that no reader will ever be able to look at that, or any other Hasidic book, in the same way again. In addition to the book’s satiric sting, which would have been enough to bring its readers a dual pleasure, Perl’s hints at contemporary people and places, hidden within anagrams and numerological tricks. With the unraveling of these clues, which also include the use of actual Hasidic sources, the book is a valuable, contemporary view of historical reality. A meticulous reading of the book may therefore open a window on the hidden worlds of Hasidism and the Haskalah at the start of the nineteenth century.

The first volume (Imagined Hasidism) serves as an introduction to the complex satirical writings of Josef Perl of Tarnopol (1773-1839). At the center of the book stands an analysis of the satires, Megaleh Temirin (1819) and Bochen Tzadik (1838), including a systematic treatment of the ‘characters’ in the central works and a discussion of the dozens of manuscripts to be found in the Perl Archive in Jerusalem. Perl’s writings are analyzed here in the fuller context of Hebrew and Yiddish literature in general and Maskilic and Hasidic literature in particular, as well as other polemical writings and governmental records critical of Hasidism. The study thus presents a complex and nuanced picture of the relationship between literature and history, between the anti-Hasidic reports and the more complicated historical reality, and lays the groundwork for further research into the genre of nineteenth-century Maskilic satire.

The second and third volumes (Megaleh Temirin) present for the first time an annotated edition of Megaleh Temirin. It is based on the first edition and the scattered manuscripts and it includes a comparison to its Yiddish translation. The book is accompanied by appendices on its origins and contents, including fundamental treatments of several passages: an explication of the encoded names, the Hasidic sources used by the author, and the variants found in the manuscripts and in the only edition of the book in Yiddish.

The editor of the book, Professor Jonatan Meir, teaches in the Goldstein-Goren Department of Jewish Thought at Ben-Gurion University. He has published several articles on the Haskalah of Eastern Europe, Hasidism, and a number of varied topics in twentieth-century Kabbalah.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Contents


Introduction                                                                                     
Scholarship on the anti-Hasidic writings of Josef Perl • Hasidic hagiography and the emergence of satire • Two-fold reading of Perl’s writings and the gematriyot • Satire, literature, and history • ‘Holy Books’ and subversive books

Chapter 1: Josef Perl, Rabbi Nathan of Nemirov, and the ‘Holy Books’
Prayer of the fall of Hasidism and the expungement of their books • Sefer Shivhe ha-Besht and the critique of hagiography • Sefer Sipurey Ma‘asiyot and the parodic response to it • Rabbi Nathan of Nemirov, ‘heretical books’ and the ‘Holy Books’ • In praise of the true Tsaddikim • ‘Laughter of the heretics’: testimonies about the polemics against Sefer Shivhe ha-Besht • ‘Holy Books’, ‘sacredness of hagiography’, and parodies of hagiography • Appendix: Parodic manuscript about an opponent of the ‘Holy Books’ who was reborn as a horse

Chapter 2: Speaking Names in Sefer Megale Temirin                             
Time of the composition of Megale Temirin, censorship, and a note on the Buch • Hasidic books and the emergence of parody • Structure of Sefer Megale Temirin • The Introduction to Sefer Megale Temirin • Main Hasidic courts • The court in Żołyń (Łożne) and the peregrinations of the Buch • The court of Dishpal (Międzyboż), moneyboxes of the Besht, the holy relics • The court in Aklo (Olika) and the ritualized reading of Sefer Shivhe ha-Besht • Function of the footnotes and the parodic hagiography • History of the rabbis – clandestine opponents of Hasidism • The Besht in Tarnopol • Rabbi Meir Jacob of Zasław and the letters from Galicja  • Zaddikim in Galicja • Ciphered stories • ‘Holy Places’: reincarnations of a praise from Sefer Shivhe ha-Besht • The revelation of the Buch and the death of the secretary • ‘Gang of criminals’: another death and an escape to the Land of Israel • The End: Ovadia Ben Petahia and the rabbi of Opatów

Chapter 3: Joseph Perl, Hirsh of Zydaczów, and the Polemics of Gematriyot
Reb Zevi Hirsh of Zydaczów and Hasidism in Galicja • Maskilic opposition to the Zydaczówer • Letters concealed in Sefer Megale Temirin • A manuscript about the misdeeds of the Hasidim • Books, education, and a note on Reb Nathan of Nemirov • Zydaczówer’s ban on the Maskilim and the first Gematria • Parodic letter of Perl and the second Gematria • About the parodic letter and the jumble of gematriyot • Denunciation and expulsions of R Zevi Hirsh • ‘Father of impurity’: Joseph Perl and the writings of the rabbi of Komarno • Final note • Appendix: Parodic letter against the Zydaczówer

Chapter 4: Speaking Names in the Book of Sefer Bohen Zaddik               
The manuscript of Sefer Bohen Zaddik and the difficulties with its publication • Structure of the book • In search for the true Zaddik and the rabbi of Opatów • Travels of Ovadia Ben Petahia between the towns of Galicja • Kromcza Ruska (Zaleszczyki) or the entrance to Galicja • ‘Briks’ (Tarnopol): Rabbi Jehoshua Heschel Babad and the school • ‘Bicik’ (Lemberg) Rabbi Jacob Orenstein and a ban on the Maskilim • ‘Abdera’ (Brody) Rabbi Ephraim Zalman Margaliot and Sefer ha-Zoref • The explanation of the names of the rabbis • Utopia and dystopia • The hidden butcher and his kabbalistic writings • The discovery of the colonies • The image of the disciples of the Gaon and the ‘true Hasid’ • ‘The solution for the East’ or heterotopia •  The will to flee and the emissary

Chapter 5: The Imaginary Influence of Sefer Megale Temirin                     
The myth about the success of the book • Pamphlet Megale Sod • The manuscript about the misdeeds of the Hasidim • Dialogues about Sefer Megale Temirin • For whom Sefer Megale Temirin was intended and who read it • Note concerning Sefer Megale Temirin in Yiddish • Influence real and imagined • Was Sefer Shivhe ha-Besht written by a parodist? • Temerl Bergson and Sefer Megale Temirin • Writ of defense of Hasidism • Sefer Megale Temirin and the Hebrew literature • Appendix: writ of defense of Joseph Judah Lob Sossnitz

Afterword: Note on the Anti-Hasidic Outlook                                       

Bibliographic Abbreviations   

Reviews:
(1) Dan Meron, 2013, ‘Megaleh Temirin’, Kivunim Hadashim 29, 55 pages (Hebrew)
(2) David Assaf, 2014, ‘Hasidim will not Read it but Tear it’, Haaretz, Tarbut ve-Sifrut, p .6 (Hebrew) http://onegshabbat.blogspot.co.il/2014/04/blog-post_18.html
(3) Eliezer Brodt, 2014, 'New book Announcement- Megale Temirin', The Seforim Blog http://seforim.blogspot.co.il/2014/01/new-book-announcement-megale-temirin.html
(4) Matan Hermoni, 2014,  הסבתא המופקרת של הספרות העבריתHaaretz, Sfarim (Hebrew) http://www.haaretz.co.il/.premium-1.2382365
(5) Shinichi Yamamoto, 2015, 山本　伸一, "ヨナタン・メイール編著『想像のハシディズム』", ユダヤ・イスラエル研究　第28号  http://www.waseda.jp/assoc-jsjs/jistudies.html
(6) David Biale and David Assaf,, 2015, 'Revealer Revealed', Jewish Review of Books, pp. 17-21  http://jewishreviewofbooks.com/articles/1454/revealer-revealed/
(7) Hillel Halkin, 2015, "Sex, Magic, Bigotry, Corruption- and the First Hebrew Novel', Mosaic Magazine,  http://mosaicmagazine.com/observation/2015/05/sex-magic-bigotry-corruption-and-the-first-hebrew-novel/
(8) Tomer Persico, 2015, "Interview", Lula'at haEl http://tomerpersico.com/2015/08/10/meir_perl/
(9) Ariel Evan Mayse, 'Review', Jewish History (2015)ת  http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10835-015-9245-2
(10) Review - Gal-Ed

Galletly, S. A., & Knight, B. A. (2013). Because trucks aren't bicycles: Orthographic complexity as a disregarded variable in reading research. Australian Educational Researcher, 40(2), 173-194.
Severe enduring reading- and writing-accuracy difficulties seem a phenomenon largely restricted to nations using complex orthographies, notably Anglophone nations, given English’s highly complex orthography (Geva and Siegel, 2000; Landerl et al.,1997; Share, 2008; Torgesen and Davis, 1996; Vellutino, 2000). They seem rare in transparent orthography nations such as Finland, which use highly regular spelling and few spelling rules beyond letter sounds, and most children read and write with impressive accuracy by the end of Year 1 (Holopainen et al., 2001; Seymour et al., 2003; Spencer and Hanley, 2003; 2004). Orthographic complexity has strong and diverse impacts on reading, writing and academic development (Aro, 2004; Galletly and Knight, 2004; 2011). Despite these strong effects, orthographic complexity is rarely included as a variable in reading research studies considering evidence from both Anglophone (complex orthography) and transparent-orthography readers, or included in discussion of factors influencing results. This paper discusses the differences in reading-accuracy development and difficulties evidenced in studies of Anglophone (complex-orthography) and transparent-orthography readers. It then explores instances of orthographic complexity not being considered in studies where it may have impacted results. This disregarding of orthographic complexity as a variable in research studies appears an oversight, one likely to be contributing to continuing confusion on many aspects of reading and writing development in both healthy- and low-progress readers. Needs for research in these areas are discussed.

Phonological decoding skill has been proposed to be key to successful sight word learning (orthographic learning). However, little is known about how children with phonological dyslexia, who have impaired phonological decoding, acquire sight words, or why children with surface dyslexia can have normal phonological decoding skill yet impaired sight word acquisition. This study addressed this issue by investigating orthographic learning in two 10-year-old children: S.D., with a reading profile of surface dyslexia, and P.D., with a reading profile of phonological dyslexia. They participated in two experiments exploring the role of phonological decoding and paired-associate learning in orthographic learning. The results showed that, first, P.D.'s orthographic learning ability was better than S.D.'s, despite her phonological decoding skills being poorer. Second, S.D. showed impaired paired-associate learning abilities while P.D. did not. Overall, the results indicate that phonological decoding ability does not translate directly to orthographic learning ability, and that paired-associate learning ability may also be associated with success in orthographic learning.

It has been well-documented that combined phonological awareness and word-identification training provide the most effective way of strengthening reading ability in children with Reading Disabilities (RDs). With that said, these findings are based on the assumption that all children with RDs represent a homogenous population and react similarly to specific intervention approaches. Recognizing the heterogeneity within the RD population, preliminary research has surfaced which challenges the combined approach in favor of techniques which address the relative deficit in either phonological or word-discrimination (orthographic) processes. Continuing in this line of research, a study was conducted to examine the effectiveness of an orthographic-based intervention design to improve reading ability for children with orthographic skill deficits. The study took place at a private, not-for-profit, school designed for children with a variety of Learning Disabilities. Through utilizing a single-case multiple-baseline research design, 12 children with RDs in grades 3 through 6 (3 students per grade) were matched on reading ability and intelligence prior to beginning the intervention. The results of this study will be discussed in relation to the importance of assessing and intervening for specific reading difficulties within RD populations.

Reading comprehension instruction is considered one of the major challenges that most English language teachers and students encounter. Therefore, providing a systematic, explicit, and flexible model to teaching reading comprehension strategies could help resolve some of these challenges and increase the possibility of teaching reading comprehension, particularly in language learners' classrooms. Consequently, the purpose of this paper is to provide a model to teach reading comprehension strategies in language learning classrooms. The proposed instructional model is divided into three systematic phases through which strategies are taught before reading, during reading, and after reading. Each phase is explained and elaborated using recommended models for teachers. Finally, suggested considerations to consolidate this model are provided.

This is the Complete Publication of 'Reading in No Time', co-written by Dr. Ewald Oersted and Edouard d'Araille, originally published in 2000 as 'The Compleat Reader'. It is a comprehensive course in reading improvement skills with twenty-four test passages and a 'readometer' with which students of the program can gauge their progress. The first part of the course looks at the reading process itself; part two deals with eradicating bad reading habits (that decrease speed and comprehension); part three deals with 'Visual Reading' skills - to incrrease overall reading ability by over 200%; and part four provides guidance in a group of additional skills (skimming, scanning etc.) so as to be able to even further improve reading abilities. All of the timed reading tests are accompanied by comprehension tests so that the progress of the reader through the course can be carefully monitored from beginning to end. This is the adult edition of 'Reading in No Time' as a couple of the passages included are not suitable for under-18s. This volume is available for a limited time only on 'Academia.Edu' by the kind permission of the publishers - Living Time™ Media International.

The present study investigated whether orthographic depth can increase the bias towards multi-letter processing in two reading-related skills: visual attention span (VAS) and rapid automatized naming (RAN). VAS (i.e., the number of visual elements that can be processed at once in a multi-element array) was tested with a visual 1-back task and RAN was measured in a serial letter naming task that introduced a novel manipulation (some letter sequences formed frequent words). Spanish-Basque and French-Basque bilingual children were tested at early (30 children in 1st and 2nd grade), and more advanced (24 children in 3rd, 4th and 5th grade) stages of reading acquisition to investigate whether they would be differently biased towards multi-letter processing due to reading in two shallow (Spanish, Basque), or a deep and a shallow (French, Basque) orthography. The French-Basque bilinguals, who read in a deep orthography, were expected to rely on larger orthographic units in reading and thus to be more biased towards multi-letter processing in both tasks. This was expected to be reflected by: (a) a uniform distribution of attention across letter strings in the VAS task, and (b) a greater interference of the embedded words on letter-by-letter naming in RAN, leading to longer naming times. The expected group differences were observed in the more advanced readers, with French-Basque bilinguals showing a wider distribution of VAS across letter strings and longer naming times in RAN. The article can be found at: http://rdcu.be/yvtA

Developmental dyslexia is a language-based learning disability with frequently associated non-linguistic sensory deficits that have been the basis of various perception-based theories. It remains an open question whether the underlying deficit in dyslexia is a low level impairment that causes speech and orthographic perception deficits that in turn impedes higher phonological and reading processes, or a high level impairment that affects both perceptual and reading related skills. We investigated by means of contrast detection thresholds two low-level theories of developmental dyslexia, the magnocellular and the fast temporal processing hypotheses, as well as a more recent suggestion that dyslexics have difficulties in sequential comparison tasks that can be attributed to a higher-order deficit. It was found that dyslexics had significantly higher thresholds only on a sequential, but not a spatial, detection task, and that this impairment was found to be independent of the inter-stimulus interval. We also found that the poor performance of dyslexics on the temporal task was dependent on the size of the required memory trace of the image rather than on the number of images. Our findings do not support the magnocellular theory and challenge the fast temporal deficit hypothesis. We suggest that dyslexics may have a higher order, dual mechanism impairment. We also discuss the clinical implications of our findings.

We investigated whether the link between visual attention span and reading is modulated by the presence of morphemes. Second and fourth grade children, with Basque as their first language, named morphologically complex and simple words and pseudowords, and performed a task measuring visual attention span. The influence of visual attention span skills on reading was modulated by the presence of morphemes in naming speed measures. In addition, fourth grade children with a larger visual attention span showed larger lexicality effects (pseudoword-word reading times) only for morphologically simple stimuli. Results are interpreted as support for the notion that both transparency and morphological complexity are important factors modulating the impact of visual attention span skills on reading. Keywords: morphological processing, reading development, visual attention span

The paper deals with the automatized analysis of reading strategies in Russianspeaking
children. The study2 is based on the individual longitudinal data of 40 typically
developing monolingual subjects who were at the very initial stages of reading development.
The subjects were assessed three times by a set of reading tasks which included speech tokens’
repetition and letter, bigram, word, and non-word reading. During the analysis, vocal reaction
time, pronunciation time, total reading time, errors’ rate, Index of simultaneity syllable recoding,
and ISSG interstimuli variability were evaluated and compared within the samples and among
the three assessments. Our results enabled us to divide the sample into three subgroups
according to the reaction time and the pronunciation time. Moreover, two different strategies of
mastering reading skills were established; they highlighted a) vocabulary-based and b)
phonetic-based approaches to reading development.

A growing number of studies report links between nonlinguistic rhythmic abilities and certain linguistic abilities, particularly phonological skills. The current study investigated the relationship between nonlinguistic rhythmic processing, phonological abilities, and early literacy abilities in kindergarteners. A distinctive aspect of the current work was the exploration of whether processing of different types of rhythmic patterns is differentially related to kindergarteners' phonological and reading-related abilities. Specifically, we examined the processing of metrical versus non-metrical rhythmic patterns, that is, patterns capable of being subdivided into equal temporal intervals or not (Povel & Essens, 1985). This is an important comparison because most music involves metrical sequences, in which rhythm often has an underlying temporal grid of isochronous units. In contrast, nonmetrical sequences are arguably more typical to speech rhythm, which is temporally structured but does not involve an underlying grid of equal temporal units. A rhythm discrimination app with metrical and nonmetrical patterns was administered to 74 kindergarteners in conjunction with cognitive and preliteracy measures. Findings support a relationship among rhythm perception, phonological awareness, and letter-sound knowledge (an essential precursor of reading). A mediation analysis revealed that the association between rhythm perception and letter-sound knowledge is mediated through phonological awareness. Furthermore, metrical perception accounted for unique variance in letter-sound

We investigated the longitudinal predictors of reading and spelling of words and pseudowords with different syllabic structures in a shallow orthography. Participants were 47 Spanish-speaking children from kindergarten to second grade. Letter knowledge, phonological awareness, and rapid automatized naming were evaluated at the beginning and at the end of the school year, and reading and spelling skills were assessed at the beginning of the following year. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed that letter knowledge was the strongest predictor of reading and spelling words and pseudowords with simple syllables after 6 and 12 months. Phonological awareness predicted reading and spelling stimuli with complex syllables. Mediation analysis confirmed the mediator role of phonological awareness in the relationship between letter knowledge and reading and spelling with complex syllabic stimuli. This research provides longitudinal evidence that the syllabic structure determines the role of letter knowledge and phonological awareness in reading and spelling skills in Spanish. Understanding the knowledge that is key to learning to read and write may lead to improving methods and materials for literacy in Spanish language.

Australian results on PISA 2000 (Program for International Student Assessment; OECD, 2002) show polarised reading achievement, with large proportions of strong readers (>40%) but also large proportions of weak readers (>30%). From the results it would seem that current instruction meets many readers’ needs, but not those of this lower third. With reading accuracy not emphasised in Australian reading instruction in recent decades, reading accuracy diffi culties may underlie this weak achievement. This paper discusses issues that underlie the optimising of reading instruction in Australia, the importance of applied research at school level in resolving these issues, and the merits of use of rigorous reading accuracy tests in this research. The Test of Word Reading Efficiency (TOWRE) is discussed as a potential test for gathering such evidence and data, and the fi ndings from testing of 1200 students in one Queensland region are discussed.

This study explored use of the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) subtests in an Australian context, as part of a larger study of reading accuracy achievement. Subjects were 398 Queensland (Qld) students in Years 1, 2, and 3, who were tested on DIBELS reading accuracy subtests at mid-year and end-year test points in 2005. Alignment with DIBELS USA benchmark cutpoints was poor, probably due to schooling differences, as Qld starts formal reading instruction a year later than the USA. In discussion with the DIBELS authors, it was decided to develop interim local Qld benchmarks from the data, to be used by schools and researchers until longitudinal research establishes more valid benchmark cutpoints. The characteristics and advantages of DIBELS are discussed.

Effective metacognition powerfully supports actioning of complex tasks. The complexity of English orthography makes mastery of reading accuracy (word identifi cation) an extremely complex task. At-risk readers thus are likely to benefi t greatly from effective metacognition of reading accuracy. Optimal reading-accuracy instruction involves development of conceptual, procedural and conditional knowledges, evidenced in concept and skills development, strategy usage and metacognitive actioning. It is considered likely that metacognition of reading accuracy and metacognition of cognitive processing both support reading-accuracy mastery in children with reading disability. Student metacognition (baseline and learned) and the role of instructional scaffolding as metacognitive supports are considered integral aspects of skill mastery and generalisation. Needs for research on metacognition in reading-accuracy development are discussed.

Learning to pronounce words: The limitations of analogies Beginning readers often encounter words that they have not seen before. If children skipped over unfamiliar words or if they asked adults how to pronounce each new word, they would make little progress in developing fluent reading skills. To become successful readers, children must learn how to identify unfamiliar words on their own. There are at least three ways in which children might recognize a new word. First, children might use the word's context to guess its identity. This strategy, however, does not always work. The words that can be predicted from context tend to be short and common. Often, they are words that children already know. The words that children do not know-the longer and less common words-are less predictable from context (Gough, Juel, & Griffith, 1992; Jorm & Share, 1983). A second way in which children can identify a new word is to generate its pronunciation through the use of grapheme-phoneme rules.-Using these rules, a child would parse the printed word beak into the graphemes b, ea, and k. The child would assign the phoneme /b/ to the grapheme b, the phoneme /i/ to the grapheme ea, and the phoneme /k/ to the grapheme k. Blending these phonemes together, the child would generate the pronunciation /bik/. However, the grapheme-phoneme rules of English have exceptions: ea is pronounced as /e/ in steak, for instance. A third method of identifying new words, and the one on which we focus in the present study, involves orthographic units larger than single graphemes. According to many researchers (e.g., Glushko, 1979; Goswami & Bryant, 1990; Marsh, Friedman, Welch, & Desberg, 1981; Rayner & Pollatsek, 1989), readers can infer the pronunciation of a new word from the pronunciation of a known word with a similar spelling pattern. This process has been referred to as use of analogy. For example, the child who does not know the word beak may be able to identify it if he or she knows how to read words with similar spelling patterns , such as peak or bean. The child can pronounce the unfamiliar word beak because it shares ortho-graphic units with known words. Research on word recognition by analogy has examined the degree to which children use this strategy and the nature of the orthographic units involved. It appears that children use the analogy strategy spontaneously, without explicit tuition. Evidence for this position comes from a series of elegant studies conducted by Goswami (1986, 1988, 1991). Goswami's results suggest that beginning readers can sometimes decipher new words because of their similarity to known words. Moreover, children make analogies more easily when words share rimes (i.e., vowel + final consonant or VC units) than when words share initial consonant + vowel (CV) sequences. In Goswami's studies, a child is typically shown a word such as beak and is told what it says but is given no further training on this word. The child is then shown a series of other words

Recent research suggests that visual–verbal paired associate learning (PAL) may tap a crossmodal associative learning mechanism that plays a distinct role in reading development. However, evidence from children with dyslexia indicates that deficits in visual–verbal PAL are strongly linked to the verbal demands of the task. The primary aim of this study was to disassociate the role of modality and verbal demand in driving the PAL–reading relationship. To do so, we compared performance across four PAL mapping conditions: visual–verbal, verbal–verbal, visual–visual and verbal–visual. We reasoned that if crossmodal mapping demand accounts for the PAL–reading relationship, both visual–verbal PAL and verbal–visual PAL should exhibit significant relationships with reading ability. The results were incompatible with the crossmodal
hypothesis. Only tasks requiring verbal output (visual–verbal PAL and verbal–verbal PAL) significantly correlated with reading ability. In addition, visual–verbal PAL and verbal–verbal PAL were well represented by a latent ‘‘verbal output PAL’’ factor. Structural equation modeling showed that this factor fully accounted for the PAL– reading relationship; visual–verbal PAL did not add anything to the prediction of reading above and beyond this latent factor. The results are interpreted according to an alternative verbal account of the PAL–reading relationship.

Over the years, persistently low achievement levels have led scholars to question whether reading skill development is different for deaf readers. Research findings suggest that in order for deaf students to become proficient readers, they must master the same fundamental abilities that are well established for hearing learners, regardless of the degree of hearing loss or communication modality used (e.g., spoken or signed). The simple view of reading (SVR), which hypothesizes the critical role both language abilities and phonological skills play in development of reading comprehension, provides a model for understanding the reading process for a wide range of students and has the potential to shed light on the challenges deaf students have historically experienced in achieving age-appropriate outcomes. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to review the components of the SVR and use this conceptual model as the basis for exploring and discussing both historical and current research evidence in reading and deafness, with a particular focus on phonological skills. Recommendations for future research and practice based on the existing body of literature will also be provided.

Resumen El impacto que tradicionalmente ha tenido la teoría de la automaticidad en la explicación del desarrollo lector, junto al auge de la preocupación por que los escolares adquieran una mayor fluidez lectora, ha provocado una proliferación de estudios que han puesto su foco de atención en la velocidad de los lectores, pero que, por lo general, se han olvidado de interpretar qué papel cumple la prosodia. El presente trabajo tiene por objetivo explicar cómo afecta, por un lado, el tiempo que 72 escolares de primaria provinientes de dos escuelas públicas de Cataluña invierten en leer un relato adecuado a su edad y, por el otro, la calidad de su prosodia a los resultados de comprensión. Se utiliza, para ello, un método cuantitativo correlacional. Los resultados permiten concluir que son las estrategias prosódicas (y no la duración de la lectura) las que afectan a la calidad de la comprensión. Palabras clave: Fluidez, Prosodia, Velocidad, Comprensión, Lectura Resumo O impacto que a teoria da automaticidade tem tradicionalmente na explicação do desenvolvimento do leitor, juntamente com o aumento da preocupação de que os alunos adquiram maior fluência na leitura, causou uma proliferação de estudos que focaram a atenção na velocidade dos leitores, mas que, em geral, se esqueceram de interpretar qual o papel da prosódia. O objetivo deste artigo é explicar como isso afeta, por um lado, o tempo em que 72 alunos do ensino fundamental de duas escolas públicas da Catalunha investem na leitura de uma história apropriada à sua idade e, por outro, na qualidade de sua prosódia aos resultados da compreensão. Um método correlacional quantitativo é usado para isso. Os resultados permitem concluir que são as estratégias prosódicas (e não a duração da leitura) que afetam a qualidade da compreensão.

English has a highly complex orthography i.e., myriad spelling patterns. Until recently, it has been assumed children in other countries have the same reading difficulties that English-text readers experience. Recent crosslinguistic research on reading-accuracy development is indicating that this is definitely not the case, and that reading-accuracy difficulties are largely an English phenomena.  This article discusses English orthographic complexity, and crosslinguistic differences in reading development between English-text readers and readers of European languages with transparent-orthographies, such as Welsh, Italian and Finnish. It then explores different dimensions of orthographic advantage, including its impact on national competitive advantage, the need to consider orthographic complexity in reading-accuracy instruction, and needs for crosslinguistic research on reading-accuracy development and instruction.

PURPOSE:

Dyslexia is a language-based learning disability characterized by difficulties with reading, spelling, and writing. Persons with dyslexia often have deficits in processing rapid temporal sensory information. There is also evidence of sensorimotor deficits in persons with dyslexia. Whether these deficits include ocular motor problems is still an open question. Some previous studies have shown an increased saccadic latency in dyslexics, whereas others have not reproduced this finding. The purpose of the present study was to investigate saccadic latency in young adults with dyslexia during the double-step paradigm, a task that requires rapid sequential visual information processing and saccade generation. The study hypothesis was that dyslexics have a longer saccadic latency in the second orthogonal saccade, a task that nondyslexics parallel process and perform rapidly.
METHODS:

Eight students with dyslexia and eight age-matched control subjects participated in the study. Their eye movements were monitored with the scleral search coil technique in simple saccade trials and in the double-step paradigm. The second saccade was either orthogonal or colinear to the first. Intersaccadic interval and latency were calculated for the second saccade.
RESULTS:

No difference in saccadic latency was found for colinear second saccades; however, dyslexics had significantly longer latencies for orthogonal second saccades. This included a subset of subjects who had longer latencies for orthogonal than for colinear saccades.
CONCLUSIONS:

The findings indicate that under certain conditions, when the demand for rapid visual information processing is high and a rapid saccade sequence is required, some persons with dyslexia show ocular motor deficits manifested by longer saccadic latencies.

Galletly, S. A., & Knight, B. A. (2011). Differential disadvantage of Anglophone weak readers with language and cognitive processing weakness. Australasian Journal of Special Education, 35(1), 72-96.
The highly regular orthographies (spelling systems) of many nations expedite literacy development, and their children experience a rapid transition from early literacy (learning to read and write) to sophisticated literacy (reading and writing to learn). In contrast, English orthographic complexity impedes literacy development, particularly for weak readers (Galletly & Knight, in press a, b). This article proposes a model of differential disadvantage of Anglophone weak readers due to cognitive processing weakness and the high cognitive load of learning to read and write English. The disadvantage is differential, first with Anglophone weak readers disadvantaged compared to weak readers in nations with regular orthographies, and second, with subgroups of Anglophone weak readers being more disadvantaged, depending on their levels of language skills and cognitive processing efficiency. Anglophone weak readers with pre-existing language disorder experience the highest levels of differential disadvantage. Weak cognitive processing and automisation in the face of continuing high cognitive load seems a basis for them frequently showing comorbidities, with features of multiple disorder categories (Catts, Adlof, Hogan, & Ellis Weismer, 2005), including autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), auditory processing disorder, motor weakness, and social and behavioural impairment. The model is a useful framework for considering the instructional needs of weak readers. Areas where research is needed for building ways forward in optimising literacy development is discussed.