Search Results (4)

This study analyzed the prevalence and characteristics of low-frequency and rare words, together described as rarer words, in elementary-level texts, examining both narrative and expository materials to assess their vocabulary demands. By mapping the nature of shifts in rarer words across grade levels and text types, this research aimed to better understand the lexical challenges students face as they progress as readers. Analyzing a corpus of 300,000 words from narrative and expository texts at grades 1, 3, and 5, the research employed both quantitative and qualitative methods. Quantitatively, a digital program categorized words into four frequency groups—high, medium, low, and rare—while examining features of word length and age of acquisition that can influence word meaning recognition. Qualitatively, the analysis classified rarer words into 13 lexical categories and assessed their morphological family membership. The findings reveal an increase in total rarer words from 5.7% to 8.7% across grades, alongside a major rise in unique rarer words (32% to 43%). The complexity of features predicting word recognition—word length and age of acquisition—also escalates with grade level. Notably, 23% of rarer words are forms typically not taught in vocabulary instruction, such as proper names, while 76% of rare words belong to morphological families in the high-, medium-, and low-frequency word zones. These results highlight the need for targeted vocabulary instruction that incorporates the complexities of rarer word usage in authentic texts, ultimately aiming to enhance students’ reading comprehension. Full article

Children with developmental dyslexia (DD) often struggle with executive function difficulties which can continue into adulthood if not addressed. This double-blinded randomized clinical trial study evaluated the short-term effects of the Verbal Working Memory-Balance (VWM-B) program on reading-related executive functions, reading skills, and reading comprehension in Persian children with DD. The active control group [12 children with DD with a mean age of 9 years (SD = 0.90)] received training using the single-task VWM program, while the experiment group [15 children with DD with a mean age of 8 years (SD = 0.74)] received training with the dual-task VWM-B program. Both groups received fifteen training sessions, and assessments were conducted before and after the intervention. The groups were homogenized for possible confounders of age, gender, IQ level, and attention level. The study employed separate mixed ANOVA analyses to estimate the impact of training programs on various measured functions. Significant improvements were observed in the outcome measures of backward digit span, text comprehension, verbal fluency, Stroop color–word test and interference, and the reading subtests. Additionally, significant correlations were found between reading skills and backward digit span, text comprehension, verbal fluency, and Stroop variables. In conclusion, the dual-task VWM-B program was found to be more effective than the single-task VWM program in improving selective attention, cognitive inhibition, verbal working memory capacity, information processing speed, naming ability, and lexical access speed. These enhanced executive functions were associated with improved reading skills in children with DD. Full article

Previous studies suggest that lexical competence is an important factor that influences reading skills and spelling accuracy in primary school children. Understanding the relationship between these skills will provide valuable insights to improve reading and writing enhancement and intervention strategies. The aim of this pre-post longitudinal study is to examine the effectiveness of an enhancement program, in which there are activities proposed through a narrative and metacognitive methodology, designed to develop the cognitive processes of lexical acquisition and its effects on reading and writing ability. A total of 74 primary school children (M-age = 7.04 years) participated in the research. They were divided into groups: experimental, which carried out the enhancement, and control groups, which carried out the typical school program. The results show that children who carried out the enhancement obtained higher scores in reading skills, specifically in reading accuracy and text comprehension and spelling accuracy, in comparison with their peers in the control group. These results suggest that strengthening the lexical semantic pathway, as theorized by Coltheart’s two-way model, can lead to improved reading comprehension and diminished reading errors and spelling inaccuracies. Full article

Input is considered one of the most important factors in the acquisition of lexical and grammatical skills. Input has been found to interact with other factors, such as learner cognitive skills and the circumstances where language is heard. Language learning itself has sometimes been found to enhance cognitive skills. Indeed, intensive contact with another language has been found to sometimes boost cognitive skills, even in intensive instructed settings, such as immersion programs (bilingual advantage hypothesis). In this paper, we report a cross-sectional study to assess grammar learning of 79 fourth grade German students learning L2 English in two immersion schools. Verbal teacher input was assessed using the Teacher Input Observation Scheme (TIOS, Items 14–25), and the learners’ L2 grammar comprehension was tested with the ELIAS Grammar Test II. Cognitive skills, including phonological awareness, working memory, and non-verbal intelligence, were determined using standardized assessment procedures. The results show that verbal input quantity and quality correlated significantly with the learners’ L2 grammar comprehension. None of the cognitive skills moderated the effect of input on grammar comprehension but all predicted it independently. The combination of L2 input and phonological awareness was found to be the most robust predictor of L2 grammar comprehension. Full article