George K. Georgiou

Predictors of Word Decoding and Reading Fluency Across Languages Varying in Orthographic Consistency

Very few studies have directly compared reading acquisition across different orthographies. The authors examined the concurrent and longitudinal predictors of word decoding and reading fluency in children learning to read in an orthographically inconsistent language (English) and in an orthographically consistent language (Greek). One hundred ten English-speaking children and 70 Greek-speaking children attending Grade 1 were examined in measures of phonological awareness, phonological memory, rapid naming speed, orthographic processing, word decoding, and reading fluency. The same children were reassessed on word decoding and reading fluency measures when they were in Grade 2. The results of structural equation modeling indicated that both phonological and orthographic processing contributed uniquely to reading ability in Grades 1 and 2. However, the importance of these predictors was different in the two languages, particularly with respect to their effect on word decoding. The authors argue that the orthography that children are learning to read is an important factor that needs to be taken into account when models of reading development are being generalized across languages.

Investigating the Double-Deficit Hypothesis in Greek Findings From a Longitudinal Study

This study examined longitudinally the double-deficit hypothesis in Greek, an orthographically consistent language, following a group of children from kindergarten to Grade 2. Four groups were formed on the basis of two composite scores of phonological and naming-speed criterion measures: a double-deficit group (DD; n = 17), a phonological deficit group (PD; n = 33), a naming deficit group (ND; n = 33), and a control group exhibiting no deficits (CnD; n = 159). The four groups were identified in Grade 1, and they were compared retrospectively in kindergarten only on the criterion measures, and in Grades 1 and 2 on measures of word-reading fluency and accuracy, orthographic processing, and passage comprehension. The effects of verbal and nonverbal ability, age, gender, and parental education were controlled among the groups. Results showed that the DD group exhibited greater dysfunction in reading and orthographic processing compared to the single-deficit and CnD groups. Also, although the three deficit groups were not easily differentiated in kindergarten, their differences were maximized in Grade 1 and retained in Grade 2. The type and severity of reading deficits found in the ND group were mostly associated with naming speed at both the word- and text-reading levels, deficits that persisted across development. The PD group showed mostly deficient orthographic and poor decoding skills that improved across development. Implications of the findings for the double-deficit hypothesis in languages with transparent orthographies are discussed.

Rapid Naming Components and Their Relationship with Phonological Awareness, Orthographic Knowledge, Speed of Processing, and Different Reading Outcomes.

This study examines (a) how rapid automatized naming (RAN) speed components—articulation time and pause time—predict reading accuracy and reading fluency in Grades 2 and 3, and (b) how RAN components are related to measures of phonological awareness, orthographic knowledge, and speed of processing. Forty-eight children were administered RAN tasks in Grades 1, 2, and 3. Results indicated that pause time was highly correlated with both reading accuracy and reading fluency measures and shared more of its predictive variance with orthographic knowledge than with phonological awareness or speed of processing. In contrast, articulation time was only weakly correlated with the reading measures and was rather independent from any processing skill at any point of measurement.

Rapid Naming Speed Components and Early Reading Acquisition

This study examines how rapid automatized naming (RAN) components–articulation time and pause time–develop from kindergarten to the end of first grade and how RAN components are related to different reading measures and to RAN total time. Sixty-two children were administered RAN tasks in kindergarten and at the beginning and end of Grade 1. Performance on color and letter naming was recorded and analyzed. Reading accuracy and reading fluency measures were used as the criterion variables. Results indicated that pause time was highly stable from kindergarten to the end of Grade 1, developed significantly, and was highly correlated with both reading accuracy and reading fluency measures. Articulation time was less stable, did not develop, and was only weakly correlated with the reading measures.

Why is rapid automatized naming related to reading

The objective of this study was to examine why rapid automatized naming (RAN) is related to reading by manipulating processes involved at the input, processing, and output stages of its production. In total, 65 children in Grade 2 and 65 in Grade 6 were assessed on serial and discrete RAN (Digits and Objects), Cancellation, RAN Yes/No, and oral and silent reading fluency. The results of regression analyses indicated that RAN is related to reading because both involve serial processing and oral production of the names of the stimuli.

Revisiting the “Simple View of Reading” in a Group of Children With Poor Reading Comprehension

According to Gough and Tunmers Simple View of Reading, Reading Comprehension = Decoding (D) × Listening Comprehension (C). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the model with a sample of First Nations children, known to have average decoding and listening comprehension but poor reading comprehension. In addition, the authors examined the contribution of naming speed and phonological awareness to reading comprehension beyond the effects of D and C. Consistent with the findings of previous studies, the children exhibited poor reading comprehension despite average performance in decoding and listening comprehension, a finding that challenges the simple view of reading. The results also revealed that an additive model (D + C) fitted the data equally well as a product model (D × C). Neither naming speed nor phonological awareness accounted for unique variance.

RAN Components and Reading Development From Grade 3 to Grade 5: What Underlies Their Relationship?

We examined (a) how rapid automatized naming (RAN) components—articulation time and pause time—predict reading accuracy and reading fluency in Grades 4 and 5, and (b) what cognitive-processing skills (phonological processing, orthographic processing, or speed of processing) mediate the RAN–reading relationship. Sixty children were followed from Grade 3 to Grade 5 and were administered RAN (Letters and Digits), phonological processing, lexical and sublexical orthographic processing, speed of processing, reading accuracy, and fluency tasks. Pause time was highly correlated with reading fluency and shared more of its predictive variance with lexical orthographic processing and speed of processing than with phonological processing. Articulation time also predicted reading fluency, and its contribution was mostly independent from other cognitive-processing skills. Implications for the relationship between RAN and reading are discussed.

Inclusion in Australia What Teachers Say They Need and What School Psychologists Can Offer

This article examines the inclusion-related beliefs and perceived needs of primary teachers in Australia, and proposes ways that school psychologists can help meet these needs. Forced-choice and open-ended survey questions provided quantitative and qualitative data from 162 primary school teachers who were in the midst of implementing an inclusive education program in a large urban/suburban education district in Western Australia. Survey questions focused on beliefs about inclusion, confidence about implementing inclusive practices and attitudes about current and necessary support structures. The majority of teachers perceive benefits (85 percent) as well as drawbacks (95 percent) to teaching in inclusive classrooms. Only 10 percent of teachers noted school psychologists as part of structures that successfully support inclusive practices and only 4 percent of teachers requested additional school psychology time as a support structure needed to boost confidence to teach more inclusively. Qualitative data showed that teachers want more training in specific disabilities as well as additional aide time. We conclude that school psychologists need to be more proactive and involved in providing training, disseminating research, developing behaviour and learning plans and advocating for teachers.

Development of serial processing in reading and rapid naming

Serial rapid automatized naming (RAN) is more strongly related to reading fluency than naming of isolated words, suggesting that the implementation of serial processing may underlie the RAN-reading relationship. In this study, 107 Greek children from Grade 2 and 107 from Grade 6 were tested with discrete and serial naming of digits, objects, and words in 50-item arrays. The correlation between discrete and serial word reading was very high in Grade 2 but only moderate in Grade 6. In confirmatory factor analysis, a reading-naming latent structure fit the Grade 2 data best; in contrast, a serial-discrete structure fit the Grade 6 data. Thus, the superficial longitudinal stability of RAN-reading correlations belies vastly different patterns of interrelations, indicative of changes in the developing cognitive processes underlying both naming and reading. Word fluency tasks in Grade 2 are apparently accomplished largely as a series of isolated individual word naming trials even though multiple individual letters in each word may be processed in parallel. In contrast, specifically serial procedures are applied in Grade 6, presumably via simultaneous processing of multiple individual words at successive levels. It is proposed that this feat requires endogenous control of cognitive cascades.

Rapid naming speed components and reading development in a consistent orthography.

We examined how rapid automatized naming (RAN) components-articulation time and pause time-predict word and text reading fluency in a consistent orthography (Greek). In total, 68 children were followed from Grade 2 to Grade 6 and were assessed three times on RAN (Digits and Objects), phonological awareness, orthographic processing, speed of processing, and reading fluency. Both RAN components were strongly related to reading fluency and, with few exceptions, accounted for unique variance over and above the contribution of speed of processing, phonological awareness, and orthographic processing. The amount of predictive variance shared between the components and the cognitive processing skills varied across time. The implications of these findings for the RAN-reading relationship are discussed.