George Manolitsis

Is rapid automatized naming related to reading and mathematics for the same reason(s)? A follow-up study from kindergarten to Grade 1.

We examined (a) what rapid automatized naming (RAN) components (articulation time and/or pause time) predict reading and mathematics ability and (b) what processing skills involved in RAN (speed of processing, response inhibition, working memory, and/or phonological awareness) may explain its relationship with reading and mathematics. A sample of 72 children were followed from the beginning of kindergarten until the end of Grade 1 and were assessed on measures of RAN, general cognitive ability, speed of processing, attention, working memory, phonological awareness, reading, and mathematics. The results indicated that pause time was the critical component in both the RAN-reading and RAN-mathematics relationships and that it shared most of its predictive variance in reading and mathematics with speed of processing and working memory. Our findings further suggested that, unlike the relationship between RAN and reading fluency in Grade 1, there is nothing in the RAN task that is uniquely related to math.

Examining the Developmental Dynamics between Achievement Strategies and Different Literacy Skills.

We examined the developmental dynamics between task-avoidant behavior and different literacy outcomes, and possible precursors of task-avoidant behavior. Seventy Greek children were followed from Grade 4 until Grade 6 and were assessed every year on reading fluency, spelling, and reading comprehension. The teachers assessed the children’s achievement strategies at all testing times. In addition, in Grade 4, the children responded to a task value questionnaire and the parents reported their beliefs and expectations about their children’s academic performance. The results revealed that task avoidance was reciprocally related only to reading comprehension. In addition, only parental beliefs predicted task avoidance. These findings complement those of previous studies in transparent orthographies and suggest that the role of task avoidance on literacy development depends on the time when the literacy skills are assessed and the type of literacy outcome.

The Longitudinal Contribution of Early Morphological Awareness Skills to Reading Fluency and Comprehension in Greek

The purpose of this longitudinal study was to examine the role of three morphological awareness (MA) skills (inflection, derivation, and compounding) in word reading fluency and reading comprehension in a relatively transparent orthography (Greek). Two hundred and fifteen (104 girls; Mage = 67.40 months, at kindergarten) Greek children were followed from kindergarten (K) to grade 2 (G2). In K and grade 1 (G1), they were tested on measures of MA (two inflectional, two derivational, and three compounding), letter knowledge, phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming (RAN), and general cognitive ability (vocabulary and non-verbal IQ). At the end of G1 and G2, they were also tested on word reading fluency and reading comprehension. The results of hierarchical regression analyses showed that the inflectional and derivational aspects of MA in K as well as all aspects of MA in G1 accounted for 2–5% of unique variance in reading comprehension. None of the MA skills predicted word reading fluency, after controlling for the effects of vocabulary and RAN. These findings suggest that the MA skills, even when assessed as early as in kindergarten, play a significant role in reading comprehension development.

How Effective Is Morphological Awareness Instruction on Early Literacy Skills

The present study examined whether morphological awareness instruction in Kindergarten classrooms contributes to the improvement of young children’s early literacy skills (e.g., morphological and phonological awareness, print knowledge, vocabulary). Two quasi-experimental studies were implemented. Study 1 consisted of a treatment and a control group of young children and Study 2 consisted of two treatment groups and a control group. In both studies, the treatment groups received a 5 week intervention scheme with several morphological awareness activities. In Study 2, a second treatment group received an intervention scheme with activities which combined morphological and phonological awareness. Both studies’ findings showed that the treatment groups which received morphological awareness instruction or a blended instruction on morphological and phonological awareness improved the morphological awareness abilities more than the control group. There were small or no transfer effects on the improvement of print knowledge and vocabulary. However, Study 2 showed that phonological awareness abilities improved only in the treatment group which received the blended instruction. According to the present findings, the teaching of morphemes in Kindergarten is beneficial for morphological awareness improvement, but it has to be combined with other early literacy activities in order to have broader effects on young children’s literacy development.

Is Intelligence Relevant in Reading “μάνα” and in Calculating “3 + 5”?

We examined if intelligence—operationalized in terms of cognitive processes—could predict early reading and mathematics ability. Eighty-three Greek children were followed from the beginning of kindergarten until the end of grade 1. At the beginning of kindergarten, they were assessed on Planning, Attention, Simultaneous, and Successive (PASS) processes, as well as on phonological awareness and visuo-spatial working memory. At the end of kindergarten and grade 1, they were assessed on reading and mathematics. The results indicated that successive processing and planning were unique predictors of reading ability. In contrast, none of the PASS processes accounted for unique variance in mathematics. Taken together, these findings suggest that in very young children the contribution of PASS cognitive processes is rather domain-specific. The PASS processes are less likely to contribute to a skill (i.e., mathematics) that has not yet been taught adequately at school and requires rote memorization of facts (i.e., addition).

Effects of Context and Facial Expression on Imitation Tasks in Preschool Children with Autism.

The present study explored the effect of the context in which an imitation act occurs (elicited/spontaneous) and the experimenters facial expression (neutral or smiling) during the imitation task with young children with autism and typically developing children. The participants were 10 typically developing children and 10 children with autism (mean chronological age: 72 months). They were tested in imitation of tasks and facial expressions posed by the researcher. The results showed that, compared with typically developing children, children with autism: (a) engaged less in imitation of action with objects, (b) had more difficulties with the imitation of facial expressions in the elicited condition, and (c) performed less accurately both at imitating the experimenters facial expression and on tasks involving the simultaneous imitation of action with objects and facial expression, and (d) the type of the experimenters facial expression did not influence the imitative performance of either group in either the elicited or the spontaneous condition. The present study attempts to advance investigation of imitative ability and impairment in autism.

Phonological Awareness and Rapid Automatized Naming as Longitudinal Predictors of Reading in Five Alphabetic Orthographies with Varying Degrees of Consistency

ABSTRACT Although phonological awareness (PA) and rapid automatized naming (RAN) are confirmed as early predictors of reading in a large number of orthographies, it is as yet unclear whether the predictive patterns are universal or language specific. This was examined in a longitudinal study across Grades 1 and 2 with 1,120 children acquiring one of five alphabetic orthographies with different degrees of orthographic complexity (English, French, German, Dutch, and Greek). Path analyses revealed that a universal model could not be confirmed. When we specified the best-fitting model separately for each language, RAN was a consistent predictor of reading fluency in all orthographies, whereas the association between PA and reading was complex and mostly interactive. We conclude that RAN taps into a language-universal cognitive mechanism that is involved in reading alphabetic orthographies (independent of complexity), whereas the PA–reading relationship depends on many factors like task characteristics, developmental status, and orthographic complexity.