Linda Larsen

Assessing the basic components of reading: A revision of the Castles and Coltheart test with new norms

We present administration details and normative data for a new version of the word and nonword reading test originally developed by Castles and Coltheart. The new test contains an expanded set of items, with 40 each of regular words, irregular words and nonwords, rather than the original 30 items of each type. The new items extend the upper-end of the difficulty range of the test, making it less susceptible to ceiling effects than the original version. The test also incorporates a stopping-rule, which makes administration of the test less time-consuming and removes the stress on children who can only read a few items. The test is free of charge and is available to teachers, professionals and researchers in both pencil-and-paper and computer-based formats from the Macquarie On-line Test Interface (MOTIF: http://www.maccs.mq.edu.au/research/resources).

Sight Word and Phonics Training in Children With Dyslexia

The aims of this study were to (a) compare sight word training and phonics training in children with dyslexia, and (b) determine if different orders of sight word and phonics training have different effects on the reading skills of children with dyslexia. One group of children (n = 36) did 8 weeks of phonics training (reading via grapheme–phoneme correspondence rules) and then 8 weeks of sight word training (reading irregular words as a whole), one group did the reverse (n = 36), and one group did phonics and sight word training simultaneously for two 8-week periods (n = 32). We measured the effects of phonics and sight word training on sight word reading (trained irregular word reading accuracy, untrained irregular word reading accuracy), phonics reading (nonword reading accuracy, nonword reading fluency), and general reading (word reading fluency, reading comprehension). Sight word training led to significant gains in sight word reading measures that were larger than gains made from phonics training, phonics training led to statistically significant gains in a phonics reading measure that were larger than gains made from sight word training, and both types of training led to significant gains in general reading that were similar in size. Training phonics before sight words had a slight advantage over the reverse order. We discuss the clinical implications of these findings for improving the treatment and assessment of children with dyslexia.

Getting to grips with the heterogeneity of developmental dyslexia

The aim of this study was to better understand the heterogeneity of developmental dyslexia by identifying the most common deficits in the reading systems of children with dyslexia with different poor word reading profiles. We classified the word reading profiles of 138 children with developmental dyslexia using nonword and irregular-word reading tests and then used independent experimental tests to explore the cognitive deficits within their word reading systems. The most common deficit associated with primary sublexical impairment (i.e., poor nonword reading) was poor grapheme–phoneme conversion (GPC) knowledge. The most common deficits associated with primary lexical impairment (i.e., poor irregular-word reading) were an impaired orthographic lexicon plus impaired links between this lexicon and the phonological lexicon and semantic knowledge. Finally, the most common deficits associated with mixed reading impairment (i.e., poor nonword reading and poor irregular-word reading) were poor GPC knowledge, an impaired orthographic lexicon, poor links between this lexicon and the phonological lexicon and semantic knowledge, and poor phonological output. We discuss the implications of these findings for theories of reading and for the diagnosis and treatment of dyslexia.

A Test of Everyday Reading Comprehension (TERC)

The aim of this study was to develop a standardised test of everyday reading comprehension for children in Australian schools. To this end, we developed two forms for the Test of Everyday Comprehension (TERC) and developed norms for children aged 6 to 12 and in grades 1 to 6. Measures of parallel form reliability indicated that the two TERC forms were equal in difficulty and measured a common concept. Measures of inter-rater reliability indicated that scoring the two TERC forms was simple enough to minimise differences between testers. Ideally, the TERC should be used (1) as a screening test for poor reading comprehension in primary-school children and (2) as a tool to communicate to parents the impact that a childs reading difficulty can have on their everyday life. Poor performance on the TERC should be followed-up by tests that target other aspects of the childs reading and language skills to locate the source of their reading comprehension problem.

Replicability of sight word training and phonics training in poor readers: a randomised controlled trial

Given the importance of effective treatments for children with reading impairment, paired with growing concern about the lack of scientific replication in psychological science, the aim of this study was to replicate a quasi-randomised trial of sight word and phonics training using a randomised controlled trial (RCT) design. One group of poor readers (N = 41) did 8 weeks of phonics training (i.e., phonological decoding) and then 8 weeks of sight word training (i.e., whole-word recognition). A second group did the reverse order of training. Sight word and phonics training each had a large and significant valid treatment effect on trained irregular words and word reading fluency. In addition, combined sight word and phonics training had a moderate and significant valid treatment effect on nonword reading accuracy and fluency. These findings demonstrate the reliability of both phonics and sight word training in treating poor readers in an era where the importance of scientific reliability is under close scrutiny.

The Letter-Sound Test (LeST): A Reliable and Valid Comprehensive Measure of Grapheme-Phoneme Knowledge.

Children who have difficulty learning to read are at increased risk for academic failure, poor self-esteem, anxiety and depression, and unemployment. To help reduce these risks, it is important to identify and treat weaknesses in a childs reading as early as possible. The aim of this study was to develop a valid and reliable comprehensive standardized test of a key reading sub-skill called grapheme–phoneme correspondence (GPC) knowledge. In Phase 1 of the study, we selected a comprehensive evidence-based list of the most important GPC rules for learning to read in English. In Phase 2, we administered this list to a representative sample of Australian children to calculate age- and grade-based norms. In Phase 3, we established that the test had robust inter-rater and test–retest reliability, and appropriate criterion validity. We hope that this new test, which is called the Letter-Sound Test, proves useful to clinicians, teachers, and researcher as a comprehensive test of GPC knowledge.