Margaret Bruck

Acquisition and use of spelling-sound correspondences in reading

Abstract The acquisition and use of knowledge concerning the spelling-sound correspondences of English were evaluated by having children read words and nonwords that contained regular and homographic spelling patterns. Regular spelling patterns are associated with a single pronunciation (e.g., -UST as in MUST); homographic patterns have multiple pronunciations (e.g., -OSE as in HOSE, DOSE, LOSE). Analyses of errors, latencies, and pronunciations provided evidence for two complementary developmental processes: good beginning readers rapidly learn to recognize high-frequency words from visual input alone, while at the same time they are expanding and consolidating their knowledge of spelling-sound correspondences. Younger and poor readers rely more on phonological information in word decoding, as evidenced by their particular difficulty reading homographic spelling patterns. Poor readers do not appear to use a radically different strategy for reading words: their perfomance is similar to that of younger, good readers.

Children's and adults' use of spelling-sound information in three reading tasks.

This research examined the effects of irregular spelling and irregular spelling-sound correspondences on word recognition in children and adults. Previous research has established that, among skilled readers, these irregularities influence the reading of only lower frequency words. However, this research involved the lexical decision and naming tasks, which differ from the demands of normal reading in important ways. In the present experiments, we compared performance on these tasks with that on a task requiring words to be recognized in sentence contexts. Results indicated that adults showed effects of spelling and spelling-sound irregularities in reading lower frequency words on all three tasks, whereas younger and poorer readers also showed effects on higher frequency words. The fact that irregular spelling-sound correspondences affected performance on the sentence task indicates that access of phonological information is not an artifact of having to read a word aloud or perform a lexical decision. Two other developmental trends were observed: As children became more skilled in reading, the effects of irregular spelling were overcome before the effects of irregular spelling-sound correspondences; the latter effects were eliminated on silent reading tasks earlier than on the naming task.

Do children use similar processes to read and spell words

Abstract The use of spelling-sound information in both reading and spelling was evaluated by having children read and spell nonwords and five types of words that differed in terms of their regularity for reading and spelling. The subjects were grade 3 children who had been psychometrically defined as good readers and good spellers (“good”), good readers and poor spellers (“mixed”), or poor readers and poor spellers (“poor”). Results indicated that all children attempted to use spelling-sound correspondences in both reading and spelling, although children in both the mixed and the poor groups had weaker knowledge of these correspondences and were less systematic in their use of them. Furthermore, even though the children in the mixed group had been matched with children in the good group on reading comprehension, the number and type of errors made by the mixed subjects on both the reading and spelling tasks were more similar to those of the poor subjects than to those of the good subjects.

An analysis of the spelling errors of children who differ in their reading and spelling skills

Results of recent studies comparing the spelling errors of children with varying discrepancies between their reading and spelling skills have yielded conflicting results. Some studies suggest that good readers-poor spellers (mixed) are characterized by a set of deficits that differentiates them from poor readers-poor spellers (poor). Other studies fail to find differences between groups of poor spellers who differ in their reading skills. The present study attempted to determine the degree to which these discrepant results reflected differences in methods of subject selection and of error analysis. Two different sets of criteria were used to identify poor spellers-good readers. Subjects were selected on the basis of standardized reading comprehension and spelling test scores or on the basis of standardized single-word-recognition and spelling-test scores. The phonetic accuracy of the spelling errors was assessed using two different scoring systems – one that took positional constraints into account and one that did not. In addition, children were identified at two different age levels, allowing for developmental comparisons. Regardless of age or reading ability, poor and mixed spellers had difficulty converting sounds into positionally appropriate graphemes. Only older children with good word recognition but poor spelling skills provided some evidence for a distinct subgroup of poor spellers. These children had relatively good visual memory for words and, unlike other poor spellers, showed relatively good use of rudimentary sound-letter correspondences.

Language Impaired Children's Performance in an Additive Bilingual Education Program.

Cognitive, academic, first language, and second language abilities of language impaired children attending French immersion programs were assessed in kindergarten and in grade 1. After two years of instruction in a second language the linguistic and cognitive skills of these children were similar to a comparable group of language impaired children who were educated in their first language. The language impaired children were also acquiring proficiency in second language skills, although not to the same levels of proficiency as French immersion children with normal first language abilities. The results are discussed in light of current theories of optimal language of instruction.

The adult outcomes of children with learning disabilities

The results of four follow-up studies of learning-disabled children are reviewed. A comparison of results among the studies and of analyses of individual variation within the studies suggest some factors associated with long-term outcomes. It is argued that in many cases learning disabilities are not a lifelong handicapping condition, especially if adequate treatment is provided during childhood.

Predictors of transfer out of early French immersion programs

This study examined the factors that best predict which elementary schoolchildren will ultimately transfer out of a French immersion program. At the end of one school year, French immersion teachers nominated poor-achieving students who might transfer to an English stream and who may elect not to leave the program. All of the children were immediately tested and parents and teachers were interviewed. The status of the project children was monitored over the next year to determine which children transferred to an English stream. Analysis of the pretransfer data indicated that although cognitive-academic variables may be necessary conditions for transfer, they are not sufficient conditions. Specifically, while the children who transferred experienced academic problems, these were no more severe than those of children who did not transfer. Rather, the transfer children were unique in terms of their poorer attitudes, motivations, and nonacademic behaviors. This pattern of results was found for the teacher, parent, and child data. The analyses suggest that attitudinal and motivational factors are of primary importance to the continuation of second-language study by young learners.

Correlates of Learning Disabled Students' Peer-Interaction Patterns

Results of this study showed LD childrens cognitive and affective role-taking skills to be poorer than those of age-matched controls. However, performance on these tasks was not related to measures of peer-domain social skills. Instead, these were found most consistently to relate to hyperactivity ratings.

Consequences of transfer out of early French immersion programs

Former French immersion students who had transferred to an English program because of academic difficulty and poor adjustment were assessed after their first year of total English education. Their cognitive, academic, linguistic, and social psychological status was compared to that of children who had remained in the immersion program despite academic difficulty. Academically, both groups showed similar improvement. Behaviorally, the transfer children continued to be deviant and to show poor attitudes and motivations. After one year out of French immersion, the transfer children maintained previously acquired second language skills. The data suggest that the childs basic cognitive and affective characteristics rather than factors associated with language of education influence academic achievement as well as school- and language-related attitudes and motivations.

Are French Immersion Programs Suitable for Working-Class Children? A Follow-up Investigation

This report presents the second evaluation of the progress of two groups of children from working class, English-speaking Canadian homes who have participated in a French immersion program for the first two and three years of schooling. The children in the experimental program are compared with control groups conventionally educated in French or in English at the appropriate grade level. The findings suggest that the children in the Experimental group have begun to master basic French and English language skills and are able to acquire content material taught via French without detrimental side effects. The progress of these children is comparable to that of their middle-class peers who are also in immersion programs.