Sebastian Suggate

Why What We Teach Depends on when: Grade and Reading Intervention Modality Moderate Effect Size.

Despite impressive advances in the science of reading intervention, how to best help at-risk readers remains a point of contention. Because reading represents the synthesis of background factors and language and reading skills-all of which develop with age and experience-this meta-analysis investigated whether development (as approximated by grade) and intervention modality are key moderators of intervention effect size for disadvantaged readers. Eighty-five experimental or quasi-experimental studies with 116 treatment-control groups (N = 7,522) were selected from preschool to Grade 7. Analyses accounted for intervention length, instructor-to-student ratio, measure design, experimental design, attrition, intervention language, and publication bias. Between-group comparisons suggested that effect sizes were larger for older students, comprehension interventions, quasi-experimental studies, and samples at greater risk. In hierarchical regression analyses, intervention modality alone did not explain additional variance in effect size; however, when interacting with grade, intervention modality did explain additional variance. Phonics interventions were more effective until Grade 1, after which comprehension and mixed interventions, in particular, tended to be associated with greater effect sizes. These results highlight the importance of a developmental understanding of reading remediation.

A Meta-Analysis of the Long-Term Effects of Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Fluency, and Reading Comprehension Interventions

Much is known about short-term—but very little about the long-term—effects of reading interventions. To rectify this, a detailed analysis of follow-up effects as a function of intervention, sample, and methodological variables was conducted. A total of 71 intervention-control groups were selected (N = 8,161 at posttest) from studies reporting posttest and follow-up data (M = 11.17 months) for previously established reading interventions. The posttest effect sizes indicated effects (dw = 0.37) that decreased to follow-up (dw = 0.22). Overall, comprehension and phonemic awareness interventions showed good maintenance of effect that transferred to nontargeted skills, whereas phonics and fluency interventions, and those for preschool and kindergarten children, tended not to. Several methodological features also related to effect sizes at follow-up, namely experimental design and dosage, and sample attrition, risk status, and gender balance.

Incidental vocabulary acquisition from stories: Second and fourth graders learn more from listening than reading

Both reading and language experiences contribute to vocabulary development, but questions remain as to what effect each has and when. This article investigates the effects that reading, telling and sharing a story have on vocabulary acquisition. Children (N = 37) were told nine stories in a randomized, single-blind and counterbalanced 2 × 3 mixed design. The between-subjects variable was grade (2 vs 4) and the within-subjects factor was the story condition, being either read (adult read aloud) or told (free story telling) to the children, or read silently by the children (independent reading). Each story contained two rare target words that were unlikely to have been previously known to the children. Measures of receptive vocabulary, decoding, reading comprehension and target vocabulary acquisition from the story were also administered. Children in grade 4 performed better on the vocabulary acquisition test and there was a main effect for story condition; children learnt the least number of words when reading the stories independently and the most from the free story telling condition. Implications for vocabulary learning and the importance of oral language exposure – even for established readers in primary school – are discussed.

The contribution of age and reading instruction to oral narrative and pre-reading skills

Research suggests children beginning school around age five years show similar long-term reading achievement as children who start later, at seven years. To shed light on this phenomenon, this article presents cross-sectional data examining the oral narrative, phonemic awareness and non-word decoding skills of three groups of children at the beginning of state schooling (age 5), the beginning of Waldorf schooling (age 7) and children who attended state schooling, but were of a similar age to the Waldorf sample (age 7) (N = 103). Key covariates of receptive vocabulary, home literacy environment, sex, ethnicity and maternal education were included. Analyses suggested language development – including story memory and narrative quality and phoneme awareness – improved with age but not length of formal schooling. Conversely, non-word decoding skills improved with formal schooling, but not age. These findings add to the literature supporting separate skill clusters of language and decoding skills, with potentially different contributors to their development.

Do nimble hands make for nimble lexicons? Fine motor skills predict knowledge of embodied vocabulary items

Theories and research in embodied cognition postulate that cognition grounded in action enjoys a processing advantage. Extending this theory to the study of how fine motor skills (FMS) link to vocabulary development in preschool children, the authors investigated FMS and vocabulary in 76 preschoolers. Building on previous research, they hypothesized that links between FMS and vocabulary were driven by lexical items containing a greater body–object interaction (BOI). After controlling for age and part of speech (i.e., nouns vs. verbs), results indicated that FMS explained a similar amount of variance in BOI vocabulary as general vocabulary did. Mediation analyses indicated that the relation between FMS and general vocabulary was mediated by BOI vocabulary. To the authors’ knowledge, this study provides the first evidence that FMS play a role in BOI vocabulary development in the preschool period.

Do fine motor skills contribute to early reading development

Background Little is known about how fine motor skills (FMS) relate to early literacy skills, especially over and above cognitive variables. Moreover, a lack of distinction between FMS, grapho-motor and writing skills may have hampered previous work. Method In Germany, kindergartners (n = 144, aged 6;1) were recruited before beginning formal reading instruction and were administered a host of FMS, early reading skills and cognitive measures. Results Analyses indicate that FMS related less strongly than grapho-motor skills to emergent literacy skills. Controlling for grapho-motor and cognitive skills, FMS did not generally explain unique variance in emergent literacy skills. Conclusions The link between reading and motor skills is highly differential. Findings did not suggest that pure FMS played a significant role in early reading development, however, its close cousin grapho-motor skills – even when devoid of the cognitive knowledge of letters – did. Implications for practice What is already known about this topic Fine motor skills (FMS) are considered an important school readiness indicator FMS play a role in cognition and language development Some research suggests that FMS might be important for reading What this paper adds First study to look differentially at FMS and emergent literacy FMS was considered separately from grapho-motor and handwriting skill Links between these motor skills and a broad range of emergent literacy and cognitive skills were investigated Implications for practice and/or policy FMS may be important in the development of grapho-motor skills Grapho-motor skills appear, in turn, linked to reading Fostering childrens grapho-motor skills may be important in kindergarten

Relations between playing activities and fine motor development

ABSTRACT Children’s fine motor skills (FMS) are being increasingly recognized as an important aspect of preschool development; yet, we know very little about the experiences that foster their development. We utilized a parent-administered children’s fine and gross motor activities questionnaire (MAQ) to investigate links with FMS. We recruited a sample of 225 preschool children (aged 5;9) and assessed FMS and vocabulary. Additionally, parents completed the MAQ and a questionnaire on home literacy environment (HLE) to test two competing accounts. According to a differential account, fine motor activities lead to greater FMS, whereas according to an epiphenomenal account, a generally more educative home environment fosters FMS alongside other skills. Findings were highly differential: FMS linked to the fine-MAQ but not to the gross-MAQ or the HLE, whereas vocabulary linked to the HLE, but not the fine- or gross-MAQ. The data underscore fine motor activities as a distinct factor in the preschool period.

Fine motor skills enhance lexical processing of embodied vocabulary: A test of the nimble-hands, nimble-minds hypothesis

Research suggests that fine motor skills (FMS) are linked to aspects of cognitive development in children. Additionally, lexical processing advantages exist for words implying a high body–object interaction (BOI), with initial findings indicating that such words in turn link to childrens FMS—for which we propose and evaluate four competing hypotheses. First, a maturational account argues that any links between FMS and lexical processing should not exist once developmental variables are controlled for. Second, functionalism posits that any link between FMS and lexical processing arises due to environmental interactions. Third, the semantic richness hypothesis argues that sensorimotor input improves lexical processing, but predicts no links between FMS and lexical processing. A fourth account, the nimble-hands, nimble minds (NHNM) hypothesis, proposes that having greater FMS improves lexical processing for high-BOI words. In two experiments, the response latencies of preschool children (n = 90, n = 76, ages = 5;1) to 45 lexical items encompassing high-BOI, low-BOI, and less imageable words were measured, alongside measures of FMS, reasoning, and general receptive/expressive vocabulary. High-BOI words appeared to show unique links to FMS, which remained after accounting for low-BOI and less imageable words, general vocabulary, reasoning, and chronological age. Although further work is needed, the findings provide initial support for the NHNM hypothesis.

Finger-Based Numerical Skills Link Fine Motor Skills to Numerical Development in Preschoolers

Previous studies investigating the association between fine-motor skills (FMS) and mathematical skills have lacked specificity. In this study, we test whether an FMS link to numerical skills is due to the involvement of finger representations in early mathematics. We gave 81 pre-schoolers (mean age of 4 years, 9 months) a set of FMS measures and numerical tasks with and without a specific finger focus. Additionally, we used receptive vocabulary and chronological age as control measures. FMS linked more closely to finger-based than to nonfinger-based numerical skills even after accounting for the control variables. Moreover, the relationship between FMS and numerical skill was entirely mediated by finger-based numerical skills. We concluded that FMS are closely related to early numerical skill development through finger-based numerical counting that aids the acquisition of mathematical mental representations.

Links between early oral narrative and decoding skills and later reading in a New Zealand sample

Abstract We examined earlier oral narrative and decoding and later reading in two samples spanning the first four years of reading instruction. The Year 1 sample (n = 44) was initially assessed after one year of instruction (M = 6; 1 years) and followed through their third year (M = 8; 1 years); the Year 2 sample (n = 34) assessed after two years of instruction (M = 7; 0 years) and followed to their fourth year (M = 9; 0 years). Oral narrative and decoding were assessed initially, oral reading, retell, and maze fluency, plus reading age, obtained at outcome. For the Year 2 sample, oral narrative and decoding contributed to oral reading and comprehension two years later. For the Year 1 sample, decoding contributed to most reading outcomes, with narrative quality uniquely predicting Year 3 retell fluency. Post-hoc exploratory analyses suggest story memory indirectly contributed to Year 3 reading via Year 2 retell.