SPEECH AND LANGUAGE BASIS

OF READINGJonathan Preston · Megan Leece · Meghan Lister

Syracuse UniversityREADING LEAGUE EVENT May 12, 2016

WHAT IS DYSLEXIA?Let’s evaluate some of the conventional wisdom about

dyslexia

Dyslexia only affects people who speak English.

False!

Children will outgrow dyslexia.

Dyslexia is a lifelong condition that affects people into old age. A large body of evidence shows what types of instruction struggling readers need to be successful (e.g., National Institute of Child Health

and Human Development, 2000; Snow et al., 1998; Torgesen, 2000).

No EvidenceChildren with reading problems show a

continuing persistent deficit in their reading rather than just developing later than average

children (Francis, Shaywitz, Stuebing, Shaywitz, & Fletcher, 1996).

Dyslexia is caused by problems with visual perception.

X

Writing letters and words backwards is a symptom of dyslexia.

Reversals are normal in all

beginning readers and writers. They

last longer in children with

dyslexia because they have weaker

orthographic representations.

Colored text overlays, eye exercises, and “dyslexia font” are beneficial strategies.

There is no strong research evidence that intervention using colored overlays or special lenses has any effect on the word reading or comprehension of children with dyslexia (American Optometric

Association, 2004; Iovino, Fletcher, Breitmeyer, & Foorman, 1998).

What is dyslexia?

■… a specific learning disability that is neurobiological in origin. ■It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent

word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. ■These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the

phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction. 

International Dyslexia Association http://eida.org/definition-of-dyslexia/

LANGUAGE FOUNDATIONS FOR

READING

Reading and Language

dress

Reading, Language, and the Brain

dress

dress

THE SIMPLE VIEWInforms assessment & instruction

PhonemicProficiency

Sight Word PoolWords Mapped to

Orthographic MemoryLetter Sound Proficiency

AUTOMATICWord

Recognition

ReadingComprehension

LanguageComprehension

VocabularyKnowledge

BackgroundKnowledge

Knowledge ofText and Sentence

Structures

Based on : Gough, P. B., & Tunmer, W. E. (1986). Decoding, reading, and reading disability. Remedial and Special Education, 7, 6-10.

PhonicDecoding

Spoken Language

Development

SPEECH AND LANGUAGE

MILESTONES

Language

Speech Print

Early speech and language is an important indicator

Prevention

Intervention

Infants

~10 months

Badeeeguba

Ba

Lambrecht Smith et al 2010

24 months: • 2 word combinations• At least 50 words in expressive

vocabulary

Toddlers “Late Talking” mo dut peez dut

Preston et al, 2010; Smith et al 2008

Strategies for improving toddler communication■ Notice and respond to your child’s communication attempts, even

when the attempts are nonverbal.■ Mirror (imitate the action) and map (provide the word) to describe

what your child is doing. – Follow your child’s lead– Language is most meaningful when it’s related to what children

are doing or in response to what the child is communicating■ Play “communication catch” to establish good turn taking skills – even

nonverballyRoberts (2015)

Preschool[ more

dus pweez ]

[ _or _us _eez

]

Preston et al., 2013

Some Preschool Speech and Language Disorders

Speech Impairment■ Speech sound disorder“Articulation” /“Phonological” disorders“Childhood apraxia of speech”

– Difficulty producing speech sounds

– Hard for strangers to understand

– Might sound “immature”

Language Impairment■ Receptive/ Expressive Language

Impairment, Difficulty expressing self

– Poor grammar – Restricted vocabulary

Difficulty understanding spoken language

– Trouble following directions

• StutteringThe-the-the cat sssssssays muhmuhmuh meow

Me go home

Cat say meow

I doh homeThe tat ted meow

Speech and Language Impairment and Dyslexia

Speech Sound Disorder

(Phonological or articulation

disorder, apraxia of speech)

Trouble pronouncing sounds;

Hard to understand

Poor phonological awareness,

decoding, and spelling

Language Impairment/

Specific Language Impairment

Poor grammarWeak vocabulary

Trouble understanding

directions, stories

Poor phonological awareness,

decoding, reading fluency, reading comprehension

I have concerns about my child’s speech or language. What do I do?Ages 0-2■ Contact county Early

Intervention Program

http://www.health.ny.gov/community/infants_children/early_intervention/county_eip.htm

Ages 3+■ Contact school district

http://cnypreschoolcoalition.org/cpse-chairs-list/

Summary: Speech/Language development milestones relevant to reading

■ See handout

■ Checklist: http://ecdc.syr.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Developmental_checklists_Updated2012.pdf

Preschool Speech/Language Summary

Language

Speech Print

■ Should be understood by unfamiliar listeners nearly 100% of the time by ~age 4 ■ Should be using “you” and “me”

appropriately■ Sentences should be longer than ~4

words■ Endings should be on words (-ing –ed –s)

NATIONAL EARLY LITERACY PANEL

Identified 6 skills in preschoolers that strongly predict later reading outcomes.■ Alphabet Knowledge ■ Phonological Awareness■ Early writing skills■ Rapid naming of letters and digits■ Rapid naming of objects and colors■ Phonological short-term memory ■ Concepts about print and books (left to right, front, back,

author, title)

Alphabet knowledge is the ability to name letters and letter sounds.

Aa Dd

Phonological awareness skills address smaller and smaller units of language.

■ 3;0 Rhyme awareness emerges■ 4;0 Produces rhymes

– Segments sentences into words

– Segments words into syllables

– Counts syllables (50% by age four)

■ 4;6 – Alliteration skills emerge– Recognizes/produces words

with the same beginning sound

– Segments/blends words by onset/rime (s+un=sun)

– given sounds, can blend them into a word

http://www.phonologicalawareness.org/#!-age-of-acquisition/cuq7

Early writing skills are another way to demonstrate letter-sound knowledge.

■ Stage 1 –draw randomly – may not be able to describe

■ Stage 2 –begin to notice symbols and to make mock letters.

■ Stage 3 –write letter strings using familiar letters, usually from their own names.

■ Stage 4 –write using initial sounds

■ Stage 5 –beginning to hear and use ending sounds.

http://www2.nefec.org/erf/emergentwriting/

Print awareness skills help children link written language to oral language. ■ Learns that reading and writing

are activities in which people engage

■ Shows interest in books, print; asks to be read to

■ Handles books with correct orientation

■ Becomes aware that books have stories; pretends to read

■ Recites phrases and/or stories■ Begins to prefer certain stories

http://literacy.nationaldb.org/index.php/literacy-development-continuum/

During preschool, instruction in 4 skills is linked to positive reading outcomes.■ Alphabet Knowledge ■ Phonological Awareness■ Early writing skills■ Concepts about print and books

■ https://earlychildhood.ehe.osu.edu/research/research/projects/

LANGUAGE IN SCHOOL-AGED

CHILDRENOral and Written Language Connection;

Strategies to boost reading comprehension

4 Components of Language

Listening Speaking

Reading Writing

Comprehension Expression

Oral

Written

• Spoken language below average

• Spoken language below average

• Spoken language average

• Spoken language average

DyslexiaAge-

Appropriate Skills

Grade-level fluency/deco

ding but Poor

comprehension

Dyslexia + Poor

comprehension

Oral language red flags in school-age childrenComprehension

■ Responds to only part of a multiple step direction■ Requires multiple repetitions of instructions■ Difficulty understanding question forms (e.g.,

always answers what for when, where, how, why)■ Predicting, inferring, concluding are difficult■ Comprehension of complex sentences is difficult

(e.g., If you are not done, then you should not line up at the door.)

Expression■ Has difficulty retrieving specific words■ Talks in short sentences ■ Makes errors in word order, verb tense■ Uses nonspecific vocabulary (e.g.,

“good” means happy, excited, kind)■ Has difficulty giving directions or

explaining, states many revisions or “dead ends”

Appendix A. Early Identification of Language-Based Reading Disabilities: A Checklist, Catts (1997)

National Institute for Child Health and Human Development. (2000). National Reading Panel. Available from www.nichd.nih.gov/publications/pubs/nrp/documents/report.pdf

National Reading Panel - 5 areas

1. Phonemic awareness2. Phonics 3. Fluency 4. Vocabulary 5. Comprehension

Vocabulary

■Explicit and implicit instruction■Intentional word selection■Knowledge networks■Repeated exposures■Not just nouns

Neuman & Wright, 2014

Teaching “Cautious” After Reading

Example

Contextualize in story “The woman moved cautiously across the wet floor. She was very careful as she walked on the wet floor.”

Child friendly definition “Cautious people act very carefully because they want to avoid danger.”

Examples other than story “I would walk cautiously if I had bare feet and there were rocks on the ground.”

Students provide examples. “What would make you cautious?”

Semantic judgmentsTrue/false statements

The bully was calling people names so the boy went to the other side of the playground.

I would feel cautious about calling my best friend.

“Show me how to…” “...touch something cautiously, … walk cautiously.

Relate to other target words. “If someone hurls a ball, is he being cautious?”

Beck et al. 2002, Bringing Words to Life

Effective Vocabulary Instruction: Text Talk

Morphological Awareness may boost both word attack and comprehensionPrefix Rank

un- 1re- 2

in-,im-, ir-, il- 3dis- 4

en-, em- 5non- 6

in-, im- 7over- 8

… …

Knowing many common prefixes, suffixes and root words helps children learn

the meanings of new words. (National Reading Panel, 2000)

White, T.G., Sowell, V., and Yanagihara, A. (1999). Teaching elementary students to use word-part clues. The Reading Teacher, 42, 302-308.

Morphological Awareness■Stories, word sorts with affixes.■“Say it another way.” Produce

new word using the affix.■Building words “jump” + “s”■Reading and writing with affixes

in tandem.

• 20 prefixes account for 97% of prefixes in English words• 20 suffixes account for 93% of suffixes in English words

Summarizing for ComprehensionStory Grammar Marker, Moreau (1991)

Critical Thinking Triangle

http://mindwingconcepts.com/

Sample Story Grammar Marker Lesson

Sample Story Grammar Marker Lesson

Summarizing Expository Text: Using Sentence Frames to Retell

Process

■Here is how a ______________________. ■First, _____________________________.■Next, _____________________________. ■Then, _____________________________. ■Finally, ____________________________.

Summarizing: Scaffolding Strategies using Sentence Frames

Simple sentence Comparative sentence

Complex comparative

sentence

Sentence frame with vocabulary underlined

Eagles are large birds of prey.Kestrels are small birds of prey.

Eagles and kestrels are both birds of prey, but eagles are large and kestrels are small.

Sentence frame with vocabulary removed

_______are _______._______are _______.

and are both , but are , and are_____.

Summary

■Spoken language sets the foundation for successful reading

■Delays in early speech/language milestones can help identify children who might later struggle with reading

■In preschool, focus on alphabet knowledge, phonological awareness, early writing skills, and print awareness

■Oral language strategies can be used to support reading comprehension