The proper name as starting point for basic reading skills

Does alphabetic-phonetic writing start with the proper name and how does the name affect reading and writing skills? Sixty 4- to 5½-year-old children from middle SES families with Dutch as their first language wrote their proper name and named letters. For each child we created unique sets of words with and without the child’s first letter of the name to test spelling skills and phonemic sensitivity. Name writing correlated with children’s knowledge of the first letter of the name and phonemic sensitivity for the sound of the first letter of the name. Hierarchical regression analysis makes plausible that both knowledge of the first letter’s name and phonemic sensitivity for this letter explain why name writing results in phonetic spelling with the name letter. Practical implications of the findings are discussed

Pauses in written composition::on the importance of where writers pause

Much previous research has conceptualized pauses during writing as indicators of the engagement of higher-level cognitive processes. In the present study 101 university students composed narrative or argumentative essays, while their key logging was recorded. We investigated the relation between pauses within three time intervals (300–999, 1000–1999, and >2000 ms), at different text boundaries (i.e., between words, sentences, and paragraphs), genre (i.e., narrative vs. argumentative), and transcription fluency (i.e., typing speed). Moreover, we investigated the relation between pauses and various lexical characteristics of essays (e.g., word frequency, sentence length) controlling for transcription fluency and genre. In addition to replicating a number of previously reported pause effects in composition, we also show that pauses are related to various aspects of writing, regardless of transcription fluency and genre. Critically our results show that the majority of pause effects in written composition are modulated by pause location. For example, increased pause rates at word boundaries predicted word frequency, while pause rates at sentence boundaries predicted sentence length, suggesting different levels of processing at these text boundaries. Lastly, we report some inconsistencies when using various definitions of pauses. We discuss potential mechanisms underlying effects of pauses at different text boundaries on writing

Impact of visual acuity on developing literacy at age 4-5 years : a cohort-nested cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVES: To estimate the prevalence of poor vision in children aged 4-5 years and determine the impact of visual acuity on literacy. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study linking clinical, epidemiological and education data. SETTING: Schools located in the city of Bradford, UK. PARTICIPANTS: Prevalence was determined for 11 186 children participating in the Bradford school vision screening programme. Data linkage was undertaken for 5836 Born in Bradford (BiB) birth cohort study children participating both in the Bradford vision screening programme and the BiB Starting Schools Programme. 2025 children had complete data and were included in the multivariable analyses. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Visual acuity was measured using a logMAR Crowded Test (higher scores=poorer visual acuity). Literacy measured by Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests-Revised (WRMT-R) subtest: letter identification (standardised). RESULTS: The mean (SD) presenting visual acuity was 0.14 (0.09) logMAR (range 0.0-1.0). 9% of children had a presenting visual acuity worse than 0.2logMAR (failed vision screening), 4% worse than 0.3logMAR (poor visual acuity) and 2% worse than 0.4logMAR (visually impaired). Unadjusted analysis showed that the literacy score was associated with presenting visual acuity, reducing by 2.4 points for every 1 line (0.10logMAR) reduction in vision (95% CI -3.0 to -1.9). The association of presenting visual acuity with the literacy score remained significant after adjustment for demographic and socioeconomic factors reducing by 1.7 points (95% CI -2.2 to -1.1) for every 1 line reduction in vision. CONCLUSIONS: Prevalence of decreased visual acuity was high compared with other population-based studies. Decreased visual acuity at school entry is associated with reduced literacy. This may have important implications for the children's future educational, health and social outcomes

Preschool Predictors of Early Literacy Acquisition in German-speaking Children

Phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming (RAN), letter knowledge, and oral language are all significant predictors of successful literacy acquisition in several languages. However, their relative importance is less clear and depends on language characteristics, the specific aspect of literacy assessed, and the phase of literacy acquisition. This study, therefore, aimed to examine the development of these predictors and their relationship with literacy acquisition through a longitudinal investigation of German-speaking children. Seventy-eight children growing up monolingual German were assessed three times: a few months before starting school (mean age = 5 years 11 months), in grade 1 (mean age = 6 years 11 months), and in grade 2 (mean age = 7 years 10 months). Cognitive predictors were measured at preschool, and literacy outcomes (reading accuracy, speed, comprehension, and spelling) were measured in grades 1 and 2. Correlational and path analyses revealed a complex pattern of relationships between cognitive and literacy skills dependent on the aspect of literacy being measured and the timepoint. Overall, the most important predictor of literacy skill in grade 2 was earlier literacy skills, followed by letter knowledge and RAN. Phonological awareness was less important than RAN, and oral language skills (i.e., vocabulary, grammar comprehension) were least important. The implications of these findings for the understanding of cognitive mechanisms of literacy acquisition and for early detection of literacy difficulties are discussed

Eye and Pen: A new device for studying reading during writing

International audienc

Le cas de la psychologie cognitive : formation générale ou formation disciplinaire ?

This paper is dealing with the place of cognitive psychology in teachers’ training. Its aim is to demonstrate the potential importance of the contribution of cognitive psychology to the didactic training and to call in question the division between general and didactic contents of teachers’ training. The contribution of the psychology of information processing to didactic training is exposed for the conceptualisations of school activities and for the representation of school learning. The increase of the scientific formation and a restructuring of the organisation of the training contents are proposed as institutional answers.L’article discute de la place de la psychologie cognitive dans la formation des enseignants en IUFM. L’importance de la contribution de la psychologie cognitive à la formation aux didactiques des disciplines conduit à remettre en question le cloisonnement généralement institué aujourd’hui entre la formation générale et les formations disciplinaires. Les apports de la psychologie du traitement de l’information à la formation didactique sont développés pour les conceptualisations des apprentissages scolaires et pour les représentations de l’apprentissage. Le développement de la formation scientifique et une recomposition de l’organisation de la formation sont proposés comme réponses institutionnelles.Foulin Jean-Noël. Le cas de la psychologie cognitive : formation générale ou formation disciplinaire ?. In: Spirale. Revue de recherches en éducation, hors-série n°2, 1997. Représentations en formation. pp. 297-312

Pauses et débits : les indicateurs temporels de la production écrite

Foulin Jean-Noël. Pauses et débits : les indicateurs temporels de la production écrite. In: L'année psychologique. 1995 vol. 95, n°3. pp. 483-504

Sprenger-Charolles (Liliane), Casalis (Séverine). — Lecture et écriture : acquisition et troubles du développement

Foulin Jean-Noël. Sprenger-Charolles (Liliane), Casalis (Séverine). — Lecture et écriture : acquisition et troubles du développement. In: Revue française de pédagogie, volume 122, 1998. Recherches en psychologie de l'éducation. pp. 185-188

Contribution de la connaissance du nom des lettres à l'apprentissage du son des lettres (Etudes chez les prélecteurs francophones)

Cette thèse présente un ensemble d études examinant l influence de la connaissance du nom des lettres sur l apprentissage et la connaissance du son des lettres. Deux études sont consacrées à la place de la connaissance de la forme des lettres dans la relation entre nom et son des lettres. Les études ont été menées auprès de prélecteurs francophones âgés de 3 à 6 ans et scolarisés en école maternelle. L objectif de la première étude (Etude 1) était de décrire la connaissance du nom des lettres avec l âge et d identifier des facteurs d apprentissage. Les résultats ont révélé une influence de la fréquence, du prénom, de l ordre alphabétique, du type et de la structure du nom des lettres. Le nom des lettres de type èC ou VC (e.g., F, L ) ou non acrophonique était mieux connu que le nom des lettres de type Cé .ou CV (e.g., B, D ) ou de type MR (C, G ). L étude 2 examine l influence de la structure du nom des lettres sur la connaissance du nom et du son des lettres. Les résultats ont montré la même influence de la structure du nom des lettres sur la connaissance du nom que dans l étude 1. L influence de la structure du nom des lettres sur la connaissance du son des lettres est différente : le son des lettres de type Cé ou CV ou acrophoniques était mieux connu que le son des lettres èC ou VC et MR. Ces résultats suggèrent que le meilleur apprentissage du son des lettres de type Cé n est pas dû à une familiarité générale. Le chapitre 3 de la thèse présente une étude qui examine l effet de facilitation nom-son. Le son des lettres a été enseigné systématiquement à des enfants qui se distinguaient par leur connaissance du nom des lettres. Les enfants connaisseurs du nom des lettres apprenaient plus facilement le son des lettres que les enfants non connaisseurs du nom. Un effet de la structure du nom des lettres chez les enfants connaisseur du nom montrait que le son des lettres dont le nom contient le son de la lettre (CV et VC) était mieux appris que le son des lettres dont le nom ne contient pas le son de la lettre (MR). La connaissance du nom des lettres et la conscience phonologique contribuaient à une part de variance spécifique de l apprentissage du son des lettres, avec une contribution supérieure de la connaissance du nom des lettres. Les études du chapitre 4 examinent le développement de la sensibilité au son des lettres à partir de la connaissance du nom des lettres dans des tâches d identification de syllabes (Etude 4), de lettres (Etude 5) et de phonèmes (Etude 6). Les enfants identifiaient au-delà du hasard les syllabes, lettres et phonèmes. Un effet de la structure du nom des lettres est apparu : les lettres dont le son est relié au nom (CV et VC) étaient mieux identifiées que les lettres dont le son n est pas ou pas clairement relié au nom (MR). Le chapitre 5 (Etude 7) explore les liens entre connaissance du nom des lettres et connaissance de la forme des lettres à partir de tâches de catégorisation de lettres, de discrimination de la forme des lettres et de reconnaissance immédiate des lettres. Les enfants connaisseurs du nom des lettres étaient également de meilleurs connaisseurs de la forme des lettres. Ils catégorisaient, discriminaient et reconnaissaient mieux et plus vite les formes de lettre que les enfants non connaisseurs du nom. Enfin, le dernier chapitre présente une étude expérimentale (Etude 8) qui examine l influence de la connaissance préalable de la forme des lettres sur l apprentissage du nom et du son des lettres. L étude n a pas révélé d influence de la connaissance préalable de la forme des lettres sur l apprentissage des associations forme-nom et forme-son. L ensemble des études apporte des informations originales sur l effet de facilitation nom-son et sur l influence de la connaissance de la forme des lettres au sein de cette relation.This thesis introduces studies which examined the influence of letter-name knowledge to letter-sound knowledge and learning. Two studies were designed to examine the role of letter-shape knowledge in the relation between letter-name and letter-sound. These studies were conducted with French prereaders aged from 3 to 6 years old. The aim of the first study (Study 1) was to describe letter-name knowledge and to identify learning factors. Results revealed an influence of letter frequency, of first name, of alphabetical order and of letter-name structure. Letter names of èC or VC (e.g., F, L ) which correspond to non-acrophonic letter-name structure, were better known than letter-name of Cé or CV (e.g., B, D) or MR (C, G ). Study 2 examined the influence of letter-name structure to letter-name and letter-sound knowledge. Results showed the same influence of letter-name structure on letter-name knowledge as in Study 1. The influence of letter-name structure was different on letter-sound knowledge: The sounds of Cé or CV, or acrophonic letter-name structure, were better known than the sounds of èC or VC and MR letter-name structure. These results suggest that the learning of Cé sounds is not due to general familiarity. Chapter 3 introduces a study that examined the name-to-sound facilitation effect. Children differing in their letter-name knowledge were systematically taught letter-sound. Children with letter-name knowledge learned more easily letter sounds than did children with no letter-name knowledge. A letter-name structure effect was found for children with letter-name knowledge , indicating that the sound of CV and VC letter-name structure was better learned than the sound of MR letter-name structure. Letter-name knowledge and phonological awareness contributed to a specific part of variance in letter-sound learning, with a higher contribution of letter-name knowledge. The studies of chapter 4 examined the development of letter-sound sensitivity from letter-name knowledge using syllable identification (Study 4), letter identification (Study 5) and phoneme identification tasks (Study 6). Syllables, letters and phonemes were identified beyond chance level by children. A letter-name structure effect appeared: CV and VC letters were better identified than MR letters. Chapter 5 (Study 7) explored the links between letter-name knowledge and letter-shape knowledge using letter categorization tasks, letter-shape discrimination tasks and letter immediate recognition tasks. Children with letter-name knowledge had the best letter-shape knowledge. They categorized, discriminated and recognized shapes more exactly and more rapidly than did children with no letter-name knowledge. Finally, the last chapter introduced an experimental study (Study 8) designed to examine the influence of prior letter-shape knowledge on both letter-name and letter-sound learning. This study revealed no influence of prior letter-shape knowledge on either letter-name learning or letter-sound learning. As a whole, these studies provide new information concerning the name-to-sound facilitation effect and the influence of letter-shape knowledge in this relation.BORDEAUX2-Bib. électronique (335229905) / SudocSudocFranceF