Disorders of Reading and Language: Dyslexia & Language Impairment - Case Study Example

Disorders of Reading and Language: Dyslexia & Language Impairment Decisions about reading instruction in the contemporary situation have shown a mounting dependence on research evidences, and scholars are showing significant interest in the study of specific language impairment (SLI) and dyslexia as developmental disorders. Significantly, the role of phonological processes in learning to read has been studied by several scholars in the field. As a result of the developments in these studies, the current approaches in learning impairment highlight phoneme awareness and the relations between speech and alphabetic writing.

In one of the most relevant studies on the role of phonology in reading acquisition, Donald Shankweiler and Anne E. Fowler address the recurring questions on the topic. “These questions concern: (1) the relevance of phoneme awareness instruction to reading; (2) the consequences of the complexity of English spelling for decisions about explicit instruction in the alphabetic code; and (3) the causes and symptoms of reading difficulties and implications for remediation” (Shankweiler and Fowler, 2004, p. 483). In this study, the authors deal with each aspect of the question and offer with convincing answers based on research evidences.

In another major study on the methods of learning to read, Bradley and Bryant (1983) maintain that categorizing sounds has a casual connection with learning to read as children with reading impairment are markedly intensive to rhymes and alliterations. According to these scholars, it is important to attend to the constituent sounds of words that are to be categorized for the sake of these children. The article “Categorizing Sounds and Learning to Read – A Casual Connection” reports the results of a large scale study which supports the hypothesis that “the experiences which a child has with rhyme before he goes to school might have a considerable effect on his success later on in learning to read and write.

” (Bradley and Bryant, 1983 p. 419). In this seminal study, Bradley and Bryant argue that a young child’s ability to perform phonological segmentation tasks can significantly predict the child’s later reading ability, and, therefore, training in segmentation can greatly contribute to reading acquisition. In a major contribution to the existing studies on the topic, D. V. M. Bishop explores the various aspects of developmental reading disabilities and maintains that the role of phonological-processing has been overemphasized in previous studies.

According to him, “phonological deficits are a relatively unimportant factor in determining children’s reading difficulties.” (Bishop, 1991, p. 100). It is fundamental to realize that the overemphasis on the role of phonological-processing has been questioned by several scholars and the article by Bishop is another example of such studies. In a similar study on the phonemic awareness and reading skills, Diane Frome Loeb, et al. (2009) investigates the effectiveness of Fast For-Word Language (FFW-L) and two other interventions to improve the phonemic awareness and reading skills of children with specific language impairment with concurrent poor reading skills.

In this crucial study, the authors assessed the performance of 103 participant-children between the age group of 6-8 who were affected by language impairment and poor reading skills. These children were given either of the following interventions: FFW-L computerized intervention, a computer-assisted language intervention (CALI), an individualized language intervention (ILI), or an attention control (AC) computer program. The major conclusion of the study has been that all these interventions failed to make any significant changes in reading skills.

“The improvement in phonemic awareness but not reading in the FFW-L, CALI, and ILI interventions limits their use with children who have language impairment and poor reading skills. Similar results across treatment conditions suggest that acoustically modified speech was not a necessary component for improving phonemic awareness.” (Loeb, Gillam, Hoffman, Brandel, and Marquis, 2009, p. 376). This investigation has been exceptionally accurate in adopting the various methods to analyze the usefulness of various interventions in relation to the phonemic awareness and reading skills.

References Bradley, L and Bryant, P.E. (1983). “Categorizing Sounds and Learning to Read – A Casual Connection.” Nature. 301. p. 419. Bishop, D. V. M. (1991). “Developmental Reading Disabilities: The Role of Phonological -Processing Has Been Overemphasized.” Mind and Language. 6 (2). p. 100. Shankweiler, Donald and Fowler, Anne E. (2004). “Questions People Ask about the Role of Phonological Processes in Learning to Read.” Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal. 17. p.

483–515, Loeb, Diane Frome., Gillam, Ronald B., Hoffman, LaVae., Brandel, Jayne., and Marquis, Janet. (2009). “The Effects of Fast ForWord Language on the Phonemic Awareness and Reading Skills of School-Age Children With Language Impairments and Poor Reading Skills.” American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology. 18. p. 376–387.