There are competing theories in the literature regarding the extent to which the translation of print to speech involves single or multiple routes. Regardless of the number of routes in a model, all models of reading must account for both sight vocabulary (SV) processing, which specializes in mapping whole-word representations, and phonetic decoding (PD) processing, which specializes in mapping sub-word representations. The purpose of the present work was to examine two hypotheses regarding the relationship between SV and PD: independence versus redundancy. Both behavioural and functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) experiments were conducted and the results supported the hypothesis that SV and PD are behaviourally and neurobiologically independent processes. Furthermore, in the interest of advancing all models of basic word recognition, the neurobiological representations of some of the sub-systems within SV and PD routes were explored and the contribution that particular brain regions make to the completion of naming particular stimuli was evaluated. Finally, basic and applied areas of research were integrated to demonstrate how diagnostic stimuli developed from basic reading research can inform us about impaired reading performance following traumatic brain injury.

Abstract The purpose of this essay is to increase the knowledge of which strategies students with reading and writing disabilities or dyslexia use to learn in secondary school. The study aims to examine the following questions: Which coping strategies do students with reading and writing disabilities use in their studies? How can remedial teachers support students with reading and writing disabilities in their learning process? The study consists of two interviews with a total of three hours recorded material made with a secondary school teacher who teaches Swedish and English. The teacher has experiences of reading and writing disabilities herself but also from teaching students with dyslexia. The interviews are constructed into a lifestory describing experiences of reading and writing disabilities in school, during teacher training and as a teacher. The study shows limitations in the possibility to draw general conclusions form the data since there is only one informant participating. On the other hand its strength is the opportunity to illustrate unique and detailed experiences in a life characterized by difficulties to learn reading and writing. The results of the study shows that strategies used by girls with a high capacity for studies though they have reading and writing disabilities or dyslexia, also can prevent the discovery of their difficulties until secondary school or even later. It seems like these difficulties can contribute to a low self-esteem even as an adult which shows the importance of an early intervention. The results also implies that by teaching phonologic awareness, decoding and ortographic reading, young adults and adults still can improve their language skills. To increase the knowledge of and the understanding for these students might be a task for a remedial teacher in secondary school. / Syftet med denna studie är att öka förståelsen för inlärningssituationen för elever med läs- och skrivsvårigheter/dyslexi på gymnasiet. Studien försöker besvara följande frågeställningar:   Vilka strategier använder elever i läs- och skrivsvårigheter för att klara av sina studier? Hur kan man som speciallärare stödja inlärningsprocessen för elever i läs- och skrivsvårigheter? Studien bygger på två intervjuer med en sammanlagd inspelad intervjutid på tre timmar som gjorts med en gymnasielärare i svenska/engelska. Läraren har erfarenheter av läs- och skrivsvårigheter både för egen del och hos elever som läraren kommit i kontakt med i sitt yrke. Intervjuerna har konstruerats till en kronologisk och tematiskt utformad livsberättelse som handlar om lärarens erfarenheter av läs- och skrivsvårigheter under sin skolgång, lärarutbildning och som yrkesverksam lärare.  Med ett begränsat urval av informanter så gör studien inga anspråk på att presentera generaliserbara resultat utan belyser istället det unika i en persons erfarenheter. Det framkommer i livsberättelsen att strategier som duktiga och ambitiösa flickor med läs- och skrivsvårigheter/dyslexi använder för att klara av sina studier, också kan hjälpa till att dölja svårigheterna väldigt långt upp i åldern. Ett sent upptäckande av läs- och skrivsvårigheter verkar också bidra till ett dåligt självförtroende som vuxen vilket indikerar vikten av att uppmärksamma tecken på svårigheter på ett tidigt stadium. Resultaten antyder också att man genom undervisning kan öka fonologisk medvetenhet, avkodning och ortografisk läsning även som ungdom eller vuxen. Att öka kunskapen om och förståelsen för denna elevgrupp skulle kunna vara en arbetsuppgift för en speciallärare på gymnasiet.

No description available.

This work concerns children with reading- and writing difficulties/dyslexia. My purpose is to investigate the practical experience of teachers as well as their everyday work with these children. My questions are: How do teachers work with children aged 4-9 who have reading- and writing difficulties/dyslexia? Which various teaching aids exist for children who have reading- and writing difficulties/dyslexia? Which subjects are affected by reading- and writing difficulties/dyslexia? To answer the above questions I have used the qualitative method. I have performed interviews and observations. Previous research has shown that reading- and writing difficulties/dyslexia is one of our most common disabilities. It is present in all classes. There is also a discussion if reading- and writing difficulties and dyslexia are the same thing or not. Early support is important for children with reading- and writing difficulties/dyslexia. My conclusion is that the educating system does many things to help children with reading- and writing difficulties/dyslexia by the use of supporting methods, teaching aids, special educators, attitude, motivation and cooperation with parents. Examples of teaching aids are computer software and speech synthesis. Finally I have seen that reading- and writing difficulties/dyslexia actually do affect all subjects.

Purpose: my aim was to explore ways that teachers can support students with dyslexia and what/ which tools some teachers / special education teachers use to facilitate students. Method: I used a quantitative method by interviewing some regular teachers and special education teachers Results: In my study, I learned how some teachers can support students by reading loud to them; a main task for the teachers could be to create the love of reading for the students. That task was reinforced by students' self-image.

Auf der Grundlage psycholinguistischer, deutsch-didaktischer und linguistischer Forschungsergebnisse wurde ein Lesetraining auf Silbenbasis entwickelt, in dem Kindern mit Leseschwierigkeiten explizit Strategien zur visuellen Gliederung von Wörtern in größere funktionale Einheiten (Silben, einzelne Wörter (bei Zusammensetzungen), Präfixe) vermittelt werden. Es wird davon ausgegangen, dass Kinder mit Leseschwierigkeiten Wörter in zu kleinen linguistischen Einheiten erlesen. Das Training basiert linguistisch auf der Schreibsilbe als funktionaler Einheit beim Lesen. Basis des Lesetrainings ist ein von Scheerer-Neumann (1981) durchgeführtes Training zur Verbesserung der Lesegenauigkeit von Grundschulkindern. <br><br> Die empirische Überprüfung des Lesetrainings hatte zum einen das Ziel, die Wirksamkeit des Trainingsprogramms als solches zu überprüfen und zum anderen, ob das Training zu einer deutlich verbesserten Lesegeschwindigkeit und -genauigkeit bei Grundschulkindern der 3. und 4. Klassen führt. Das Training wurde von der Autorin ohne den Einsatz von Hilfskräften mit einer relativ kleinen Zahl von Kindern (N=11) durchgeführt, um so intensiv auf die Bedürfnisse der einzelnen Kinder eingehen und gegebenenfalls flexibel reagieren zu können. Aus organisatorischen und ethischen Gründen wurde auf eine Kontrollgruppe verzichtet. Die Wirksamkeit des Trainings wurde als Prätest-Training-Posttest-Follow-up Test-Design überprüft. Das Training umfasst 18 Einheiten (je 45 Minuten) und fand zweimal wöchentlich statt. Trainingsgruppen bestanden aus einer Dreiergruppe und einer Zweiergruppe; die anderen sechs Kinder wurden einzeln trainiert. <br><br> Der Posttest nach Abschluss des Trainings zeigte deutliche Verbesserungen der Lesegeschwindigkeit und -genauigkeit, die zum Teil auch signifikant waren. Der Follow-up Test drei Monate nach Ende des Trainings zeigte weitere Verbesserungen, die ebenfalls zum Teil signifikant waren. <br><br> Die Befunde sprechen dafür, dass das Trainingsprogramm geeignet ist, die Lesefähigkeit von leseschwachen Grundschulkindern der dritten und vierten Klasse zu verbessern. Die Teilnehmerzahl ist allerdings relativ gering, so dass die Ergebnisse nicht ohne weiteres auf die allgemeine Population von Kindern mit Leseschwierigkeiten übertragen werden können. Eine erneute Durchführung des Trainingsprogramms mit einer größeren Stichprobe und einer parallelisierten Kontrollgruppe, bei der die Kinder der Experimentalgruppe in größeren Gruppen trainiert werden, erscheint deshalb sinnvoll. / A syllable-based training program for reading disabled children was developed on the basis of psycholinguistic, educational and linguistic research results. The program teaches explicit strategies to visually segment words in larger functional linguistic units (syllables, prefixes, single words (in compound words)). <br><br> It is assumed that children with reading difficulties process words in linguistic units that are too small to make use of the linguistic structure of words. The training program, Potsdamer Lesetraining, emphasizes the role of the orthographical syllable as a functional unit in reading development. The program is based on a training program developed by Scheerer-Neumann (1981) that aimed at improving reading accuracy in reading disabled elementary school children. <br><br> The aim of the empirical test was to check if the training program had a positive effect on the decoding speed and accuracy of elementary school children with reading disabilities (3rd and 4th grade). The program was carried out by the author with a relatively small sample of children (N=11) and without further staff. This procedure made it possible to react intensively and flexible to the children's individual needs. A control group was not implemented for ethical and organizational reasons. <br><br> The validity of the training program was tested with a pretest-posttest-follow-up-test design. The program consisted of 18 training units (45 minutes each) and took place twice a week. The training groups consisted of one group with three children, another group with two children; the remaining six children were trained individually. <br><br> The posttests which were carried out immediately after training ended, showed significant effects of training for decoding speed and an increase of accuracy for several subtests. Follow-up tests carried out three months after the training had ended showed further improvement in decoding speed and an increase in accuracy; several subtests revealed significant effects. <br><br> The results indicate that the training program is suitable to improve the decoding speed and accuracy of dyslexic elementary school children in 3rd and 4th grade. A transfer of this conclusion to the general dyslexic population, however, is limited due to the small number of participants. <br><br> A replication of the study with a larger sample of reading disabled children trained in groups of two and three children and a matched control group would therefore seem necessary.

Syftet med studien är att utforska och utveckla kunskap om vilka beskrivningar av dyslexi som diagnos professionella med specialpedagogisk kompetens ger, samt deras upplevda erfarenheter av att utreda dyslexi. Metoden för insamling av data har varit intervjuer av specialpedagoger verksamma i två kommuner. Materialet har sedan analyserats och sorterats tematiskt. Resultatet av studien är att dyslexiutredningar utförs på olika sätt i olika kommuner beroende på hur man valt att organisera det och olika organisationsformer kan fungera bra. Deltagarna i studien använder LOGOS som en bas när de utreder dyslexi och deras erfarenhet är att det är en bra grund att utgå ifrån. Utöver det används intervjuer och observationer som utredningsmetod. Deltagarna anser inte att det viktigaste med utredningen är om eleven uppfyller kriterierna för dyslexi eller inte. Viktigast är att identifiera var problematiken ligger för att kunna åtgärda. Att utföra en dyslexiutredning tar lång tid och ibland kan även väntetiden för att komma igång med en utredning vara lång. Pojkar utreds vanligen tidigare än flickor. Det finns en stor överlappning mellan dyslexi och andra skolrelaterade svårigheter.  Jag har även analyserat resultatet i ett dilemmaperspektiv. Dilemman som identifierats i studien är ett etiskt dilemma, ett normalitetsdilemma och ett resursdilemma. / The purpose of the study is to explore and develop knowledge about the descriptions of dyslexia diagnosis professionals in the field of Special Education gives, as well as their perceived experience of investigating dyslexia. The method of data collection was interviews with special educators, operating in two different municipalities. The data is then analyzed and thematically sorted.  The results of the study shows that assessments of dyslexia is carried out in different ways in different municipalities depending on how they choose to organize it. Different forms of organization is regarded by the patricipants as working well. Participants in the study uses LOGOS as a base when assessing dyslexia and their experience is that it is a good base to start from. In addition, interviews and observations are used as assessment tools. The participants do not consider that the most important of the assessment is whether the student meets the criteria for dyslexia or not. Most important is to identify specific areas of difficulty with the aim of arranging for support and intervention. Performing an Assessment of dyslexia takes time and sometimes can even initial long waiting to get started be the case. Boys are investigated usually younger than girls. There is a big overlap between dyslexia and other school-related difficulties.The study includes as well an analyzes of the results taking the departure in so called Dilemma perspective. Dilemmas identified in the study was an ethical dilemma, a dilemma of normality and a resource dilemma.

This dissertation is a compilation of research and theoretical papers based on the affordances of multimodal literacies for marginalized learners and for pre-service teachers’ developing conceptualizations of literacy. Through a transdisciplinary lens, the author considers complex issues presented in traditional, print-based learning environments that potentially marginalize learners in their developing abilities to become successful participants in the multiple literacies in the real world. Three studies focus on pre-service teachers and their developing understanding of effective literacy-related classroom practices. Chapter Three explores potential affordances of a multimodal learning environment for pre-service teachers with self-identified reading difficulties. The phenomenological study highlights differing needs of pre-service teachers with reading difficulties as they navigate the meaning-making process within a literacy methods course. Further, it provides tangible examples of the interplay between neurocognitive mechanisms and the social and cultural factors students face as they work within a variety of modal platforms. Through a qualitative case study, Chapters Eight and Nine explore the ways multimodal learning experiences within a literacy methods course influenced pre-service teachers’ literacy identities and how their developing identities translated into classroom pedagogical decisions. Chapter Nine proposes a framework for understanding pre-service teachers’ developing literacy identities. Chapters Five and Six explore the needs of learners marginalized in traditional, print- based classrooms through a critical and theoretical lens. Chapter Five explores the authentic literacy practices of the author’s son, who is identified as a talented learner, yet unmotivated in the traditional classroom setting. She argues traditional conceptualizations of literacy as reliant on print forms of text are outdated and unresponsive to the dynamic changes of the 21st century. Further, the author argues the lack of responsiveness to dynamic and multimodal characteristics of the globalized world contribute to the perceived lack of motivation talented boys demonstrate in school-based literacy spaces. Chapter Six provides a review the literature on the “functional circuitry of the reading brain” (Schlaggar & McCandliss, 2007), and it reviews neuroscientific studies of individuals with developmental dyslexia (Lyon, Shaywitz, & Shaywitz, 2003), which provide evidence for amodal sluggish attentional shifting (SAS) as a causal factor for amodal temporal processing deficits. The author provides autoethnographic vignettes between research and theoretical papers, serving as insight into the author’s journey in her own literacy identity development. While chapters following each vignette utilize a variety of qualitative methodologies and review empirical research, the author’s goal is to take the reader on a journey as she weaves together her work as a literacy researcher and educator. Ultimately, the author’s intention is to evoke both emotion and greater understanding about what it means to be literate in our dynamic society.

Individuals with dyslexia have an unexpected difficulty learning to read. This difficulty produces other effects, such as poor reading attitudes, meaning many choose not to read. Reading is a valuable source of information and entertainment, therefore individuals with dyslexia require better reading support. This study attempted to develop an intervention to improve reading attitudes using video self-modelling (VSM). VSM involves individuals watching carefully created videos of themselves correctly performing target behaviours. During this 1 month intervention, 14 participants (13 male and 1 female) aged 9-14 who had dyslexia were asked to watch a weekly video of themselves silently reading one of four types of material: academic digital, academic print, recreational digital or recreational print. The participants’ reading attitudes and ability were measured before and after the intervention using the Survey of Adolescent Reading Attitudes and the Wide Range Achievement Test–Fourth Edition, respectively. Their reading habits and affect while reading (as a proxy measure of reading attitudes) were monitored during the intervention using a daily reading diary. This study did not detect any systematic or reliable changes in reading habits, affect while reading, reading attitudes and reading skills. This may have been due to limitations in the procedure, or it is possible that VSM cannot affect attitudes and that reading attitudes alone do not have a strong influence on ability. Consequently, future research should use VSM to help individuals with dyslexia by focusing on specific reading skills, such as phonological awareness.

Sammanfattning   Det är inte bara elever med dyslexi som har läs- och skrivsvårigheter, utan problemet har ökat överallt i vårt moderna samhälle. Kraven på att läsa och ha god läsförståelse ökar i takt med att allt mer information skickas till oss via media, internet och post. Detta problem medförde att vi på den skola jag arbetar startade ett läsprojekt för att öka elevernas läsförståelse och därmed också deras resultat i skolan. Syftet med mitt arbete är att ta reda på vilka svårigheter och orsaker det finns för elever som har läs- och skrivsvårigheter, samt hur man ökar deras läsförståelseförmåga. Kan elever bara genom att läsa mera, kunna förbättra sina prestationer i läsförståelse. För att få ett svar på detta har jag undersökt elevers resultat av läsförståelsediagnoser. Resultaten presenteras utifrån en stanineskala som är en standardskala där elevernas poäng överförs till en niogradig skala. Ett staninevärde på fem motsvarar medelvärde. Sammanlagt nittiosju elever i samma ålder har kartlagts under högstadietiden. Resultatet vid undersökningen blev att läsförståelsen förbättrades för de svaga läsarna. Det visade sig också att de som var bra i sin läsförståelse i årskurs sju, sänkte sina resultat och närmade sig medelstanine fem. Ökad lästid i skolan har gjort att eleverna ökat sin läsförståelse. Däremot krävs det en utveckling av projektet, där samtalet kring det man läser sätts i fokus. Samtal ökar elevers förståelse och reflekterande. / Abstract The problem with dyslexia has increased everywhere in our modern society. Requirements of proficiency in reading and comprehension skills, increases at a similar speed to that which information is disseminated. This problem led to a reading project in the school where I work. The aim was to increase pupils reading, comprehension and also their overall performance. Is it a possibility that by just reading more in school, pupils can improve their performance? To find and answer I have researched the pupils results from a reading comprehension diagnosis. The results are presented from a stanine scale, a standard scale where pupils points transfers to a nine degree scale. A stanine value of five is equal to mean and the lowest values are one and two. The reading diagnosis was undertaken by 97 pupils in the same age. The fist was carried out in autumn term of year seven and then every autumn up to year nine. The results show that reading comprehension improved for weaker readers from level one and two in year seven, to level three and four in year nine. The results also showed that pupils with good abilities in year seven lowered their results to middle stanine five in year nine. More time for reading in school shows that pupils increase their reading comprehension. However, the project needs to develop further, with focus on discussions following the reading of a text.