Purpose: Word learning difficulties have been documented in multiple studies involving children with dyslexia and developmental language disorder (DLD; see also specific language impairment). However, no previous studies have directly contrasted word learning in these two frequently co-occurring disorders. We examined word learning in second-grade…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine if word reading and vocabulary are reciprocally related. Method: We followed a sample of 172 English-speaking Canadian children (82 girls, 90 boys; M[subscript age] = 75.87 months at the first measurement point) from the beginning of Grade 1 until the beginning of Grade 3 and assessed them three…

This paper examines the effects of a morphological awareness intervention on the word reading and spelling skills of Grades 4 to 6 children with dyslexia. Sixteen children in eastern Ontario, Canada, received 20 hours of morphologically oriented instruction spread over 6 weeks and eight served as controls, and all received a battery of reading and…

Inferencing skills uniquely contribute to the reading comprehension skills of older grade-school and college students. Evidence also suggests that children's reading component skills, such as decoding and language comprehension, differentially contribute to various reading comprehension assessments. However, additional research is needed to…

Background/Context: Reading achievement declined drastically during the COVID-19 pandemic (Bailey et al., 2021). One report suggests more than one-third of fourth-grade students cannot read at a basic level and access to effective literacy instruction is particularly limited for minority students and students with learning disabilities (Ellis et…

EFL Learning is considered an enriching and rewarding experience for most 'normal' learners. However, for learners with neurological differences/learning disabled, it can be a stressful and unpleasant experience. Students with learning disabilities (SLD) are often mistaken for slow, behind, incapable, and failures as there is a lack of awareness…

This study examined the effectiveness of the intensive implementation of a multicomponent reading intervention ("Voyager Passport") with 306 fourth-grade students with severe reading difficulties. Students with reading comprehension achievement below the 15th percentile in the fall of fourth grade were randomly assigned to the intensive…

This study examined benefits of connecting meaning, speech, and print in vocabulary learning for kindergarten English learners. Students screened eligible with limited English proficiency were randomly assigned to two instruction conditions. Both groups received direct instruction in high frequency root words. One condition featured added…

In this study we evaluated whether the sophistication of children's invented spellings in kindergarten was predictive of subsequent reading and spelling in Grade 1, while also considering the influence of well-known precursors. Children in their first year of schooling (mean age = 66 months; N = 171) were assessed on measures of oral vocabulary,…

The purpose of this study was to examine the relations between parents' home literacy practices and the literacy skills of young children at risk for reading difficulties. Participants included 198 kindergarten and first-grade students and their parents. Children were enrolled in two Title I schools in an urban setting. Parents completed the…

The Adult Basic Education (ABE) population consists of a wide range of abilities with needs that may be unique to this set of learners. The purpose of this study was to better understand the relative contributions of phonological decoding and morphological awareness to spelling, vocabulary, and comprehension across a sample of ABE students. In…

We review the value of cost-effectiveness analysis for evaluation and decision making with respect to educational programs and discuss its application to early reading interventions. We describe the conditions for a rigorous cost-effectiveness analysis and illustrate the challenges of applying the method in practice, providing examples of programs…

Models of monolingual literacy propose that reading acquisition builds upon children's semantic, phonological, and orthographic knowledge. The relationships between these components vary cross-linguistically, yet it is generally unknown how these differences impact bilingual children's literacy. A comparison between Spanish-English bilingual and…

Purpose: The purpose of the current study was to examine the role that the first language (L1), Spanish, at Pre-Kindergarten plays in predicting second language (L2), English, word reading in first grade. In addition, it examines the role of conceptual vocabulary in predicting word reading in English. Method: As part of a longitudinal study of…

Background: Reading attitudes are recognised as an influencing factor on the language and literacy achievement of school age monolingual English-speaking children. The relationship between reading attitudes and achievement in young Spanish-speaking English Learners (ELs) remains understudied. Purpose: The aim of the current study was to describe…