Letters and numbers are different domains, and their differentiation increases with schooling. It has nonetheless been argued that reading alphabetic and numerical materials partly involves the same processes, even in adults. Whether individuals with dyslexia have difficulty reading and writing numbers remains to be established. This study…

The current study examined German spelling errors among students with German as their first language (L1) and those with German as their second language (L2) in Grades 3-4 (elementary school students; n = 127) and Grades 5-7 (secondary school students; n = 379). Five hundred and six students participated in the study. We performed two separate…

Copying characters presented previously (delayed copying) is an important skill in Chinese literacy acquisition. The relations of delayed copying and a set of literacy-related skills (including vocabulary knowledge, rapid automatized naming, phonological awareness, morphological awareness, and orthographic awareness), visual-orthographic judgment,…

We introduce a model of Hebrew reading development that emphasizes both the universal and script-specific aspects of learning to read a Semitic abjad. At the universal level, the study of Hebrew reading acquisition offers valuable insights into the fundamental dilemmas of all writing systems--balancing the competing needs of the novice versus the…

To help all students meet the writing expectations of the Common Core State Standards, researchers need a deeper understanding of the characteristics of struggling writers. The purpose of this study was to explore the writing profiles of students including those who have or are at risk for writing disabilities. First-grade students (N = 391) were…

Several studies have highlighted that children with reading comprehension difficulties also have problems in tasks that involve telling a story, in writing or verbally. The main differences identified regard poor comprehenders' lower level of coherence in their productions by comparison with good comprehenders. Only one study has compared poor and…

Sequential regression was used to evaluate whether language-related working memory components uniquely predict reading and writing achievement beyond cognitive-linguistic translation for students in Grades 4 through 9 (N = 103) with specific learning disabilities (SLDs) in subword handwriting (dysgraphia, n = 25), word reading and spelling…

This study examined syntactic comprehension in French children with dyslexia in both listening and reading. In the first syntactic comprehension task, a partial version of the Epreuve de Comprehension syntaxico-semantique (ECOSSE test; French adaptation of Bishop's test for receptive grammar test) children with dyslexia performed at a lower level…

Programmatic, multidisciplinary research provided converging brain, genetic, and developmental support for evidence-based diagnoses of three specific learning disabilities based on hallmark phenotypes (behavioral expression of underlying genotypes) with treatment relevance: dysgraphia (impaired legible automatic letter writing, orthographic…

The purpose of the two studies reported in this article was to examine technical features of curriculum-based measures for beginning writers. In Study 1, 50 first graders responded to word copying, sentence copying, and story prompts. In Study 2, 50 additional first graders responded to letter, picture-word, picture-theme, and photo prompts. In…

Syntax in the written expression of five normal and five learning disabled (LD) fourth graders was assessed. The syntax of the LD group was found to be significantly deficient when compared to that of the normal group. (Author)

The double-deficit model has been examined primarily in relation to reading. We investigated whether children classified according to the double-deficit model would exhibit differences in other neuropsychological domains. Children referred for learning problems (N = 188), ages 7 to 11, were classified by double-deficit subtype. Only three of the…

The role of cohesion and the types of cohesive ties (grammatical, transitional, and lexical) found in written text are examined in order to help teachers establish appropriate instructional objectives. (CL)

The article examines two topics important to educators working with learning disabled college writers: error patterns of college learning disabled, normal, and basic writers across different tasks and instructional approaches successful in improvng the written language skills of college learning disabled writers, such as sentence combining and…

This article reviews the varied components of written language, suggest informal means for written language assessment, and summarizes the cognitive and linguistic factors that influence varied aspects of writing performance. Two informal evaluation scales are presented that stress the interconnection between oral and written language processes.…