Search results for "Spell"

Language development, literacy skills and predictive connections to reading in Finnish children with and without familial risk for dyslexia

2010

Discriminative language markers and predictive links between early language and literacy skills were investigated retrospectively in the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Dyslexia in which children at familial risk for dyslexia have been followed from birth. Three groups were formed on the basis of 198 children’s reading and spelling status. One group of children with reading disability (RD; n = 46) and two groups of typical readers from nondyslexic control (TRC; n = 84) and dyslexic families (TRD; n = 68) were examined from age 1.5 years to school age. The RD group was outperformed by typical readers on numerous language and literacy measures (expressive and receptive language, morphology, …

Temporal stability and representational distinctiveness: Key functions of orthographic working memory

2011

A primary goal of working memory research has been to understand the mechanisms that permit working memory systems to effectively maintain the identity and order of the elements held in memory for sufficient time as to allow for their selection and transfer to subsequent processing stages. Based on the performance of two individuals with acquired dysgraphia affecting orthographic working memory (WM; the graphemic buffer), we present evidence of two distinct and dissociable functions of orthographic WM. One function is responsible for maintaining the temporal stability of letters held in orthographic WM, while the other is responsible for maintaining their representational distinctiveness. T…

The effects of spelling consistency on phonological awareness: a comparison of English and German.

2005

Within alphabetic languages, spelling-to-sound consistency can differ dramatically. For example, English and German are very similar in their phonological and orthographic structure but not in their consistency. In English the letter a is pronounced differently in the words bank, ball, and park, whereas in German the letter a always has the same pronunciation (e.g., Ball, Park, Bank). It is often argued that reading acquisition has a reciprocal effect on phonological awareness. As reading is acquired, therefore, spoken language representation may be affected differently for English and German children. Prior to literacy acquisition, however, phonological representation in English and German…

Do fatty acids help in overcoming reading difficulties? A double-blind, placebo-controlled study of the effects of eicosapentaenoic acid and carnosin…

2008

Background  There are claims that dietary supplementation of unsaturated fatty acids could help children with dyslexia to overcome their reading problems. However, these claims have not yet been empirically tested. Methods  This study was designed to test whether dietary supplementation was superior to placebo in treating reading, spelling or other reading-related skills of children with dyslexia. The experimental group (eicosapentaenoic acid, EPA, n = 30) ate dietary supplements and the control group (placebo, n = 31) placebos during the 90-day treatment period. The supplements contained omega-3 fatty acid (ethyl-EPA, 500 mg/day) and carnosine (400 mg/day). The groups were matched for read…

2020

Background: Despite increased enrolments at primary schools in Zambia, more than half of the children in Grades 1–4 are unable to meet the required minimum standards for literacy. Aim: The study set out to examine the effects of using a phone-based mobile literacy game (Graphogame) to improve literacy skills in children and adults in rural family settings. Setting: The study was conducted in the Katete District, a rural town in the eastern province of Zambia. Methods: Participants were 73 Grade 2 learners (52% boys, mean age 9 years and 48% girls, mean age 10 years) and 37 parents (mean age 36 years). Three literacy tests, measuring letter-sound identification, phonological awareness, spell…

Soothing Lyres and epodai: Music Therapy and the Cases of Orpheus, Empedocles and David

2014

Within the frame of the role of music in ancient Greece, this short essay focuses on the soothing effects of the lyre as evidence for the use of music not only for religious or educational purposes, but also for therapeutic ones. The music of the lyre proves useful both for the performer, and for people listening to it. The main two pieces of evidence analyzed, namely Iamblichus, De Vita Pythagorica 113, and, within a different cultural context - the biblical one - 1 Samuel XVI.16, that after many centuries was taken up again by the historian Joseph Flavius (Antiquitates Iudaicae VI 166-169), well illustrate the healing effects of music.

The labour market consequences of self-employment spells:European evidence

2008

Hundreds of thousands of Europeans enter self-employment each year, but because self-employment spells are typically brief, many of them exit soon after entry. We examine how those who return to paid-employment fare on the labour market using the European Community Household Panel (ECHP). Like earlier evidence for the US, ours indicate that, in general, brief spells of self-employment do not increase average hourly earnings upon return to paid-employment. For highly educated men, an additional year of self-employment actually decreases their earnings by 4-5% relative to a year of continued wage employment. We also find that brief spells of self-employment are associated with increased proba…

Academic skills in children with early-onset type 1 diabetes: the effects of diabetes-related risk factors

2012

Aim  The study aimed to assess the effects of diabetes-related risk factors, especially severe hypoglycaemia, on the academic skills of children with early-onset type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). Method  The study comprised 63 children with T1DM (31 females, 32 males; mean age 9y 11mo, SD 4mo) and 92 comparison children without diabetes (40 females, 52 males; mean age 9y 9mo, SD 3mo). Children were included if T1DM had been diagnosed before the age of 5 years and if they were aged between 9 and 10 years at the time of study. Children were not included if their native language was not Finnish and if they had a diagnosed neurological disorder that affected their cognitive development. Among th…

Task persistence mediates the effect of children’s literacy skills on mothers’ academic help

2015

This longitudinal study aimed at examining the relationship between children's task persistence, mothers' academic help, and the development of children’s literacy skills (reading and spelling) at the beginning of primary school. The participants were 870 children, 682 mothers, and 53 class teachers. Data were collected three times – at the beginning and the end of Grade 1 and at the end of Grade 2. Better literacy skills predicted higher persistence in completing school tasks and, correspondingly, higher persistence was related to better subsequent skills. Also, lower task persistence at the end of Grade 1 corresponded to more frequent academic help from mothers in Grade 2. Moreover, child…

Parliamentary Politics as an Activity

2018

In this book, Kari Palonen undertakes a thought experiment to spell out key principles of the parliamentary ideal type of politics. Max Weber offers him the main intellectual inspiration, Westminster parliament provides the main historical reference and the author’s studies on parliamentary procedure and rhetoric provide the background. Parliamentary acting and thinking offers us the best example of politics as contingent and controversial activity. In parliament, the pro et contra debate on the motions and the dissensus between perspectives of judging as well as playing in time and with time are built into the institution itself. In this sense, parliamentary politics is more than parliamen…