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Brain Sciences
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Language Comprehension and Literacy in Dyslexia and Comorbid Disorders
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Language Comprehension and Literacy in Dyslexia and Comorbid Disorders

A special issue of Brain Sciences (ISSN 2076-3425). This special issue belongs to the section "Neurolinguistics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2021) | Viewed by 8471

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Paul E. Engelhardt

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Psychology, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, LSB Building 0.108, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK
Interests: psycholinguistics; syntactic processing; executive function; ADHD; dyslexia; au-tism spectrum disorders; eye movements; pupillometry
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue focuses on dyslexia, and invites papers related to all aspects of language comprehension (spoken or written). We are also interested in investigations of dyslexia alongside comorbid disorders (Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), developmental language disorder (DLD), and other learning disorders, e.g., dyscalculia) with a view towards identifying common underlying causal mechanisms of difficulty/inefficiency in the processing of language. We encourage papers which focus on, and bridge, distinct etiological levels of analysis, from genes, to neuropathology, to cognitive and behavioural risk factors. We also encourage papers on dyslexia across the lifespan and also across different level of linguistic analysis (words, sentences, texts). Cutting-edge reviews, theoretical (empirical) research reports, and randomized-control type interventions for reading difficulties, will all be considered.

Dr. Paul E. Engelhardt
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Brain Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Developmental Dyslexia
  • Language Comprehension
  • Sentence Comprehension
  • Literacy
  • Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
  • Developmental Language Disorder
  • Learning Disorders
  • Reading Intervention

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 743 KiB  
Article
Comprehension and Eye Movements in the Processing of Subject- and Object-Relative Clauses: Evidence from Dyslexia and Individual Differences
by Marianna Stella and Paul E. Engelhardt
Brain Sci. 2021, 11(7), 915; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/brainsci11070915 - 10 Jul 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2534
Abstract
In this study, we examined eye movements and comprehension in sentences containing a relative clause. To date, few studies have focused on syntactic processing in dyslexia and so one goal of the study is to contribute to this gap in the experimental literature. [...] Read more.
In this study, we examined eye movements and comprehension in sentences containing a relative clause. To date, few studies have focused on syntactic processing in dyslexia and so one goal of the study is to contribute to this gap in the experimental literature. A second goal is to contribute to theoretical psycholinguistic debate concerning the cause and the location of the processing difficulty associated with object-relative clauses. We compared dyslexic readers (n = 50) to a group of non-dyslexic controls (n = 50). We also assessed two key individual differences variables (working memory and verbal intelligence), which have been theorised to impact reading times and comprehension of subject- and object-relative clauses. The results showed that dyslexics and controls had similar comprehension accuracy. However, reading times showed participants with dyslexia spent significantly longer reading the sentences compared to controls (i.e., a main effect of dyslexia). In general, sentence type did not interact with dyslexia status. With respect to individual differences and the theoretical debate, we found that processing difficulty between the subject and object relatives was no longer significant when individual differences in working memory were controlled. Thus, our findings support theories, which assume that working memory demands are responsible for the processing difficulty incurred by (1) individuals with dyslexia and (2) object-relative clauses as compared to subject relative clauses. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Language Comprehension and Literacy in Dyslexia and Comorbid Disorders)
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13 pages, 1322 KiB  
Article
A Network Analysis of the Relationship among Reading, Spelling and Maths Skills
by Pierluigi Zoccolotti, Paola Angelelli, Chiara Valeria Marinelli and Daniele Luigi Romano
Brain Sci. 2021, 11(5), 656; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/brainsci11050656 - 18 May 2021
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2360
Abstract
Background. Skill learning (e.g., reading, spelling and maths) has been predominantly treated separately in the neuropsychological literature. However, skills (as well as their corresponding deficits), tend to partially overlap. We recently proposed a multi-level model of learning skills (based on the distinction among [...] Read more.
Background. Skill learning (e.g., reading, spelling and maths) has been predominantly treated separately in the neuropsychological literature. However, skills (as well as their corresponding deficits), tend to partially overlap. We recently proposed a multi-level model of learning skills (based on the distinction among competence, performance, and acquisition) as a framework to provide a unitary account of these learning skills. In the present study, we examined the performance of an unselected group of third- to fifth-grade children on standard reading, spelling, and maths tasks, and tested the relationships among these skills with a network analysis, i.e., a method particularly suited to analysing relations among different domains. Methods. We administered a battery of reading, spelling, and maths tests to 185 third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade children (103 M, 82 F). Results. The network analysis indicated that the different measures of the same ability (i.e., reading, spelling, and maths) formed separate clusters, in keeping with the idea that they are based on different competences. However, these clusters were also related to each other, so that three nodes were more central in connecting them. In keeping with the multi-level model of learning skills, two of these tests (arithmetic facts subtest and spelling words with ambiguous transcription) relied heavily on the ability to recall specific instances, a factor hypothesised to underlie the co-variation among learning skills. Conclusions. The network analysis indicated both elements of association and of partial independence among learning skills. Interestingly, the study was based on standard clinical instruments, indicating that the multi-level model of learning skills might provide a framework for the clinical analysis of these learning skills. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Language Comprehension and Literacy in Dyslexia and Comorbid Disorders)
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34 pages, 2421 KiB  
Article
The Effect of Syntactic Impairment on Errors in Reading Aloud: Text Reading and Comprehension of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children
by Ronit Szterman and Naama Friedmann
Brain Sci. 2020, 10(11), 896; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/brainsci10110896 - 23 Nov 2020
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2833
Abstract
Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) children show difficulties in reading aloud and comprehension of texts. Here, we examined the hypothesis that these reading difficulties are tightly related to the syntactic deficit displayed by DHH children. We first assessed the syntactic abilities of [...] Read more.
Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) children show difficulties in reading aloud and comprehension of texts. Here, we examined the hypothesis that these reading difficulties are tightly related to the syntactic deficit displayed by DHH children. We first assessed the syntactic abilities of 32 DHH children communicating in spoken language (Hebrew) aged 9;1–12;2. We classified them into two groups of DHH children—with and without a syntactic deficit according to their performance in six syntactic tests assessing their comprehension and production of sentences with syntactic movement. We also assessed their reading at the single word level using a reading aloud test of words, nonwords, and word pairs, designed to detect the various types of dyslexia, and established, for each participant, whether they had dyslexia and of what type. Following this procedure, 14 of the children were identified with a syntactic deficit, and 15 with typical syntax (3 marginally impaired); 22 of the children had typical reading at the word level, and 4 had dyslexia (3 demonstrated sublexical reading). The main experiment examined reading aloud and comprehension of 6 texts with syntactic movement (which contained, e.g., relative clauses and topicalized sentences), in comparison to 6 parallel texts without movement. The results indicated a close connection between syntactic difficulties and errors in reading aloud and in comprehension of texts. The DHH children with syntactic deficit made significantly more errors in reading aloud and more comprehension errors than the DHH children with intact syntax (and than the hearing controls), even though most of them did not have dyslexia at the word level. The DHH children with syntactic deficit made significantly more reading errors when they read texts with syntactic movement than on matched texts without movement. These results indicate that difficulties in text reading, manifesting both in errors in reading aloud and in impaired comprehension, may stem from a syntactic deficit and may occur even when reading at the word level is completely intact. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Language Comprehension and Literacy in Dyslexia and Comorbid Disorders)
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