Disentangling dyslexia : phonological and processing deficit in developmental dyslexia

357 Pages·2017·1.921 MB·English

by  Vender, Maria

li212 li212
li
Linguistic Insights
212
Studies in Language and Communication
Beyond the well-known reading and spelling dif-
ficulties, dyslexic individuals exhibit marked pho-
nological disorders, poor lexical retrieval and
problems in the comprehension and production
of grammatical structures that are particularly
expensive in terms of processing costs. To ac-
count for these difficulties, the author presents
an original hypothesis, proposing that dyslexia
is related to a working memory inefficiency, af-
fecting in particular the subject’s phonological
skills and executive functions. The results of four
experimental protocols, assessing dyslexic chil-
dren’s working memory and their ability to inter- a
i
pret scalar implicatures, negative sentences and x
e
pronominal expressions, are presented and dis- l
s
cussed in this volume. Consistent with the hy- y
D
pothesis outlined in this book, the results of the

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four studies show that dyslexics underperformed
n
in comparison to age-matched controls and even i
l
g
to younger children in tasks requiring good pho-
n
nological and processing abilities. a
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• Maria Vender

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V Disentangling Dyslexia

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Maria Vender is a Postdoc Researcher and Adjunct a
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Professor at the University of Verona. Her research
interests concern the investigation of the linguistic Phonological and Processing Deficit
and cognitive deficits in learning and language dis-
in Developmental Dyslexia
abilities, focusing on the relationship between dys-
lexia, bilingualism and foreign language learning.
ISBN 978-3-0343-2064-1 g
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9 783034 320641 e
www.peterlang.com P
li212 li212
li
Linguistic Insights
212
Studies in Language and Communication
Beyond the well-known reading and spelling dif-
ficulties, dyslexic individuals exhibit marked pho-
nological disorders, poor lexical retrieval and
problems in the comprehension and production
of grammatical structures that are particularly
expensive in terms of processing costs. To ac-
count for these difficulties, the author presents
an original hypothesis, proposing that dyslexia
is related to a working memory inefficiency, af-
fecting in particular the subject’s phonological
skills and executive functions. The results of four
experimental protocols, assessing dyslexic chil-
dren’s working memory and their ability to inter- a
i
pret scalar implicatures, negative sentences and x
e
pronominal expressions, are presented and dis- l
s
cussed in this volume. Consistent with the hy- y
D
pothesis outlined in this book, the results of the

g
four studies show that dyslexics underperformed
n
in comparison to age-matched controls and even i
l
g
to younger children in tasks requiring good pho-
n
nological and processing abilities. a
t
n
e
s
i
D

• Maria Vender

r
e
d
n
e
V Disentangling Dyslexia

a
i
r
Maria Vender is a Postdoc Researcher and Adjunct a
M
Professor at the University of Verona. Her research
interests concern the investigation of the linguistic Phonological and Processing Deficit
and cognitive deficits in learning and language dis-
in Developmental Dyslexia
abilities, focusing on the relationship between dys-
lexia, bilingualism and foreign language learning.
g
n
a
L

r
e
t
e
www.peterlang.com P
Disentangling Dyslexia
Linguistic Insights
Studies in Language and Communication
Edited by Maurizio Gotti,
University of Bergamo
Volume 212
ADVISORY BOARD
Vijay Bhatia (Hong Kong)
David Crystal (Bangor)
Konrad Ehlich (Berlin / München)
Jan Engberg (Aarhus)
Norman Fairclough (Lancaster)
John Flowerdew (Hong Kong)
Ken Hyland (Hong Kong)
Roger Lass (Cape Town)
Matti Rissanen (Helsinki)
Françoise Salager-Meyer (Mérida, Venezuela)
Srikant Sarangi (Cardiff)
Susan Šarcˇevi´c (Rijeka)
Lawrence Solan (New York)
PETER LANG
Bern • Bruxelles • Frankfurt am Main • New York • Oxford • Warszawa • Wien
Maria Vender
Disentangling Dyslexia
Phonological and Processing Deficit
in Developmental Dyslexia
PETER LANG
Bern • Bruxelles • Frankfurt am Main • New York • Oxford • Warszawa • Wien
Bibliographic information published by die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
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Contents
Acknowledgments ...............................................................................13
Preface.................................................................................................15
Chapter One: An Introduction To Developmental Dyslexia ...............19
1. Introduction ..........................................................................19
2. On the difficulty to find a comprehensive definition
of Developmental Dyslexia ..................................................21
3. Manifestations of Developmental Dyslexia .........................24
3.1. Reading difficulties .....................................................24
3.1.1. A theoretical approach to reading:
the Dual-Route Model ....................................26
3.1.2. The development of reading:
Frith’s model of learning to read .....................30
3.2. Spelling difficulties .....................................................33
3.3. Phonological deficits ...................................................35
3.4. Vocabulary development and lexical retrieval ............38
3.5. Grammatical deficits ...................................................40
3.5.1. The Interpretation of Tough Sentences ...........41
3.5.2. The Interpretation of Pronouns .......................42
3.5.3. Comprehension and Production of
Relative Clauses ..............................................49
3.5.4. The Interpretation of Passive Sentences .........54
3.5.5. The Interpretation of Grammatical Aspect .....55
3.5.6. Morphosyntactic Agreement ..........................57
3.6. Attention deficits.........................................................59
3.7. Motor deficits ..............................................................62
4. Precursors of Dyslexia .........................................................66
5. Summary and Conclusions ..................................................69
Chapter Two: Developmental Dyslexia: Theoretical Perspectives ......71
1. Introduction ..........................................................................71
2. The Visual Deficit Hypothesis .............................................73
3. The Auditory Deficit Hypothesis .........................................74
4. The Magnocellular Deficit Hypothesis ................................76
4.1. The Magnocellular Systems and its disruption
in Dyslexia ..................................................................76
4.2. Reading deficits as a consequence of
magnocellular disorders ..............................................77
5. The Phonological Deficit Hypothesis...................................79
5.1. Deficit or delay? The Developmental
Lag Hypothesis ...........................................................80
5.2. Phonological deficits causing or caused by
poor reading? ..............................................................81
5.3. Underspecified phonological representations or
difficulties in accessing them? ....................................82
5.4. Strengths and weaknesses of the Phonological
Deficit Hypothesis ......................................................85
6. The Double Deficit Hypothesis ............................................87
7. The Working Memory Deficit Hypothesis ...........................90
7.1. What is Working Memory?.........................................91
7.2. Baddeley and Hitch’s Original Model of
Working Memory .......................................................93
7.2.1. The Phonological Loop ..................................94
7.2.1.1. The Phonological Loop and
Language Competence: evidence
from language disordered and
language gifted people .........................99
7.2.2. The Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad ........................101
7.2.3. The Central Executive ..................................103
7.2.4. The Episodic Buffer ......................................105
7.3. Baddeley’s revised Model of Working Memory .......106
7.4. Working Memory and Development ........................107
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7.5. Working Memory, Cognitive Skills and
Neuro-developmental Disorders ...............................109
7.6. Working Memory and Dyslexia ................................112
8. Summary and Conclusions ................................................117
Chapter Three: Working Memory Skills In
Developmental Dyslexia .............................................121
1. Introduction ........................................................................121
2. Participants .........................................................................122
3. General Design and Procedure ...........................................123
3.1. Tasks assessing the functioning of the
Phonological Loop ....................................................125
3.1.1. Digit Recall ...................................................125
3.1.2. Word List Matching ......................................125
3.1.3. Word List Recall ...........................................126
3.1.4. Nonword List Recall .....................................126
3.2. Tasks assessing the functioning of the
Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad ...........................................127
3.2.1. Block Recall .................................................127
3.2.2. Mazes Memory .............................................127
3.3. Tasks assessing the functioning of the
Central Executive ......................................................128
3.3.1. Listening Recall ............................................128
3.3.2. Counting Recall ............................................129
3.3.3. Backward Digit Recall ..................................130
4. Results ................................................................................130
4.1. The Phonological Loop ............................................131
4.2. The Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad ....................................134
4.3. The Central Executive ..............................................135
5. General Discussion ............................................................138
6. Summary and Conclusions ................................................140
7
Chapter Four: T he Phonological and Executive Working
Memory Deficit Hypothesis ......................................141
1. Introduction ........................................................................141
2. Working Memory and Human Cognition ..........................142
3. Working Memory and Language Comprehension .............145
3.1. The comprehension of garden path and
ambiguous sentences ................................................148
3.2. The comprehension of object relative clauses ..........150
3.3. Further evidence in favor of the Capacity
Constrained Comprehension Theory: extrinsic
memory load and distance effects .............................151
3.4. Is there a general verbal Working Memory or
a specific and independent WM for language
comprehension? ........................................................152
4. The Phonological and Executive Working Memory
Deficit Hypothesis ..............................................................155
4.1. How the hypothesis explains reading and
spelling deficits .........................................................157
4.2. How the hypothesis explains phonological deficits ....160
4.3. How the hypothesis explains vocabulary and
naming deficits ..........................................................161
4.4. How the Phonological and Executive Working
Memory Deficit Hypothesis explains
grammatical deficits ..................................................162
4.4.1. The Interpretation of Tough Sentences .........163
4.4.2. The interpretation of pronouns .....................164
4.4.3. The Interpretation of Relative Clauses .........166
4.4.4. The Interpretation of Passive Sentences .......167
4.4.5. The Interpretation of Grammatical Aspect ....168
4.5. How the hypothesis accounts for
morphosyntactic deficits ...........................................169
4.6. How the hypothesis accounts for attention deficits ......170
5. Summary and Conclusions ................................................171
8