A Developmental Examination of Narrative Writing in EL and EL1 School Children Who Are Typical Readers, Poor Decoders, or Poor Comprehenders

This longitudinal study examined story-writing development of students from Grade 4 to Grade 6, comparing the developmental trajectories of English as a first language (EL1s; n = 43) and English learners (ELs; n = 108) in general, and in groups of EL1s and ELs with typically developing and poor reader profiles. In relation to their EL1 or EL reference group, students were classified in Grade 4 as typical readers ( n = 72), poor decoders ( n = 53), or poor comprehenders ( n = 26), with EL1s and ELs proportionally represented in each group. The effects of language, grade level, and reading group on story-writing measures were examined. Both EL1s and ELs developed story-writing skills in a similar manner, showing significant growth between Grades 4 and 6. Typically developing ELs attained age-appropriate story-writing levels. Poor decoders and poor comprehenders showed similar profiles of strengths and weaknesses, regardless of whether English was their first or second language. Both poor reader groups had significant difficulties in story-writing, struggling with the mechanics of writing, sentence structure, and story organization. Findings are discussed in terms of the interconnected relationship between reading and writing profiles, and the importance of a comprehensive understanding of sources of learning difficulties in ELs and EL1s.

Auditory Evoked Responses to Similar Words with Phonemic Difference: Comparison between Children with Good and Poor Reading Scores

Our previous study demonstrated a physiologic deficit in two-tone discrimination in poor readers. 1 This was specific to the left parietal area suggesting that poor readers handled rapid tones differently. The current paper extends this finding in the same population, demonstrating that poor readers also have difficulty with phonemic discrimination. Long latency auditory evoked potentials (AEP) were formed using a phonemic discrimination task in a group of children with reading disabilities and controls. Measuring peak-to-peak amplitude of the waveforms, we found reduced N1-P2 amplitude in the Poor Reader group. Using the t-statistic significance probability map (SPM) technique, we also found a group difference, maximal over the mid-parietal area, from 584 msec to 626 msec after the stimulus onset. This difference was due to a lower amplitude on the Poor Reader group. We hypothesized that this late difference constitutes a P3 response and that the Poor Reader group generated smaller P3 waves. These auditory evoked response (AER) data support a discrimination deficit for close phonemes in the Poor Reader group as they had smaller N1-P2 absolute amplitude and developed smaller P3 waves. Based on these data we should be able to differentiate between Good and Poor readers based on long latency potentials created from phonemic stimuli.