1. technology and computing
2. data centers

10/16/2014
It’s Complicated : The Relationship Among
Executive Functions, Working Memory and Oral
Language and Reading Comprehension
Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
www.soifercenter.com
NJ Branch IDA
October 24 – 25, 2014
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Two days of Learning : An Overview
Definitions, Explanations, Experiences
• A Cognitive – Linguistic Model
• Cognition
• Attention and Executive Functions
• Working Memory
• Oral / Aural Language
• Oral Language Foundations of Literacy
• Components of Reading Comprehension
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 2
Think... Consider... Remember
“Language is very difficult to put into words.”
Voltaire
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 3
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10/16/2014
A Cognitive-Linguistic Model
• Cognition
• Executive Functions
• Working Memory
• Oral / Aural Language
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 4
Language and Cognition
(Bloom and Lahey 1978; Soifer 2006)
COGNITION
LANGUAGE
Attention
Content
Use
Executive
Functions
Memory
Information
Processing
Form
Affect
Experience
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 5
Cognition
Cognition is a general concept embracing
all of the various ways of knowing:
perceiving, remembering, imagining,
conceiving, judging, reasoning.
Language
RRe
Cognitive development also involves the
methods a child uses to organize, store
and retrieve information for problem
solving and generalization.
Working
Memory
» Nicolosi, Harryman and Kresheck, 1989
» Owens, 1988
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 6
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10/16/2014
Executive Functions
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 7
Executive Functions are important in
showing what you know.
Without good Executive Functions, you
will not look as smart as you actually are.
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 8
A Bit of Neuroanatomy...Just a Bit
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 9
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10/16/2014
What are the Executive Functions?
•
•
•
•
Decision making and planning processes
Invoked at the outset of a task
Invoked when faced with a novel challenge
Meta-cognitive strategies mediated by
language
• Management functions of the mind that
activate integrate regulate
a wide variety of mental functions
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 10
Executive Skills
Thinking Skills to Select
and Achieve Goals
Guiding and Monitoring
Behavior
•
Planning
•
Response Inhibition
•
Organization
•
Self-regulation of affect
•
Time Management
•
Task Initiation
•
Working Memory *
•
Flexibility
•
Metacognition
•
Goal-directed persistence
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 11
Self-Regulation
•
•
•
•
Behaviors to guide, monitor and direct
The “Ed Koch” syndrome
Applied in specific settings
Influenced by:
– Personal processes
– The environment
– Your own behavior
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 14
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10/16/2014
Sub-processes of Self-Regulation
• Self-monitoring (self-observation)
• Self-evaluation (self-judgment)
• Self-reaction (behavioral
adjustment)
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 15
Executive Functions and Language
• Metacognitive strategies mediated
by language (talking yourself through
the thought process and/or task)
• Language
–
–
–
A mediating force for thinking and reasoning
Must pass, along with cognition through
affective states
Vygotsky (40 years ago) said, speech and
language plays a central role in the
development of self-control, self-direction,
problem solving and task performance.
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 17
At the Heart of Executive Functions and Self
Regulation …….
Language
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 18
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10/16/2014
Core EF Processes that Affect
Academic Performance
(Meltzer, 2007)
Planning and
Goal Setting
Organizing
Self Monitoring /
Checking
Shifting
Flexibly
Prioritizing
Memorizing
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 19
Core EF Processes:
Areas of Academic Impact
• Reading Comprehension
• Written Language
• Independent studying, homework and
long-term projects
• Test taking
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 20
Executive Functions and Reading Comprehension
• Reading must make sense
• Understanding is the result of planning to
understand
• Prioritizing leads to maximizing time and effort
Language
• Accessing background information helps
organize new information
• Self-checking enhances goal achievement
• A flexible mindset provides opportunities for
increased understanding
• Understanding is improved by self-assessing
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
RRe
Working
Memory
Slide 21
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10/16/2014
Working Memory
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 22
Your memory is going?
Which one?
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Visual
Auditory
Episodic
Automatic
Procedural
Motor
Associative
Factual
Interpretive
Recognition
Simultaneous
Cumulative
Categorical
Sequential
•
Short-term
•
Working
•
Episodic
•
Autobiographical
•
Semantic
•
Procedural
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 23
Working Memory: Without it…huh?
• Part of the information processing
system
• If you can’t hold onto it, then you
can’t do much with it!
• Interaction with the language
system
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 24
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10/16/2014
Working Memory is…
• The capacity to hold and manipulate
information in the mind over short
periods of time
• Responsible for temporary storage and
processing of information
• A mental workspace
• Not influenced by prior learning or
socio-economic factors
• Different than short-term memory
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 25
A WM Task or Challenge!
 To multiply 67 x 43 in your head – requires:
–
–
–
–
–
mental storage of two numbers while,
arithmetic rules are retrieved from LTM and applied,
generating
partial solutions that must be stored while
further calculations are made, and then
successfully integrated to come to a solution
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 26
Are there limits to WM capacity?
•
•
•
•
In a word, “Yes!”
Try this - 264 x 369 !!!
Amount that can be held is limited
Limit is influenced by what is to be
remembered
– Units
– Meaningfulness
– Background noise
• Rehearsal boosts recall
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 27
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10/16/2014
How does WM vary among people?
• Personal limits
• Fixed capacities
• Two Profiles
Verbal Comprehension
Perceptual Reasoning
Working Memory
Processing Speed
Female, 13
96
94
135
147
Male, 13
130
135
86
85
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 28
How does WM work?
A model summarizing the components of WM
(based on Baddeley; Gathercole, and Alloway)
Visuospatial
short-term
memory
Central
Executive
Verbal
short-term
memory
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 29
Functions of Working Memory (WM)
•
Holding an idea in mind while developing, elaborating,
clarifying or using it
•
Recalling from long-term memory while holding some
information in short-term memory
•
Holding together in memory the components of a task
while completing the task
•
Keeping together a series of new pieces of information
so that they remain meaningful
•
Holding a long-term plan in mind while thinking about
a short-range goal
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 30
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10/16/2014
Examples of the Functions of Working Memory
WM Function
 Holding an idea in mind while
developing, elaborating, clarifying or
using it
Example
 Remembering the beginning of an
instruction while listening to the rest;
remembering the ending while
performing the beginning.
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 31
Examples of the Functions of Working Memory, cont’d
WM Function
 Recalling from LTM while holding some
information in STM.
Example
 Retrieving information to answer a
question while also remembering all the
parts of the question; remembering
where you are going and why you are
going there while also figuring out how
to get there.
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 32
Examples of the Functions of Working Memory, cont’d
WM Function
 Holding together in memory the components
of a task while completing the task
Example
 “There is no room for all that stuff inside my
head. Every single time I try to write, I forget
what I am doing. If I think about one thing like
spelling, then I forget all about something else,
like punctuation; or else, when I have to think
hard to figure out what I’m going to write, my
handwriting gets really messy.” (10 year old)
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 33
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10/16/2014
Examples of the Functions of Working Memory, cont’d
WM Function
 Keeping together a series of new pieces of
information so that they remain meaningful.
Example
 Sounding out multi-syllabic words (remembering the
first syllable while working on subsequent syllables
and then combining all the syllables to blend them
into a word while manipulating the stress pattern);
remembering the math procedures and specific facts
while performing a multi-step math problem.
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 34
Examples of the Functions of Working Memory, cont’d
WM Function
 Holding a long-term plan while thinking about
a short-range need
Example
 Rushing through math, resulting in a messy
paper with careless errors (child feels it is
necessary to work fast or risk forgetting what
he or she is doing).
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 35
Working Memory and Learning
• Measures of WM capacity – excellent
predictors of academic success
• Working memory overload impairs
learning
• Some difficulties in reading and math are
predictable by poor WM capacity
• Dyslexia, Dyscalculia and Language
Impairment
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 37
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10/16/2014
Working Memory and Reading
Comprehension
• The goal of reading is comprehension
• Comprehension depends on the capacity of Working Memory to:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Decode words and attach meaning
Construct individual meanings (words) into bigger meaningful units (sentences)
Link information among sentences
Language
Notice inconsistencies between parts of texts
Extract main ideas
Create visuals
Form new mental schemas
RRe
Draw inferences
Monitor understanding
Integrate new information with general knowledge
Working
Memory
Working Memory is the workspace where comprehension
takes place!
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 38
Oral / Aural Language
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 39
Think... Consider... Remember
“Where children and teachers are doing
real work, there is no way to separate out
‘language’ and what is called ‘content’.”
Judith Wells Lindfors, Ph.D.
Speech/Language Pathologist
“The primary objective of school is to
enhance cognition and language is critical
in the meeting of this goal.”
Marion Blank, Ph.D.
Psychologist
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 40
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10/16/2014
Keep in mind…
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 41
A Definition of Language
“Language is a code, whereby ideas
about the world are represented
through a conventional system of
arbitrary signals for communication.”
Bloom and Lahey, 1971
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 42
Components of Language
• Language CONTENT
– Something to say, understand, read or write
– Often called semantics
– Vocabulary, lexicon, concept knowledge
• Language USE
– The reasons to say, understand, read or write
– Often called pragmatics
– Social communication skills; purposes and intents
• Language FORM
– The means by which we say, understand, read or
write
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 43
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10/16/2014
The Components of Language
Bloom and Lahey 1978
• CONTENT
– Meaning component
– Vocabulary and beyond
Content
Use
Form
• USE
– Reasons to use language (purposes)
– Purposes and intentions for using
language
– Conversational competence
• FORM
– Sound system
– Word structure
– Grammar
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 44
Language Content
(Patience is a virtue; we will get to it tomorrow)
Content: The meaning component of language
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Meaning features of a word (“You walkin’ with me?”)
Word knowledge (lexicon)
Concept knowledge
Word use (literal/figurative)
Relationship between and among words
Decoding  Comprehension
Word categorization
Social implications, e.g., getting the joke
Word retrieval
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 45
Language Use - Pragmatics
• Use of language in social contexts
– Social – cultural experiences that shape
current relationships
– Contexts – anything that gives meaning to
what is said and done
• Communicative functions or intentions
• Presupposition
• Discourse and narrative
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 46
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10/16/2014
Language Form
• The “observable features” of language
• Phonology, Morphology, Syntax
• Phonology
– Segmental features
• Consonants and vowels
– Suprasegmental features
• Intonation, stress, loudness, juncture, pitch and rate
• Morphology
– Bound (inflectional; derivational)
– Unbound
• Syntax
– Is not grammar!
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 47
Oral Language Foundations of Literacy
Language
RRe
Working
Memory
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 48
The Literacy Continuum: We All Teach Language
• Precursors of literacy: Oral language skills
• Pre-literacy skills
– Phonological awareness
– Phonemic awareness
• Early literacy skills
– Decoding
– Spelling
•
•
•
•
•
Components of reading comprehension
Comprehension of different forms
Comprehension strategies
Literacy lapses
Developing effective reading strategies
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 49
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10/16/2014
Oral Language is the Foundation
of Literacy
Listen
Content
(meaning)
Read
Use
Speak
(reasons and
intentions)
Form
(observable
features)
Write
Decoding
Vocabulary - Sentence Comprehension
Paragraph - Text Comprehension
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 50
Listening Comprehension:
A Precursor to Reading Comprehension
• Components of Listening Comprehension
– auditory processing
– higher order language processes
– grammatical structure and structure in
relation to meaning
– ability to organize and manage
extended discourse
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 51
• Listening Comprehension requires
– attention
– working memory
– implicit and explicit knowledge of linguistic
rules
– organization and storage
– retrieval
• Rarely involves single words
• Successful listening depends in part on
how hard you have to work to listen!!
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 52
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10/16/2014
Listening and Reading Comprehension:
Some Differences
(Shepherd, 2008)
Speakers
•
•
•
•
•
monitor comprehension
use non-verbal cues
use familiar vocabulary
speech is contextualized
connect ideas
•
can ask for clarification
Authors
•
•
•
•
•
do not monitor comprehension
cues are restricted to words
use familiar and unfamiliar vocabulary
text is decontextualized
have to create text connections
•
have to seek clarification
Readers
Listeners
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 53
“How are the components of
language related to literacy?”
Content
Use
Form
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 54
Language Form (I)
• Phonology: The essence of decoding
•
•
•
•
•
Segmental features
Suprasegmental features
Phonological awareness
Speech production
Phonological processing
Language
RRe
Working
Memory
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 55
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10/16/2014
Key Vocabulary derived from “phon-”
• Phonology
– the study of the unconscious rules
governing speech sound production
• Phonetics
– the study of the way in which speech
sounds are articulated
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 56
• Phonics
– the system by which symbols represent sounds in an
alphabetic system
• Phonological Awareness
– the ability to reflect on and manipulate the structure of an
utterance, for example into words, syllables or sounds, as
distinct from meaning
• Phoneme (and allophones)
– smallest unit of sound
– building blocks of words
– (slight variations in phonemes that are predictable)
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 57
English is a mean language to learn to read and spell, that is!
• Not transparent (bomb, comb, tomb)
• Many more sounds than letters; letters are not
the same as sounds!
• 26 letters BUT many more sounds (+
allophones)
• 25 consonant sounds
– Created by sound moving through the vocal tract
– Obstructed by lips, teeth or tongue
• 15 * vowel sounds
– Created by sound moving through the vocal tract
– Shape of the lips and position of the tongue
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 58
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10/16/2014
Allophones
• Variation in phoneme production
– systematic
– rule based
• Some examples
– Vowel becomes schwa
– Vowel nasalization
– Consonant aspiration
– Flapping of medial /t/ and /d/
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 59
Allophones and Spelling Errors
• Consonant Aspiration
– spider  sboydr
– school  sgol
– hospital  hosbidl
• Vowel nasalization
– want  wot
– sand  sad
– jump  jup
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 60
Co-articulation: Some examples
• bark /b/, /a/, /r/, /k/
• “r” controlled vowels
– lurk, perk, first
• write ride
• writer rider
• Tuck-truck; task-trash; dunk-drunk;
dagger-dragon
• Putting-pudding vs. tally-dally
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 61
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10/16/2014
Never underestimate the power of a
suprasegmental feature!
• Intonation, stress, loudness, pitch, juncture,
rate (Say that three times fast)
• ? ! , .
• “motorically”
• Think “Seinfeld” – the low talker
• Are you sure?
• Jeetyet?; wenneyuhgoin’?; fuggedabowdit!
• Whoa, cowboy!
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 62
Language Form (II)
• Morphology: Rules for word formation
(and their relationship to literacy)
– Extension of meaning
• Vocabulary and comprehension
– Pronunciation
• Word identification and fluency
– Spelling
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 63
What’s a morpheme anyway?
• Morpheme – smallest unit of meaning in a language
– * Sometimes a morpheme is a phoneme!
• Morphology – the study of word formation
• Unbound (free) morpheme – can stand alone; a word
• Bound morpheme – must be attached to other
morphemes; the affixes of a language
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 64
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10/16/2014
A Morphemic Family Tree
Morphemes
Unbound (free)
Content
Bound
Function
Prefixes
Bound
Roots
Suffixes
Inflectional
Derivational
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 65
Roots, prefixes, suffixes
• Roots
– Greek
• bibl = book; derm = skin; gram = written
– Latin
• aud = to hear; flex = bend; luc = light
• Prefixes
– Un (not)/unfair; re (again)/reread; mis (wrong)/misspell; pre
(before)/prepay
• Suffixes – change the part of speech
– ist (noun) botanist; -fy (verb)  purify; -able (adj.)
 bendable; -less (adj.)  powerless
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 66
Unbound (Free) Morphemes
• Lexical meaning of their own
• Can stand alone; do not have to be combined with
other morphemes
• May be made up of one or more syllables
• Are grouped into broad categories:
– Content words
– Function words
– Compounds
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 67
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10/16/2014
Bound Morphemes
• Never function independently; only meaningful in
combination with other morphemes
• Prefixes
• Bound roots
• Suffixes
– Inflectional – modify tense, possession, number
– Derivational – change one part of speech to another
• argue (v.) + ment  argument (n.)
• happy (adv.) + ness  happiness (n.)
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 69
Inflectional or Derivational?
Elementary my dear, Watsons
• Inflections (affixes) added to nouns, verbs and adjectives DO NOT change
the part of speech.
• Derivational suffixes DO change the part of speech
• Cheat sheet!!!
–
–
–
–
–
–
People nouns end in
Thing nouns end in
Nouns can also be made by adding
Verbs are created by adding
Adverbs can be created by
Adjectives are created by adding
–er, -or, -cian, -ist
–tion, -sion
–ment, ity
–ize, -ify
–ly
–ar, -ous, - ive, -al, -ful
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 70
Some examples of what that all just meant…
•
•
•
Decoding
To a struggling reader a “big, long” word such as sleeplessness OMG!!!
Reality is
sleep less ness
Comprehension [From Tyler and Nagy (1990)]
– “A general indecision about the use of nuclear weapons could be a threat to
national security.”
– “A general indecisive about the use of nuclear weapons could be a threat to
national security.”
Spelling
Silent letter spelling words – Oh woe is me!
It is just a morphophonemic shift, that’s all!
– sign  signature
hymn  hymnal
bomb  bombadier
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 71
22
10/16/2014
Spelling as a Language Skill: Underlying
Language Components
• Spelling is a complex, language based skill.
• Linguistic knowledge sources/foundations:
–
–
–
–
–
Phonology
Orthography
Semantic
Morphology
Clear and concise mental orthographic images
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 72
Language Form (III)
• Syntax: Rules for comprehension and
of sentences
– Listening comprehension
– Reading comprehension
– Writing
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 73
Complex Sentence Types
• S conjunction S (and, but)
– He plays soccer and I play baseball; I like ice cream,
but I don’t want yours.
• Simple infinitive (to + verb)
– He wants to beat me at Myst.
• Adverbial clause (after, if)
– After I get home, I watch television; If my mom isn’t
home, I get a snack.
• Prepositional clause (that)
– I wish that I had the new Yo-Yo Ma CD.
• Wh-clause (where, who)
– Mom knows where I am; I don’t know who that is.
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 74
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10/16/2014
Complex Sentence Types
(con’t)
• Multiple VP (but, after)
– After we go to the circus, we like to
stop for ice cream.
• Relative clause (that)
– They’re the kids that I play with.
• Infinitive with wh- (how, when)
– I know how to do that.
• Gerund clause
– Snowboarding is fun.
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 75
Anaphora (anaphoric reference)
(Pearson and Johnson, 1978)
• Pronouns
• Locative pronouns
• Deleted pronouns
– Usually an adjective
• Arithmetic anaphora
• Class inclusive anaphora
– A subordinate word substitutes for another
word)
• Inclusive anaphora
– Can refer back to an entire phrase, clause or
paragraph)
• Deleted predicate adjective
• Pro-verbs
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 76
Anaphora in “Real Time”
John and his cousin went to the fair last week. They
had a great time there. First, they took the roller
coaster. It was really fast. John got sick. So did his
cousin. Then they went to see the gorilla. What a
crazy animal!. First, it threw peanuts at the crowd.
Then it pounded its chest. Then, they went on six
more rides, but they liked only three of them. John
ate four foot-long hot dogs. His cousin ate seven
Finally, they went home and were glad to be there.
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 77
24
10/16/2014
Where has all the anaphora gone?
John and his cousin went to the fair last week. John and his
cousin had a great time at the fair. First, John and his cousin
took the roller coaster. The roller coaster was really fast.
John got sick. So did his cousin. Then John and his cousin
went to see the gorilla. What a crazy gorilla! First, the
gorilla threw peanuts at the crowd. Then, the gorilla
pounded its chest. Then John and his cousin went on six
more rides, but they liked only three of the rides. John at
four foot-long hot dogs. John’s cousin ate seven foot-long
hot dogs! Finally, John and his cousin went home and they
were glad to be home.
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 78
“How are the components of
language related to literacy?”
Content
Use
Form
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 79
Language Content
• Content: The meaning component of language
– Meaning features of a word (“You walkin’ with me?”)
– Word knowledge (lexicon)
– Concept knowledge
– Word use (literal/figurative)
– Relationship between and among words
– Decoding  Comprehension
– Word categorization
– Social implications, e.g., getting the joke
– Word retrieval
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 80
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10/16/2014
Word Tiers: Approaching the Problem of
Which Words to Teach
(Beck, McKeown, Kucan, 2002, 2008)
• Tier One
– Basic, everyday, familiar words
• Tier Two-the larger, more significant group
– More sophisticated
– Have high utility for literate language users
– Important in literacy; characterize written text
– Not so common in common, daily conversation
• Tier Three
– Rare words
– Apply to specific domains (Science, History)
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 81
Vocabulary is learned from context, or is it?
• Misdirective contexts
– Wrong way!
• Nondirective contexts
– No real help here!
• General contexts
– Kinda, sorta…
• Directive contexts
– Getting better but not quite direct
instruction
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 82
Multiple Meaning Words:
Developing a Mindset for Diversity
• Math
– foot, plot, power, drill, solid, peck,
construct, difference, root, square, product,
yard
• Science
– motion, crust, wave, core, force, degree,
current, organ, fault , balance, host, matter
• Social Studies
– Key, race, ruler, country, bill, plain, market,
crop, product, group, range, cabinet
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 83
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10/16/2014
Figurative Language
(Troia, 2011)
• Nearly two-thirds of spoken English
• One-third of teachers’ utterances
– multiple meaning
– idiomatic
• Understanding and usage are critical
– academic success
• instruction
• reading comprehension
• written language
– social success
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 84
“How are the components of language
related to literacy?”
Content
Use
Form
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 85
Language Use
• Use: Purposes and intentions with which we
use language
– Communicative functions/purposes
– Components of social communication
• Styles and code of communication
• Verbal, paralinguistic and non-verbal aspects
– Discourse, conversational and story-telling skills
– Reading with intent
– Monitoring comprehension
– Purposes for reading and writing
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 86
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10/16/2014
Reading is supposed to make sense
• Reading comprehension is an active process.
Good readers – Before reading
• Activate prior knowledge
• Are aware of the purpose (read with intent)
• Give complete attention
– During reading
• Check understanding (monitor comprehension)
• Stop, reread, think
• Use strategies flexibly
– After reading
•
•
•
•
Decide if goals have been met (purposes for reading)
Evaluate understanding
Summarize main ideas
Look to other sources for more information
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 87
Connections Between Pragmatic Language
Problems and Writing Problems
(Troia, 2011)
•
•
•
•
Planning
Content Generation
Revising
Text Transcription
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 88
Reading is Language Too!
Oral language is the Foundation of Literacy
• Basic Linguistic Processes
• Semantic Skills
• Syntactic Skills
• Higher Level Linguistic
Processes
• Language Processing and
Comprehension
• Narrative & Conversation
Skills
• Verbal Reasoning
• Reading Comprehension
• Writing
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 89
28
10/16/2014
Reading Comprehension
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 90
What is reading comprehension?
(Hook, 2006)
“Reading comprehension is the complex
cognitive process involving the intentional
interaction between reader and text to
extract meaning.”
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 91
Components of Reading
Comprehension
• Decoding: Accuracy and Fluency
• Language Comprehension (listening first!)
– Semantics: Word, Concept knowledge
– Syntax: Language Structure
• World/Prior Knowledge
• Metacognition
– Thinking about thinking
– Strategy knowledge and use
• Motivation and Attention
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 92
29
10/16/2014
Processes Involved in Reading
Comprehension and Writing
(Hook, 2006)
• Word identification and spelling
• Language processing
–
–
–
–
–
Syntax
Morphology
Semantics
Discourse
Pragmatics
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 93
How are the Components of Language
Related to Literacy?
Kindergarten
(Catts, et.al., 1999; Haynes, 2004)
Grades 2 & 3
Phonological
Awareness
Decoding
Rapid
Automatic
Naming
Fluency
Semantics
Reading
Comprehension
Syntax
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 94
Requirements for Successful
Comprehension
• Decoding accuracy and fluency
• Access to meanings of vocabulary used
• Understanding of grammatical structure
• Background knowledge
• Active engagement
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 95
30
10/16/2014
Other Dynamics of Reading Comprehension
Human and Otherwise
• The Student
• The Teacher
• Non-Reading Variables
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 96
Components of Reading Comprehension:
The Student
• Decoding ability
– accuracy and fluency
• Oral Language Knowledge
– Words and Concepts
• Metacognitive Skills
– Knowledge about
• reading and different
reading tasks
(semantics/vocabulary)
• yourself as a reader
– Word and Sentence Structure
• use of reading strategies
(morphology and syntax)
– Comprehension monitoring
– Discourse
• Motivation, Intention, and
• Prior World Knowledge
interest
– Content and
Social/Interpersonal
Knowledge
– Knowledge of Text Structure
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 97
Components of Reading Comprehension:
The Teacher
• How are texts chosen?
• How is the lesson prepared?
• How are strategies modeled and taught?
• How is time allotted for teaching and learning?
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 98
31
10/16/2014
Components of Reading Comprehension:
Non-Reading Variables
• Personal Variables
• Situation Variables
• Task Variables
• Text Variables
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 99
It’s Complicated !
Language
RRe
Working
Memory
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 100
A Final Thought……
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 101
32
10/16/2014
Who is this Child?
Neurology
Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D., 2006
Language
RRe
Personality
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
Slide 102
It’s Complicated : The Relationship Among
Executive Functions, Working Memory and Oral
Language and Reading Comprehension
Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
www.soifercenter.com
NJ Branch IDA
October 24 – 25, 2014
© 2014 The Soifer Center and Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
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