Identifying Math and Reading Difficulties of Multilingual Children: Effects of Different Cut-offs and Reference Groups

in Herzog, Moritz; Gürsoy, Erkan; Fritz-Stratmann, Annemarie (Eds.) Diversity Dimensions in Mathematics and Language Learning (in press)

Einleitung: Lernstörungen im multilingualen Kontext – Eine Herausforderung

in Ugen, Sonja; Schiltz, Christine; Fischbach, Antoine (Eds.) et al Lernstörungen im multilingualen Kontext: Diagnose und Hilfestellungen (2021)

The importance of visuospatial abilities for verbal number skills in preschool: Adding spatial language to the equation

in Journal of Experimental Child Psychology (2021)

Cognitive cost of two- and single digit transcoding in the second language of math learning in bilinguals of different ages

Scientific Conference (2020, June)

Impact of learning to read in a mixed approach on neural tuning to words in beginning readers

in Frontiers in Psychology (2020), 10

The impact of learning to read in a mixed approach using both the global and phonics teaching methods on the emergence of left hemisphere neural specialization for word recognition is yet unknown in ... [more ▼]

The impact of learning to read in a mixed approach using both the global and phonics teaching methods on the emergence of left hemisphere neural specialization for word recognition is yet unknown in children. Taking advantage of a natural school context with such a mixed approach, we tested 42 first graders behaviorally and with Fast Periodic Visual Stimulation using electroencephalographic recordings (FPVS-EEG) to measure selective neural responses to letter strings. Letter strings were inserted periodically (1/5) in pseudofonts in 40 s sequences displayed at 6 Hz and were either words globally taught at school, that could therefore be processed by visual whole-word form recognition (global method), or control words/pseudowords eliciting graphemephoneme (GP) mappings (phonics method). Results show that selective responses (F/5, 1.2 Hz) were left lateralized for control stimuli that triggered GP mappings but bilateral for globally taught words. It implies that neural mechanisms recruited during visual word processing are influenced by the nature of the mapping between written and spoken word forms. GP mappings induce left hemisphere discrimination responses, and visual recognition of whole-word forms induce bilateral responses, probably because the right hemisphere is relatively more involved in holistic visual object recognition. Splitting the group as a function of the mastery of GP mappings into “good” and “poor” readers strongly suggests that good readers actually processed all stimuli (including global words) predominantly with their left hemisphere, while poor readers showed bilateral responses for global words. These results show that in a mixed approach of teaching to read, global method instruction may induce neural processes that differ from those specialized for reading in the left hemisphere. Furthermore, given their difficulties in automatizing GP mappings, poor readers are especially prone to rely on this alternative visual strategy. A preprint of this paper has been released on Biorxiv (van de Walle de Ghelcke et al., 2018). [less ▲]

When one-two-three beats two-one-three: Tracking the acquisition of the verbal number sequence.

in Psychonomic bulletin & review (2020), 27(1), 122-129

Learning how to count is a crucial step in cognitive development, which progressively allows for more elaborate numerical processing. The existing body of research consistently reports how children ... [more ▼]

Learning how to count is a crucial step in cognitive development, which progressively allows for more elaborate numerical processing. The existing body of research consistently reports how children associate the verbal code with exact quantity. However, the early acquisition of this code, when the verbal numbers are encoded in long-term memory as a sequence of words, has rarely been examined. Using an incidental assessment method based on serial recall of number words presented in ordered versus non-ordered sequences (e.g., one-two-three vs. two-one-three), we tracked the progressive acquisition of the verbal number sequence in children aged 3-6 years. Results revealed evidence for verbal number sequence knowledge in the youngest children even before counting is fully mastered. Verbal numerical knowledge thus starts to be organized as a sequence in long-term memory already at the age of 3 years, and this numerical sequence knowledge is assessed in a sensitive manner by incidental rather than explicit measures of number knowledge. [less ▲]

Units-first or tens-first: Does language matter when processing visually presented two-digit numbers?

in Quarterly journal of experimental psychology (2006) (2020), 73(5), 726-738

The linguistic structure of number words can influence performance in basic numerical tasks such as mental calculation, magnitude comparison, and transcoding. Especially the presence of ten-unit inversion ... [more ▼]

The linguistic structure of number words can influence performance in basic numerical tasks such as mental calculation, magnitude comparison, and transcoding. Especially the presence of ten-unit inversion in number words seems to affect number processing. Thus, at the beginning of formal math education, young children speaking inverted languages tend to make relatively more errors in transcoding. However, it remains unknown whether and how inversion affects transcoding in older children and adults. Here we addressed this question by assessing two-digit number transcoding in adults and fourth graders speaking French and German, that is, using non-inverted and inverted number words, respectively. We developed a novel transcoding paradigm during which participants listened to two-digit numbers and identified the heard number among four Arabic numbers. Critically, the order of appearance of units and tens in Arabic numbers was manipulated mimicking the "units-first" and "tens-first" order of German and French. In a third "simultaneous" condition, tens and units appeared at the same time in an ecological manner. Although language did not affect overall transcoding speed in adults, we observed that German-speaking fourth graders were globally slower than their French-speaking peers, including in the "simultaneous" condition. Moreover, French-speaking children were faster in transcoding when the order of digit appearance was congruent with their number-word system (i.e., "tens-first" condition) while German-speaking children appeared to be similarly fast in the "units-first" and "tens-first" conditions. These findings indicate that inverted languages still impose a cognitive cost on number transcoding in fourth graders, which seems to disappear by adulthood. They underline the importance of language in numerical cognition and suggest that language should be taken into account during mathematics education. [less ▲]

The Relationship Between the Benton Face Recognition Test and Electrophysiological Unfamiliar Face Individuation Response as Revealed by Fast Periodic Stimulation.

in Perception (2020), 49(2), 210-221

A recent approach to implicitly study face recognition skills has been the fast periodic visual stimulation (FPVS) coupled with electroencephalography (EEG). Its relationship with explicit behavioral ... [more ▼]

A recent approach to implicitly study face recognition skills has been the fast periodic visual stimulation (FPVS) coupled with electroencephalography (EEG). Its relationship with explicit behavioral measures of face individuation remains largely undocumented. We evaluated the relationship of the FPVS–EEG measure of individuation and performance at a computer version of the Benton Face Recognition Test. High-density EEG was recorded in 32 participants presented with an unfamiliar face at a rate of 6Hz (F) for 60 s. Every five faces, new identities were inserted. The resulting 1.2 Hz (F/5) EEG response and its harmonics objectively indexed rapid individuation of unfamiliar faces. The robust individuation response, observed over occipitotemporal sites, was significantly correlated with speed, but not accuracy rate of the computer version of the Benton Face Recognition Test. This effect was driven by a few individuals who were particularly slow at the behavioral test and also showed the lowest face individuation response. These results highlight the importance of considering the time taken to recognize a face, as a complementary to accuracy rate variable, providing valuable information about one’s recognition skills. Overall, these observations strengthen the diagnostic value of FPVS–EEG as an objective and rapid flag for specific difficulties at individual face recognition in the human population. [less ▲]

The effect of grade retention on reading skills of immigrant children in multilingual elementary school. A longitudinal study.

Presentation (2019, November 06)

In a longitudinal study the effect of grade retention on reading skills of immigrant children in multilingual elementary school was investigated. The study was conducted between 2013 and 2017 and thirty ... [more ▼]

In a longitudinal study the effect of grade retention on reading skills of immigrant children in multilingual elementary school was investigated. The study was conducted between 2013 and 2017 and thirty-four per cent of the sample was lost due to grade retention. These children had been followed from kindergarten to grade 3 of elementary school. To observe differences among promoted and retained students, we assessed them using various language and socioeconomic measures. We also compared a subgroup of promoted students, scoring lower in grade 2 than the mean of retained students in reading comprehension. The current study revealed four main findings. Firstly, there were no significant differences between promoted and retained students in their first language vocabulary (Portuguese). Secondly, there was a significant difference in second and third language vocabularies (Luxembourgish and German) and in German reading tasks (the language of instruction) from kindergarten to grade 2, with promoted students scoring higher than retained students. Thirdly, and most importantly, retained students did not catch up with promoted students in the language of instruction (German) measures even after grade retention, but they did in language of socialisation (Luxembourgish). Fourthly, and in contrast to retained students, the low-achieving promoted students improved significantly in German reading comprehension by grade 3.The last two findings underline that grade retention does not lead to improvement in children’s reading comprehension. As vocabulary is one of the main predictors of reading comprehension, programs that improve poor readers’ vocabulary knowledge may be more efficient than grade retention. The present findings corroborate previous studies reporting that grade retention is not beneficial and that low-achieving students promoted to the next grade show better academic outcomes later than retained students. [less ▲]

Weaker neural responses to lexicality and word frequency in dyslexic adults: an EEG study with Fast Periodic Visual Stimulation.

Scientific Conference (2019, September)

Dyslexia, a persistent reading disorder, is characterized by different brain activation patterns when reading. Here, we used a Fast Periodic Visual Stimulation paradigm during EEG recordings to assess the ... [more ▼]

Dyslexia, a persistent reading disorder, is characterized by different brain activation patterns when reading. Here, we used a Fast Periodic Visual Stimulation paradigm during EEG recordings to assess the sensitivity of dyslexics to fine-grained psycholinguistic variations of letter strings: lexicality, lexical frequency, and orthographic regularity. Dyslexic and non-dyslexic students watched 60-seconds streams of stimuli presented at 10Hz, in which deviant items are inserted periodically (1/8, at 1.25Hz). Results show discrimination responses at 1.25Hz over left posterior occipito-temporal regions, reduced in dyslexics. Group differences were significant for discrimination of word lexicality and frequency, but not for word regularity. These results show that FPVS response amplitude distinguishes normal from pathological population. Since explicit reading is prohibited by the fast rate, results suggest differences of automatic and implicit word processing in dyslexics. The lack of group difference for regular/irregular words is interpreted post-hoc as reflecting the life-long drill of dyslexics to irregular words. [less ▲]