Increasing young children's contact with print during shared reading: longitudinal effects on literacy achievement.

Longitudinal results for a randomized-controlled trial (RCT) assessing the impact of increasing preschoolers' attention to print during reading are reported. Four-year-old children (N = 550) in 85 classrooms experienced a 30-week shared reading program implemented by their teachers. Children in experimental classrooms experienced shared-book readings 2 or 4 times per week during which their teachers verbally and nonverbally referenced print.

Shared-reading dynamics: mothers' question use and the verbal participation of children with specific language impairment.

Purpose: In this study, the authors used sequential analysis to explore bidirectional and dynamic dependencies between mothers' question use and children's verbal participation during shared reading.

Method: The sample was composed of mothers and their preschool-age children with specific language impairment (SLI; n = 14). Each mother and child extratextual utterance was transcribed and coded.

Feasibility, efficacy, and social validity of home-based storybook reading intervention for children with language impairment.

Purpose: This study evaluated the feasibility, efficacy, and social validity of a parent-implemented intervention for promoting print knowledge in preschoolers with language impairment.

Method: This trial involved 62 children and their parents. Each dyad completed a 12-week intervention program.

Emergent literacy profiles of preschool-age children with specific language impairment.

The primary aim of the present study was to explore the heterogeneity of emergent literacy skills among preschool-age children with specific language impairment (SLI) through examination of profiles of performance. Fifty-nine children with SLI were assessed on a battery of emergent literacy skills (i.e.

Print-focused read-alouds in preschool classrooms: intervention effectiveness and moderators of child outcomes.

Purpose: This study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of teachers' use of a print-referencing style during whole-class read-alouds with respect to accelerating 4- and 5-year-old children's print-knowledge development. It also examined 8 specific child- and setting-level moderators to determine whether these influenced the relation between teachers' use of a print-referencing style and children's print-knowledge development.

Method: In this randomized controlled trial, 59 teachers were randomly assigned to 2 conditions.

Language and literacy curriculum supplement for preschoolers who are academically at risk: a feasibility study.

Purpose: The potential benefit that a low-cost scripted language and literacy supplemental curriculum titled Read It Again! (RIA; L. M. Justice, A.

Emergent name-writing abilities of preschool-age children with language impairment.

Purpose: The 2 studies reported in this manuscript collectively address 3 aims: (a) to characterize the name-writing abilities of preschool-age children with language impairment (LI), (b) to identify those emergent literacy skills that are concurrently associated with name-writing abilities, and (c) to compare the name-writing abilities of children with LI to those of their typical language (TL) peers.

Method: Fifty-nine preschool-age children with LI were administered a battery of emergent literacy and language assessments, including a task in which the children were asked to write their first names. A subset of these children (n=23) was then compared to a TL-matched sample to characterize performance differences.

Predictors of print knowledge in children with specific language impairment: experiential and developmental factors.

Purpose: Many children with specific language impairment (SLI) demonstrate delays in print knowledge, yet the reasons for these delays are not well understood. The present study investigates the degree to which developmental risk factors and home literacy experiences predict the print knowledge of children with SLI.

Method: Direct child measures, maternal reports, and observations from 41 mothers and their preschool-aged children with SLI assessed child language and attentional difficulties, family socioeconomic status, the frequency and quality of home literacy, and children's print knowledge.

Effect of prefrontal cortex damage on resolving lexical ambiguity in text.

The function of suppression of context-inappropriate meanings during lexical ambiguity resolution was examined in 25 adults with prefrontal cortex damage (PFCD) localized to the left (N=8), right (N=6), or bilaterally (N=11); and 21 matched Controls. Results revealed unexpected inverse patterns of suppression between PFCD and Control groups, with measures suggesting decreased interference across time in the PFCD group and increased interference in the Control group. The PFCD group, however, had significantly lower accuracy rates for the context-inappropriate condition.