Roncoli, S; (2016) Phonological and semantic processes in children aged 8-9 years with different types of developmental dyslexia. Doctoral thesis , UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

The locus of naming impairment in dyslexic children has been attributed to difficulty in retrieving the phonological representations of words due to a phonological deficit, but none of the studies reviewed included an independent assessment of dyslexics’ phonological abilities. Moreover, recent research indicates that dyslexia is not a homogeneous disorder and that there can be different underlying causes. A deficit in phonological processes has been associated with developmental phonological dyslexia. Conversely, individuals with developmental surface dyslexia are generally reported to have unimpaired phonology, and there appear to be different cognitive loci of impairment, of which semantics is one of the possible sources. On the basis of this evidence, the phonological deficit hypothesis of naming problems in dyslexic children was revisited, and investigation of naming in relation to different reading profiles was undertaken. The picture naming paradigm was employed to investigate possible naming deficits and to examine relationships with measures of semantics and phonology, and, in turn, their connection to reading in 35 dyslexic children aged 8-9 years. Furthermore, 122 typically developing (TD) children aged 4 to 9 were assessed with the aim of providing a context within which to interpret the results of the dyslexic children. Standardised and newly developed tasks of naming, phonology and semantics, were employed. Dyslexic children were assigned to subtypes on the basis of nonword and irregular word reading. Overall, results indicated that a naming and phonological deficit was apparent in the sample of dyslexic children when compared to age-matched controls, but naming accuracy was in line with that of reading age controls. However, only the children classified as having a primary sublexical reading deficit were identified as having a naming and phonological deficit. The findings are consistent with the view that classifying developmental reading difficulties is crucial in order to identify underlying deficits.

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