Current neuroimaging and neurophysiologic techniques have substantially increased our possibilities to study processes related to various language functions in the intact human brain. Learning to read and write influences the functional organization of the brain. What is universal and what is specific in the languages of the world are important…

This investigation analyzed goals from the Individual Educational Programs (IEPs) of 54 high school students with diagnosed reading disabilities in basic skills (decoding and/or word identification). Results showed that for 73% of the students, the IEPs written when they were in high school failed to specify any objectives regarding their acute…

Discussion of the teaching of writing, spelling, and reading using code-based literacy methods, such as Orton-Gillingham examines the cognitive challenge of the transition from spoken to graphic word and then reviews new research findings, such as the letter as model for sound variation, ease of spelling the low vowel, and the creation of word…

This article reviews the contributions of Norman Geschwind on behavioral neurology. It discusses his novel associations between brain function/structure and behavior and findings from a recent study of 200 individuals with developmental disorders that indicate altered neuroanatomy in dyslexia may be accompanied by altered clinical neurophysiology.…

This article discusses the contributions of Margaret Byrd Rawson in the field of dyslexia. She was instrumental in the founding of the Jemicy School in Maryland, served as President of the International Dyslexia Association (IDA), and was on the IDA Council of Advisors at the time of her death. (CR)

This article focuses on methods useful for identifying differences in the development of language reading abilities in children that rely on measures of brain responses and behavioral assessments. Findings from these methods are described and indicate that even behaviors strongly influenced by biological mechanisms can be influenced through…

A series of studies are reviewed that identify markers in the "event-related potentials" related to differences in the development of language and reading skills. In addition, home environment and other variables that influence the intellectual environment are linked with predictions of language and reading skill development. (Contains…

This article presents a theoretical overview at the cognitive level of the role of phonological awareness in reading development and developmental dyslexia across languages. It is argued that the primary deficit in developmental dyslexia in all languages lies in representing speech sounds: a deficit in phonological representation. (Contains…

This article examines how to interpret reading problems among individuals with a home language (L1) that is different from the language of instruction in school (L2). A tentative model is proposed where the various factors involved in L2 reading are specified, providing guidelines for assessment strategies. (Contains references.) (CR)

This article discusses using cross-language transfer as a diagnostic tool for identifying reading difficulties of language learners. It is argued that if children have enough exposure to and instruction in their first language, their skills and insights can be assessed and compared to skills and insights in their second language. (Contains…

In this review, three perspectives on spelling theory, research, and instruction are examined. Traditional classroom-based, developmental, and structured language approaches are outlined and their implications for assisting poor spellers explored. Instructional recommendations are made by drawing from and combining some of the strengths of each…

This article reviews recent evidence supporting a biological basis for developmental dyslexia. It concludes that the combined evidence demonstrating macroscopic morphologic, microscopic neuronal, and microstructural white matter abnormalities in dyslexia is consistent with a localization of the principle pathophysicological process to perisylvian…

This participant observer report reviews research on how dyslexia complicates learning a second language, a description of how dyslexia has affected educational experiences, personal experiences learning a foreign language, and recommendations to individuals with dyslexia who are faced with fulfilling a foreign language requirement and their…

This review of the importance of rapid automatized naming (RAN) as a predictor of reading competence reports on its centrality in the double deficit hypothesis and recent research suggesting that RAN taps both visual-verbal (language domain) and processing speed (executive domain) contributions to reading. (Contains extensive references.)…

Review of the research on the reading fluency training using repeated reading training procedures offers theoretical explanations for nonfluent reading, descriptions of repeated reading methods, outcome data organized as answers to practical questions, efficacy data on single word and phrase fluency training, general principles of fluency training…