Orthographic analysis of words during fluency training promotes reading of new similar words

Remediation of a serious lack in reading fluency often takes the form of repeated reading exercises. The present study examines whether transfer of training effects to untrained (neighbour) words can be enhanced by training with an orthographic focus as compared with emphasising semantics. The effect of oral versus silent reading during training is studied as well. Two groups of reading-disabled children (mean age=7 years, 11 months) were given repeated reading training with limited exposure duration (350 ms) in which 15 target words were repeated 20 times in exercises focused on either orthography (N=26) or semantics (N=25). The children were required to either read the target words aloud or perform the exercises silently, but this requirement appeared to have no effect on the training results. The results show that untrained neighbour words benefited more from training targets with an orthographic focus than from exercises with a semantic emphasis. © United Kingdom Literacy Association 2006