Text Support for Preschoolers

Overseen By Grace Clark, Ph.D.

Age: < 18

Sex: Any

Trial Phase: Academic

Sponsor: Montclair State University

Disqualifiers: Non-english exposure, Developmental disorders, others

No Placebo Group All trial participants will receive the active study treatment (no placebo)

Compensation: Varies

Number of Visits: Unknown

Duration: 2 weeks

What You Need to Know Before You Apply

What is the purpose of this trial?

This trial explores how text can aid preschoolers in learning new verbs. Researchers aim to determine if adding text to visual and auditory learning enhances verb acquisition, particularly for children with varying literacy levels. Children will watch videos and hear new words, with some also seeing text (orthographic facilitation) to support their learning. Children who primarily speak English, develop typically, and have normal hearing and vision may be suitable participants. As an unphased trial, this study provides a unique opportunity for children to enhance their language skills through innovative learning methods.

Do I need to stop my current medications to join the trial?

The trial information does not specify whether you need to stop taking your current medications.

What prior data suggests that this method is safe for children?

Research has shown that using text to help children learn, known as orthographic facilitation, is generally safe. In past studies, children, including those with dyslexia, benefited from seeing words while learning them. This method helped them understand and remember new words better without any harm.

For example, studies found that typically developing three-year-olds benefited when text was used to help them learn verbs. These studies reported no negative effects, suggesting that adding text to visual and auditory learning is well-tolerated.

This trial is in the "Not Applicable" phase, focusing on understanding learning processes rather than testing the safety of a new drug or treatment. Therefore, safety concerns are minimal compared to trials involving new medications. Overall, using text to aid learning is considered safe for preschoolers. ^{1 2 3 4 5}

Why are researchers excited about this trial?

Researchers are excited about this trial because it explores how adding text support can enhance verb learning in preschoolers. Most traditional learning approaches rely on visual and auditory cues alone. However, this trial investigates whether incorporating text can boost word learning accuracy. By integrating text alongside the usual visual and auditory methods, the trial could reveal a more effective way to support early language development, potentially leading to improved educational strategies for young children.

What evidence suggests that text support is effective for learning new verbs in preschoolers?

Research has shown that using text along with pictures and sounds can help young children learn new words more effectively. In this trial, one group of participants will receive verb learning with auditory, visual, and text support to determine if this additional support helps them learn novel words with higher accuracy. Studies have found that when children see how a word is spelled while hearing it, they learn the word better. This applies to both children who develop typically and those with hearing loss. The benefits of this method, called orthographic facilitation, persist over time. Thus, adding text could help preschoolers learn verbs more effectively. ^{6 7 8 9 10}

Who Is on the Research Team?

Grace Clark, PhD

Principal Investigator

Montclair State University

Are You a Good Fit for This Trial?

This trial is for healthy preschoolers aged three to six. It's designed to see if text can help them learn new verbs. Children must be able to watch videos and name alphabet sounds, as this will be used to assess their literacy skills.

Inclusion Criteria

Primarily exposed to English

Typical development

My hearing and vision are normal or corrected to normal.

Timeline for a Trial Participant

Screening

Participants are screened for eligibility to participate in the trial

1-2 weeks

Treatment

Participants watch videos of actions, hear novel words, and name alphabet sounds to determine literacy skills

2 weeks

Multiple sessions (in-person)

Follow-up

Participants are monitored for accuracy in an identification task with a pointing response

1 week

What Are the Treatments Tested in This Trial?

Interventions

• Orthographic facilitation

Trial Overview

The study is testing 'orthographic facilitation'—whether seeing written text alongside hearing words can improve children's ability to learn new verbs. The process involves watching actions in videos while hearing novel words.

How Is the Trial Designed?

Group I: Verb learning with auditory, visual, and text support Experimental Treatment 1 Intervention

Participants receive the added support of text to determine if this additional support helps them learn novel words with higher accuracy.

Group II: Verb learning with only visual and auditory support Active Control 1 Intervention

This is "gold standard" learning scenario for young children.

Who Is Running the Clinical Trial?

Montclair State University

Lead Sponsor

Trials

14

Recruited

1,200+

Published Research Related to This Trial

Children with reading difficulties, particularly those with a surface profile, showed impaired orthographic learning compared to age-matched controls, indicating that their ability to learn new words is compromised.

In a larger group of 91 poor readers, both phonological decoding skills and orthographic knowledge were found to be significant predictors of orthographic learning, suggesting that improving these skills could enhance word learning in struggling readers.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Tracking orthographic learning in children with different profiles of reading difficulty. Wang, HC., Marinus, E., Nickels, L., et al.[2021]

In a study of 973 first-grade Dutch children, incremental phonics instruction led to high levels of word decoding accuracy from the start, while efficiency in decoding improved over time, indicating effective learning progression.

Early literacy skills, particularly rapid naming and phonological awareness, were strong predictors of children's ability to master word decoding, highlighting the importance of foundational skills in early education.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Word decoding development in incremental phonics instruction in a transparent orthography. Schaars, MMH., Segers, E., Verhoeven, L.[2020]

In a study involving 87 children aged 6 to 16 with reading and spelling difficulties, a new training program called Phono-Graphix(TM) led to significant improvements in reading skills after just 12 hours of one-on-one instruction.

On average, children improved by 13.7 standard score points in word recognition and 19.34 points in nonsense word decoding, indicating the program's effectiveness in enhancing phoneme awareness and decoding abilities.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Phono-Graphix(TM): A new method for remediating reading difficulties. McGuinness, C., McGuinness, D., McGuinness, G.[2021]

An orthographic spelling training program significantly improved spelling abilities in German-speaking children with dyslexia, as shown by a study involving 23 students across two studies with 15 weekly sessions.

The training not only enhanced spelling skills but also led to improvements in reading and knowledge of orthographic spelling rules, indicating its effectiveness in supporting children with spelling difficulties.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Spelling deficits in dyslexia: evaluation of an orthographic spelling training. Ise, E., Schulte-Körne, G.[2010]

The study involved 25 children at risk of developing dyslexia who received targeted training, resulting in a significant short-term improvement in phonological awareness compared to 60 untrained at-risk children.

Although the training improved phonological awareness, it did not lead to significant differences in spelling and reading abilities in first-graders, but it did help reduce reading problems in the training group.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

[Prevention of dyslexia – short-term and intermediate effects of promoting phonological awareness and letter-sound correspondence with at-risk preschool children]. Höse, A., Wyschkon, A., Moraske, S., et al.[2019]

A new decoding measure (DM) was developed to assess the decodability of words and passages for young readers, focusing on sub-lexical components like orthographic complexity.

In three experiments with children, the DM effectively predicted reading errors and fluency, showing that it can enhance individualized instruction by matching readers to appropriate texts based on their unique grapheme-phoneme correspondence profiles.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Initial validation of a measure of decoding difficulty as a unique predictor of miscues and passage reading fluency. Saha, NM., Cutting, L., Del Tufo, S., et al.[2022]

Children's spelling accuracy is influenced by the frequency of words, with higher accuracy for common segments as they progress in grade level, indicating that exposure to word frequency helps improve spelling skills.

Older children (2nd and 4th graders) show a greater ability to use whole-word knowledge when spelling, especially when primed with high-frequency words, while younger children (1st graders) still rely more on common spelling patterns.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Learning to spell in a language with transparent orthography: Distributional properties of orthography and whole-word lexical processing. Angelelli, P., Marinelli, CV., Putzolu, A., et al.[2018]

The study found that 65 disabled Dutch readers demonstrated orthographic learning, meaning they improved their ability to recognize and spell words, even when reading independently, which suggests that all readers can develop word-specific knowledge.

However, the use of text-to-speech software negatively impacted orthographic learning, likely because it led to passive listening rather than active engagement with the text.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Orthographic learning and the role of text-to-speech software in Dutch disabled readers. Staels, E., Van den Broeck, W.[2014]

A study involving three caregivers showed that using the computer-assisted tutoring program 'Tutoring Buddy' significantly improved preschool-aged children's knowledge of letter sounds over six weeks, indicating its effectiveness in enhancing early literacy skills.

The caregivers found the program easy to use and were able to implement it with high fidelity, suggesting that it is a practical tool for supporting children's literacy development at home.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Parent-administered computer-assisted tutoring targeting letter-sound knowledge: Evaluation via multiple-baseline across three preschool students. DuBois, MR., Volpe, RJ., Burns, MK., et al.[2019]

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Results revealed an orthographic facilitation effect on oral vocabulary learning in children with hearing loss, with benefits being maintained over a week.

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An experiment investigated whether exposure to orthography facilitates oral vocabulary learning. A total of 58 typically developing children aged 8-9 years ...

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Orthographic facilitation refers to the benefit afforded to word learning by incidentally presenting spellings when new words are introduced.

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Novel Word Learning in Children Who Are Bilingual

Children with dyslexia benefit from orthographic facilitation during spoken word learning. ... Dual language exposure and early bilingual development. Journal of ...

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sciencedirect.com

sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0749596X25000713

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Many children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) find learning new words difficult, which negatively affects their educational and psycho-social ...

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This study integrates findings on orthographic support for noun learning with foundational verb learning principles to identify optimal ...

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Emergent literacy and language development

Her published research on language assessment and inter- vention and her interest in emergent literacy and early language acquisition led her to collaborate ...