Reading Acquisition and Developmental Dyslexia

Most studies on reading have been conducted with English-speaking subjects. It is crucial to also examine studies conducted in different languages, in order to highlight which aspects of reading acquisition and dyslexia appear to be language-specific, and which are universal.

Reading Acquisition and Developmental Dyslexia sheds new light on dyslexia and its relationship with reading acquisition, presenting two unique advancements in this area. Looking at studies conducted in different languages, the prerequisites of reading acquisition are examined, and the findings from studies of skilled adult readers are presented. The manifestations of developmental dyslexia and the main contemporary explanations for it are outlined, providing an in-depth, well researched discussion of the topic. The authors conclude by offering a new framework which could explain both reading acquisition and developmental dyslexia.

A fascinating book offering a unique insight into the topic of dyslexia, it will be of great interest to students and lecturers in cognitive psychology, educational psychology, and psycholinguistics, as well as those with a more everyday involvement with the disorder such as speech and language therapists.

Liliane Sprenger-Charolles has worked at the CNRS (the French National Scientific Research Centre) as a Senior Research Scientist since 1990. Her main areas of research are reading/spelling acquisition, developmental dyslexia, and cross-linguistic studies. She is widely published and is a regular speaker at international conferences and workshops.

Pascale Colé has been Professor of Cognitive Psychology at the University of Savoy since 2000. She is in charge of the professional masters program in child and adolescent psychology. Her research interests include normal and pathological aspects of reading development and adult skilled reading.

Willy Serniclaes has been a researcher at the CNRS since 2002, and was formerly Professor at the Brussels Free University (ULB). His work deals with the relationships between speech perception models and both oral and written language deficits. His current research is centred on the effect of deviant phonological development on the genesis of dyslexia as well as on the modelling of speech categorisation processes.