| 英文摘要 |
Purpose. Reading acquisition is based on early language comprehension and word decoding (Gough & Tunmer, 1986). Therefore, language comprehension and cognitive decoding skills are applied as early predictors of reading development. This study aimed to identify preschool children at risk for learning difficulties in Chinese character reading. The identification procedure was conducted by using language comprehension and decoding skills as early predictors. The efficiency of a two-stage identification procedure that entailed combining preschool teacher ratings and cognitive assessments was evaluated for the following purposes: (1) to investigate the association between early predictors (including preschool teacher-rated scores and assessments of language comprehension, phonological Tzuyin decoding, rapid automatized naming (RAN), morphological awareness, and nonverbal IQ) and character reading ability during preschool and first grade; (2) to verify the classification accuracy of the procedure according to preschool teacher-rated scores and first grade character reading scores (i.e., the first stage of the identification procedure); (3) to examine the significance of classification prediction by applying a set of early predictors at the second stage of the identification procedure; and (4) to evaluate the combined outcome of the two-stage identification procedure. Methods. A total of 171 five-year-old preschoolers were recruited through cluster sampling. The participants´ decoding skills, language comprehension, and morphological awareness were rated by their classroom teachers. Their language comprehension, reading-related cognitive skills (phonological Tzuyin decoding, RAN, and morphological awareness), and character reading skills were assessed individually. One year later, 139 children continued to participate. Their character reading skills were reassessed. Results and Conclusions. Character reading abilities in preschool and the first grade were highly correlated. The individually assessed cognitive skills and abilities that were rated by the preschool teachers, including decoding skills and morphological awareness, were significantly associated with first grade character reading. The classification adequacy recorded at the first stage of the identification procedure, using the sum of preschool teacher-rated scores (which were below 33%) as early predictors, revealed that 53.33% (n = 16) of the children were accurately classified as poor character readers (first grade character reading scores were below 25%). However, the result is not acceptable because of the high proportion of false-negative errors (46.67%; n = 14). To increase the sensitivity of the first identification stage, children´s early character reading scores were used as alternative predictor. Children with either teacher-rated scores or an early character reading ability lower than 33% were identified as having a high risk of becoming poor character readers. This adjustment increased the sensitivity from 53.33% to 93.33% (n = 28). At the second identification stage, a direct discriminant function analysis was performed using three assessment variables as predictors of membership in two groups. The predictors were language comprehension, phonological Tzuyin decoding, and RAN. The groups were distinctly composed of true- and false-positive cases (n = 28 and 20, respectively) selected from the first identification stage. The predictors were significant for discriminating the groups. There was a 66.7% accurate classification rate evidenced through cross-validation of the given classification function. Among the true-positive cases, 78.6% (n = 22) were classified accurately. The combined outcome of the two-stage identification procedure revealed a 73.33% sensitivity for accurate classification of true-positive cases (22 of 30), although there was still a 26.67% false-negative error engendered by the effects of parent social economic status and age. |
