ELR Software produces a range of computer programs designed by speech pathologists for speech, language & literacy intervention. Our programs may be used interactively within therapy sessions, to increase efficiency in service delivery, and to improve access to the Internet for people with special needs. We are also available as consultants to clinicians and research projects in the fields of literacy and accessibility issues associated with the Internet.
The aim of this newsletter is to inform you of developments and changes to our major products eLr (Extra Language Resources), Build-a-Sentence and Word Meanings. We welcome the opportunity for feedback and questions, and will be pleased to consider including reader contributions and announcements.
This Newsletter (and previous editions) as well as a "print-ready" PDF version of the current edition is available online at www.elr.com.au/news. An email version is also sent monthly to members of our mailing list (See Subscribing/Unsubscribing).
In this issue -
In this edition of eLr, 20 tasks which contain nonwords have been revised to ensure that all nonwords in eLr are "legal". This completes our revision of tasks in the in the MultiWord Slideshow model which require the learner to read each item and detect which is the real word. The goal of this activity is to encourage the learner to use knowledge of letter-sound relationships to sound out and blend when reading unfamiliar words, thus strengthening decoding skills. As is the case in many eLr activities, the support person (teacher, parent, clinician) plays a key role - providing feedback about decoding accuracy and ensuring that the learner understands the meaning of the real word.
These activities are supported by research about the importance of decoding in the early stages of learning to read. Decoding skills have been shown to be the main weakness of children with reading impairment (Herrmann, Matyas, & Pratt, 2006). Further, many studies (Cunningham, Perry, Stanovich, & Share, 2002; Nation, Angell, & Castles, 2007) support the phonological recoding theory which states that accurate decoding (phonological recoding - sounding out and blending to read words) is a key skill which enables formation of clear mental images of words (mental orthographic representations: MORs). These MORs, when linked to knowledge of the meaning of the word (semantic representations) and the pronunciation of the word (phonological representations), become sight words. One of the main goals of reading instruction is to encourage formation of a large bank of words which are automatically read, understood, and pronounced (sight words), as this enables fluent reading, which, when combined with background knowledge of the topic, supports the development of reading comprehension skills.
- Herrmann, JA, Matyas, T, & Pratt, C (2006). Meta-analysis of the nonword reading deficit in specific reading disorder. Dyslexia, 12(3), 195-221
- Cunningham, AE, Perry, KE, Stanovich, KE, & Share, D L (2002). Orthographic learning during reading: examining the role of self-teaching. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 82(3), 185-199
- Nation, K, Angell, P, & Castles, A (2007). Orthographic learning via self-teaching in children learning to read English: Effects of exposure, durability, and context. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 96(1), 71-84
We continually revise and add to the range of eLr activities which have been devised to be used within interactive sessions for people with speech, language, and/or literacy impairment. We welcome feedback and suggestsions.
In less than two weeks many speech pathologists across Australia will gather in Sydney to participate in the exciting programme of papers and workshops. These opportunities are valuable in so many ways. As speech pathologists we are able to maintain our knowledge base enabling us to deliver evidence-based intervention. We liaise with old and new colleagues thus forming communities of knowledge. And, equally importantly, we maintain friendships which have often spanned many years. ELR Software will be at stand 14 and we look forward to all of these aspects of the conference. Come and say hello; share your experiences with eLr; and give us your feedback and suggestions.
From January 1st 2017 we have made 2 changes to our subscription processes which affect eLr subscribers.
If you have any questions about these changes and their implementation, or the automatic updating process, please contact us.
As an occasional feature of this Newsletter, we include simple, unpaid announcements of products developed by other small, independent developers, who, like ourselves, are practising clinicians who have put their ideas and experience into resource materials for general distribution. Links and brief information about these sites may be found at www.elr.com.au/links/developers.htm. To date we have listed -
If you would like your materials listed on this page (at no charge), please contact us.
ELR has a number of free or evaluation files available for downloading directly from our website. Please see www.elr.com.au/downloads.htm for specific details. For other supporting materials and documents available for free download, please see www.elr.com.au/support.htm.
- Speech Pathology Australia 2017 National Conference:
Sunday 28th - Wednesday 31st
We will have trade stand #14 at this conference. Contact us for further details
ELR Software offers regular, free eLr tutorials over the web. We can provide this sort of support to individuals, or to groups who would like to have an overview of eLr. Please contact us for details.
You are receiving ELR-News because you are an eLr subscriber, or have expressed an interest in either eLr, Build-a-Sentence or Word Meanings. To subscribe or unsubscribe, send an e-mail with details to news@elr.com.au
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