Prosody and Reading in Dyslexic Children

Abstract

This study investigates the role of prosody in the reading aloud of dyslexic children. Ten dyslexic and 30 non-dyslexic control children (mean age 9.5 and 9.9 years, respectively) were recorded when reading a text of appropriate level and subsequently asked to retell it and tested on its comprehension. The data were analysed acoustically by the WinPitchPro programme. The temporal and intonational processing of reading of the two groups were contrasted and revealed unusual characteristics of the dyslexic group with respect to what follows: (1) temporal processing (reduced speeds of reading and articulation and alterations in the number and duration of pauses); (2) variation of the fundamental frequency (limited ability to vary the melody at the phrasal and phonemic level); and (3) vowel stress patterning (difficulty in producing typical stress patterns, and of marking the pre-stressed and stressed syllables). Fulfilling its objective, the present study promotes advances in the understanding of the functioning of prosody in reading aloud in dyslexia.