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A Code of Many Colours: Rationale, Validation and Requirements for a Sound-Based Letter Colour-Code that Might Support Some Children with Dyslexia in Spelling Certain Words by Emily Sarah Cramer B.A., University of British Columbia, 2012 Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in the School of Interactive Arts and Technology Faculty of Communication, Art and Technology Emily Sarah Cramer, 2015 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY Summer 2015 Approval Name: Emily Sarah Cramer Degree: Master of Science Title: A Code of Many Colours: Rationale, Validation and Requirements for a Sound-Based Letter Colour-Code that Might Support Some Children with Dyslexia in Spelling Certain Words Examining Committee: Chair: Lyn Bartram Associate Professor Alissa Antle Senior Supervisor Associate Professor Bernhard Riecke Supervisor Associate Professor Alyssa Wise External Examiner Associate Professor Department of Education Simon Fraser University Date Defended/Approved: August 6, 2015 ii Ethics Statement iii Abstract Dyslexia is a severe impairment in reading and spelling. Despite receiving best-practice remediation, many children with dyslexia fail to surpass the 30th percentile in reading and spelling. A major impediment to children’s remediation is poor attention, which motivates the development of stronger attentional supports. One intriguing candidate is dynamic colour-coding. We have developed a tangible software system (PhonoBlocks), which could leverage dynamic colour-coding. The present study was undertaken to better understand how to use dynamic colours to support children with dyslexia in learning through PhonoBlocks. I develop a theoretical framework for designing dynamic colour- codes and implement and assess it in a mixed-methods study with PhonoBlocks. My framework addresses a general knowledge gap in how to apply dynamic colour to literacy acquisition in software. I use my findings to identify individual and interface factors that affected children’s use of the colours, and recommend general design counter-strategies with specific applications to PhonoBlocks. Keywords: Dyslexia; Software interventions; Colour; Design; Evaluation; Mixed- methods iv Dedication To: • My parents: Brad and Annette Cramer • My stepmother, Ginnie Schuster-Cramer • My brother, Lucas Cramer • My friends: Eric Pledger, Toni Epp, Spencer Staiger and Sara Tan • My friend and roommate, Kevin Preston • My (fictional) role model, Captain Jean-Luc Picard v Acknowledgements The study would not have been possible without the gracious cooperation and enthusiasm of the tutors and students at Kenneth Gordon Maplewood School. I am deeply grateful for all the help, insight and kindness that I received. I am also indebted to my supervisor, Alissa Antle. Alissa has been my main source of insight and encouragement. She has shown me new perspectives on research and design, and the purpose that comes from guiding oneself with the question- what can we uniquely contribute? Thank you. vi Table of Contents Approval .............................................................................................................................ii Ethics Statement ............................................................................................................... iii Abstract .............................................................................................................................iv Dedication ......................................................................................................................... v Acknowledgements ...........................................................................................................vi Table of Contents ............................................................................................................. vii List of Tables .....................................................................................................................xi List of Figures................................................................................................................... xii List of Acronyms .............................................................................................................. xiii Glossary .......................................................................................................................... xiv Chapter 1. Introduction ............................................................................................... 1 Chapter 2. Theoretical Background ........................................................................... 6 2.1. A Definition of Dyslexia and Its Social and Emotional Costs .................................... 7 2.1.1. The Motivation for My Research ................................................................. 8 2.2. The Skills that are Needed to Read and Spell English and the General Implications for Literacy Interventions ...................................................................... 9 2.2.1. Alphabetic Orthographies Represent Phonemes ........................................ 9 2.2.2. Alphabetic Orthographies Require Phonological Awareness .................... 10 2.2.3. Orthographic Transparency ...................................................................... 11 2.2.4. How Anglophone Children Develop Fluency and the Requirements on Visual and Executive Attention ............................................................ 13 Determining which Multi-Letter Patterns are Predictive of Sounds ....................... 15 Executive Functions: Inhibition and Switching ....................................................... 16 2.2.5. Implications for Interventions: the Need to focus Visual and Executive Attention ................................................................................... 17 Summary ................................................................................................................ 18 2.3. The Unique Visual and Executive Attentional Challenges of Children with Dyslexia and Implications for Interventions ............................................................ 19 2.3.1. Impairments in Visual Processes Involving the Dorsal Stream ................. 20 The Dorsal Stream ................................................................................................. 20 Visual Attention Span ............................................................................................. 21 Orienting and Focusing .......................................................................................... 21 Visual Search ......................................................................................................... 22 Relevance to Visual Segmentation of Letters ........................................................ 23 Relevance to Auditory Segmentation of Phonemes .............................................. 23 Relevance to Orthographic Decoding and Spelling ............................................... 25 Direct (Visual) .................................................................................................. 26 Indirect (Auditory) ............................................................................................ 26 2.3.2. Impairments in Executive Functions That Are Relevant to Reading and Spelling .............................................................................................. 27 2.3.3. Implications for Interventions and Design Requirements .......................... 29 2.4. Interventions for Struggling Readers ...................................................................... 30 vii 2.4.1. Mainstream Interventions: the need for Explicit Instruction in Phonics and Multi-Letter Units and Contexts ............................................ 31 Lindamood Phonics and Variants (Earobics, FastForWord) ................................. 31 Integrated Picture Mnemonics ............................................................................... 32 RAVE-O and Other Multi-Letter Unit Approaches ................................................. 33 Summary ................................................................................................................ 36 2.4.2. Orton-Gillingham Multisensory Curricula .................................................. 36 Guided Discovery ................................................................................................... 37 Multisensory Engagement ..................................................................................... 40 2.4.3. Colour-Coding and Literacy ...................................................................... 41 A Rationale for Colour-Coding ............................................................................... 42 Attention ........................................................................................................... 42 Memory ............................................................................................................ 43 Information Integration ..................................................................................... 43 The Potential Application to Literacy Interventions ......................................... 44 The Typical Colour Perception of Children With Dyslexia ..................................... 46 Attempts to Use Colour In Literacy Acquisition ...................................................... 48 Reading with Words in Colour ......................................................................... 48 Dybuster .........................................................................................................