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This paper presents a new theory and model of the teaching of decoding, reading and writing. The first part of the paper reviews a selection of influential models of learning to read and write that to varying degrees have been used as the basis for approaches to teaching, including the Simple View of Reading. As well as noting some strengths of the models in relation to children's learning, limitations are identified in terms of their applicability as models of teaching. The second part of the paper presents seven components that are central to teaching reading and writing derived from social, cultural and cognitive research and theory. Explanations for the relevance of the components are offered, and seminal and more recent research that underpin them summarised. The final part of the paper introduces a new theory and model of teaching, The Double Helix of Reading and Writing. It is argued that this model provides a rationale for a balanced approach to teaching, and an alternative to synthetic phonics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A significant portion of adults struggle to read at a basic level. Word reading (defined here as decoding and word recognition) appears to play a pivotal role for this population of readers; however, less is known about how word reading relates to other important semantic processes (e.g., vocabulary, sentence processing) known to account for a large portion of variance in reading comprehension. This study used the Reading Systems Framework to explore the extent that moderational and mediational relations existed between word reading and semantic processing abilities in predicting reading comprehension. Methods: Participants (N = 169) completed the Reading Inventory and Scholastic Evaluation, which consists of a series of subtests intended to measure decoding/word recognition, vocabulary, sentence processing and reading comprehension. Results: A moderated mediation model was constructed to assess the extent to which moderational and mediational relations between word reading and semantic processing were predictive of comprehension. Results suggested that word reading moderated the effect of vocabulary knowledge on comprehension among struggling adult readers. Additionally, semantic processing at the word (i.e., vocabulary) and sentence level both significantly mediated the relation between word reading and comprehension. Conclusions: Word reading moderated the relation between vocabulary and comprehension for struggling adult readers. Readers with greater word reading ability benefited most from having a higher degree of vocabulary knowledge. Vocabulary and sentence processing mediated the relation between word reading and comprehension. Thus, word reading appears to serve as an important gateway for struggling readers, and, as such, interventions targeting component skills of reading may have a limited impact on reading literacy tasks until word reading skills are developed. Highlights: What is already known about this topicA significant portion of adults struggle to read at a basic level.Difficulties with word reading have consistently emerged among this population.Struggling adult readers appear to struggle with other component reading skills as well (e.g., vocabulary, sentence processing). What this paper addsThe present study explored the extent to which moderational and mediational relations existed between word reading ability and semantic processing in predicting reading comprehension among struggling adult readers.Word reading ability moderated the relation between vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension, suggesting that the relation between vocabulary and reading comprehension is strongest for those who are more proficient word readers.Semantic processing (i.e., vocabulary and sentence processing) mediated the relation between word reading and reading comprehension, suggesting that they play an explanatory role.This study lends support to the Reading Systems Framework (Perfetti & Stafura, 2014), which highlights the interactive nature of reading skills. Implications for theory, policy or practiceWord reading is important but not sufficient for promoting comprehension in struggling adult readers.Adult literacy programmes need to foster multiple component skills that support reading and comprehension; however, doing this is difficult and developing best practices is something that requires additional research.The Reading Systems Framework (Perfetti & Stafura, 2014) provides a viable theoretical framework for understanding the strengths and challenges of struggling adult readers.Results are of theoretical importance as they help test and refine aspects of the Reading Systems Framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents a novel efficient encoding and decoding method for self‐correction and anti‐interference used in big data product tracing system based on the cyclic code theory. The principle of constructing code set is first illustrated. Then the specific encoding and decoding methods suitable for the algebra rules are invented in sequence for efficiency. At last, to test the new coding system, the paper accelerates the decoding time by OpenMP more than 36 times. The error‐correcting code presents its perfect recovery property with a recovery rate of more than 95% under 60% damage rate. In analyzing its efficiency, the encoding process only costs 0.0045 second in average while the time of decoding method will increase with the damage rate's ascending, but it can be controlled within 16 seconds. In comparison to other coding patterns in the references, the newly error‐correcting and anti‐interference coding method achieves a balance in complexity, encoding rate, and decoding time with its priority in recovering rate under the damage rate of 60%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, a 5‐week tablet‐based word reading efficiency game intervention (Reading Turbo) was integrated in a comprehensive phonics‐based reading curriculum. The aims of the study were to examine whether the game would advance children's word reading efficiency, and to determine the extent to which pre‐reading capacities and in‐game mechanisms could explain individual variation in responsiveness to the game. To do so, word reading efficiency scores of first graders in an intervention group (n = 132) and a control group that continued with the usual reading curriculum (n = 118) were compared prior to, directly after, and 2 months after the 5‐week intervention period. Individual variation in responsiveness was examined by relating reading precursors (i.e., phonological awareness, letter efficiency, rapid automatized naming (RAN), and verbal working memory) measured at the onset of the intervention, and in‐game accuracy and efficiency to word reading efficiency outcomes in untrained words. Results indicated that playing the word reading game significantly enhanced first graders' word reading efficiency directly after the intervention, but the effect was no longer significant 2 months after the intervention. With respect to individual variation in game responsiveness, it was found that phonological awareness, letter efficiency, and verbal working memory predicted responsiveness to the game via in‐game accuracy. In addition, phonological awareness and RAN predicted responsiveness to the game via in‐game efficiency, and letter efficiency and verbal working memory were directly related to responsiveness. The effectiveness of the word reading game thus differentiated between children with higher and lower pre‐reading capacities, and operated via in‐game child affordances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MIMO systems employing sphere decoding (SD) algorithm are known to achieve near maximum likelihood (ML) performance at a reduced complexity by restricting the candidate search space to a sphere of a certain radius. The performance of SD depends on the precise estimation of its soft output. In this paper, a low complexity modified Likelihood Ascent Search (LAS) algorithm is proposed to be used within a SD receiver in order to precisely estimate the counter‐hypothesis for its winner candidates. The LAS algorithm is modified to search for the best counter‐hypothesis in only one‐half of the signal lattice thereby improving the performance of MIMO receiver. Our results challenge the popular perception that for a SD receiver a large number of candidates within the search sphere is essential for good performance. Instead, it is shown that accurate estimation of the counter‐hypothesis is equally important and in fact, the performance of the proposed augmented SD receiver with only single candidate approaches that of a classical SD with multiple candidates. Bit error rate performance of the proposed method when compared with the existing research works on soft output generation for the same number of candidates shows that our proposed method outperforms them by upto 3 dB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MIMO systems employing sphere decoding (SD) algorithm are known to achieve near maximum likelihood (ML) performance at a reduced complexity by restricting the candidate search space to a sphere of a certain radius. The performance of SD depends on the precise estimation of its soft output. In this paper, a low complexity modified Likelihood Ascent Search (LAS) algorithm is proposed to be used within a SD receiver in order to precisely estimate the counter‐hypothesis for its winner candidates. The LAS algorithm is modified to search for the best counter‐hypothesis in only one‐half of the signal lattice thereby improving the performance of MIMO receiver. Our results challenge the popular perception that for a SD receiver a large number of candidates within the search sphere is essential for good performance. Instead, it is shown that accurate estimation of the counter‐hypothesis is equally important and in fact, the performance of the proposed augmented SD receiver with only single candidate approaches that of a classical SD with multiple candidates. Bit error rate performance of the proposed method when compared with the existing research works on soft output generation for the same number of candidates shows that our proposed method outperforms them by upto 3 dB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present a new iris ROI segmentation algorithm using a deep convolutional neural network (NN) to achieve the state‐of‐the‐art segmentation performance on well‐known iris image data sets. The authors' model surpasses the performance of state‐of‐the‐art Iris DenseNet framework by applying several strategies, including multi‐scale/ multi‐orientation training, model training from scratch, and proper hyper‐parameterisation of crucial parameters. The proposed PixISegNet consists of an autoencoder which primarily uses long and short skip connections and a stacked hourglass network between encoder and decoder. There is a continuous scale up–down in stacked hourglass networks, which helps in extracting features at multiple scales and robustly segments the iris even in an occluded environment. Furthermore, cross‐entropy loss and content loss optimise the proposed model. The content loss considers the high‐level features, thus operating at a different scale of abstraction, which compliments the cross‐entropy loss, which considers pixel‐to‐pixel classification loss. Additionally, they have checked the robustness of the proposed network by rotating images to certain degrees with a change in the aspect ratio along with blurring and a change in contrast. Experimental results on the various iris characteristics demonstrate the superiority of the proposed method over state‐of‐the‐art iris segmentation methods considered in this study. In order to demonstrate the network generalisation, they deploy a very stringent TOTA (i.e. train‐once‐test‐all) strategy. Their proposed method achieves E1 scores of 0.00672, 0.00916 and 0.00117 on UBIRIS‐V2, IIT‐D and CASIA V3.0 Interval data sets, respectively. Moreover, such a deep convolutional NN for segmentation when included in an end‐to‐end iris recognition system with a siamese based matching network will augment the performance of the siamese network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relevance of reading prosody on reading comprehension has been theoretically proposed and empirically recognised. The present study aimed to investigate longitudinal and concurrent relationships between reading prosody and reading comprehension processes, beyond decoding and word reading efficiency. Two cohorts of Portuguese children, ranging different grade levels (grades 2 to 3 and 4 to 5), were tested. Reading prosody was assessed through a rating scale, and text reading comprehension and context fluency effect were used to measure effortful and effortless reading comprehension processes, respectively. Results showed no bidirectional longitudinal effects between reading prosody and reading comprehension processes. In contrast, they revealed a concurrent contribution of reading prosody to the measure that mainly captures the effortless processes of reading comprehension from grades 2 to 5 but not for effortful ones. Results also highlighted the key role of decoding and word reading efficiency in the relationship between reading prosody and reading comprehension. Highlights: What is already known about this topicProsody is an important component of oral reading fluency.Decoding is crucial for reading prosody and reading comprehension.Reading prosody is associated with reading comprehension. What this paper addsThe relation between reading prosody and reading comprehension may depend on grade level and may vary according to orthographic depth.Prosodic reading has a concurrent predictive role on the effortless processes of reading comprehension.There is no bidirectional links between reading prosody and reading comprehension in European Portuguese until fifth grade. Implications for theory, policy or practiceRegarding the relationship between reading prosody and reading comprehension, theory must take into account, beyond the grade level, the consistency level of the orthographic system.Instructional programmes must take into account the important role of decoding for achieving efficient reading.Learning to read in European Portuguese would benefit from reading texts for practice in reading fluency with prosody. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The statutory 'phonics screening check' was introduced in 2012 and reflects the current emphasis in England on teaching early reading through systematic synthetic phonics. The check is intended to assess children's phonic abilities and their knowledge of 85 grapheme-phoneme correspondences ( GPCs) through decoding 20 real words and 20 pseudo words. Since the national rollout, little attention has been devoted to the content of the checks. The current paper, therefore, reviews the first three years of the check between 2012 and 2014 to examine how the 85 specified GPCs have been assessed and whether children are only using decoding skills to read the words. The analysis found that out of the 85 GPCs considered testable by the check, just 15 GPCs accounted for 67% of all GPC occurrences, with 27 of the 85 specified GPCs (31.8%) not appearing at all. Where a grapheme represented more than one phoneme, the most frequently occurring pronunciation was assessed in 72.2% of cases, with vocabulary knowledge being required to determine the correct pronunciation within real words where multiple pronunciations were possible. The GPCs assessed, therefore, do not reflect the full range of GPCs that it is expected will be taught within a systematic synthetic phonics approach. Furthermore, children's ability to decode real words is dependent on their vocabulary knowledge, not just their phonic skills. These results question the purpose and validity of the phonics screening check and the role of synthetic phonics for teaching early reading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper reports on a 5-year follow-up of a randomized reading intervention in grade 3 in Sweden. An intervention group (n = 57) received daily training for 12 weeks in phoneme/grapheme mapping, reading comprehension and reading speed, whereas a control group (n = 55) participated in ordinary classroom activities. The main aim was to investigate if there were remaining effects of the intervention on reading-related skills. Previous analyses showed that the intervention group performed significantly better than the control group on spelling, reading speed, reading comprehension and phoneme awareness at the immediate post-test with sustained effects 1 year later. Results from the 5-year follow-up show that the only significant difference between the intervention (n = 47) and the control group (n = 37) was on word decoding. There was also a significant interaction effect of group assignment and initial word decoding, in the way that the lowest-performing students benefitted the most from the intervention. Another aim was to examine if the children identified in a screening (n = 2212) as poor readers in grade 2 still performed worse than typical readers. The analyses showed that the typically developing students (n = 66) outperformed the students identified as poor readers in grade 2 on working memory, spelling, reading comprehension and word decoding. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws upon an explanation of the proleptic, an understanding of time as being socially constructed within specific contexts, to interpret a series of dramatic sequences enacted in ethnodramatic pedagogy. The authors present two major arguments: (1) teachers can help students analyze the processes that influence and shape their identities by adopting a proleptic framework; (2) ethnodrama, a dramatic and dialogic approach to interpreting texts, creates an opportunity for students to evaluate the social forces that shape identity construction as they situate and reflect on texts within multiple contexts. The authors delineate the ways in which teachers can use ethnodrama to help students revise their understandings of the personal and cultural implications of texts by situating these understandings in different configurations of place, space, and time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY This paper investigates the problem of constructing a secret and reliable network coding communication scheme against an adversary that can reselect the μ tapping links in different time slices and inject z erroneous packets into the network, while the network suffers from ρ packet erasures. We first derive a necessary condition for keeping the transmitted information secret from the adversary, while the network is only subject to eavesdropping attack, and no errors are injected. We then provide two network coding schemes for error and erasure correction, which can decode the transmitted information correctly. With that, a secret and reliable network coding is proposed by combining two error and erasure correction schemes with secret communication. We show that under the requirement of 2 z + ρ+ μ < k ⩽2 z + 2 ρ communication can achieve a rate of k − μ− z − ρ packets, where k denotes the network capacity. Moreover, it ensures that the communicated information has complete reliability and information-theoretic security from the adversary. In particular, the requirement of packet length does not need to be sufficiently large, which is close to the practical packet length. Finally, we also compare our scheme's performance with existing work; the numeric results and security analyses illustrate the performance and security of our scheme. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY Decoding operation reduction algorithms on min-sum layered low-density parity-check (LDPC) decoders are proposed in this paper. Our algorithm freezes selected operations in high reliable nodes to reduce power while preserving error correcting performance. Both memory accesses and active node switching activities can be reduced. A novel node refresh mechanism reactivates frozen nodes to minimize coding gain degradation. We propose three decoding operation reduction algorithm variations to trade-off complexity and operation reduction for LDPC decoders with different degrees of parallelism and memory requirement. Simulation results show that the number of LDPC decoding operations is reduced across all SNR ranges. The decoding convergence speed is not affected. Hardware architecture and FPGA implementation for IEEE 802.16e LDPC codes are presented. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY The error control of random network coding has recently received a lot of attention because its solution can increase robustness and reliability of data transmission. To achieve this, additional overhead is needed for error correction. In this paper, we design a compressed error and erasure correcting scheme to decrease the additional overhead of error correction. This scheme reduces the computation overhead dramatically by employing an efficient algorithm to detect and delete linearly dependent received packets in the destination node. It also simplifies the hardware operations when the scheme reduces the received matrix Y to form E k( Y ) instead of E( Y ) in the decoding process. If at most r original packets get combined in k packets of one batch, the payload of one packet can increase from M − k to M − O( rlog q k) for the application of compressed code, where M is the packet length. In particular, the decoding complexity of compressed code is O( rm) operations in an extension field [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decoding instruction is often thought of as an activity appropriate only for primary grade students. In addition, it is usually separate from spelling instruction, i.e. patterns that may be taught for decoding are not necessarily taught for spelling or found in words taught for spelling. Many students beyond the primary grades require on-going instruction for word analysis and spelling, especially as they meet multisyllabic words in their literature and textbooks beyond the middle primary years. These words often contain Latin and Greek roots and affixes. This paper describes a curriculum for the integrated teaching of decoding and spelling instruction useful for students in pre-school through early secondary school or higher. The framework for the curriculum and instruction is one based on both the structure or patterns in words (i.e. letter–sound correspondences, syllable patterns, and morpheme patterns) and the primary word origins found in English words (i.e. Anglo-Saxon, Latin, and Greek). © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]