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Purpose: to verify the influence of schooling on Phonemic Awareness and Rapid Automatized Naming, and also the possible correlation between such skills, in students from the 3rd and 4th year of elementary school. Methods: as sample, this study counted on 29 students from the 3rd (Group 1) and 28 from the 4th (Group 2) year of elementary school. All the participants were selected through standardized tests to Brazilian Portuguese regarding Phonology (Oral Language) and further reading, writing and arithmetic (Written Language). To asses Phonological Awareness it was applied the second part of a Phonological Awareness Test - Consciência Fonológica - Instrumento de Avaliação Sequencial (CONFIAS); the assessment of Rapid Automatized Naming was performed by the Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing in its Brazilian Portuguese version. Results: students from Group 1 showed lower performance in Phonological Awareness than Group 2, however with no significant difference. In relation to Rapid Automatized Naming, the time spent to naming and also the errors pattern was similar in both groups. There was difference only in the time spent to naming and in the errors pattern of numbers. Conclusion: there is influence of schooling, even slightly, on Phonological Awareness and Rapid Automatized Naming once students from Group 2 showed best results than Group 1 in both tests. Nevertheless no significant difference was found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to verify the influence of visual stimuli on the written production of students with and without complaints of writing disorders. As subjects, it had 50 students from 4th and 5th grades of elementary school divided in G1 (with no complaints) and G2 (with complaints) who were instructed to perform a written production based on two different visual stimuli. Communicative Competence criteria were used in order to analyze the data. Regarding Generic Competence, the narrative genre was the most used for both groups. In relation to Encyclopedic Competence, there was significant difference only for the figures in sequence. Concerning Linguistic Competence, there was difference only in the Global Cohesion. There was no influence of the visual stimuli on the written production for both groups. Nevertheless, individual and social factors might have influenced the results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To investigate and compare the school literacy performance of 1st and 2nd grades elementary school individuals of a public school, before and after Reflexive Practices in Language Programs (RPLP). Methods: Ninety-seven students of the 1st grade and 149 of the 2nd grade, between the years 2006 and 2008, took part in this study. The subjects were submitted to school literacy screenings before and after the RPLP. The programs had an average duration of four months, and were carried out in a collective situation in classrooms, and in partnership with the teachers of the selected classes. They were prepared according to the guiding themes: promotion of literacy practices; awareness about use of voice and noise levels at school; promotion of oral and written narratives, involving meta-language and, mainly, phonological awareness and the promotion of reading practices and reading comprehension. At the end of each program, final screenings were carried out in order to analyze and compare students' performance before and after their implementation. Data were qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed. Results: Significant performance differences were found between 1st and 2nd grades, in both initial and final screenings, in the subtests dictation, words and sentences reading and sentence cloze were found. Conclusion: Second grade had better results than first grade. The results were more significant in subtests that required deeper understanding of the phoneme-grapheme association and vice-versa, suggesting that school literacy is necessary when social literacy is not present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To investigate the performance of students at the end of Cycle I of Elementary School in phonological working memory and phonological awareness, as well as the possible relationship between these skills in this level of schooling. Methods: The research group was composed by 29 subjects of both genders, with mean age of 10 years, students from the 5th grade of Elementary School with no oral or written language disorders. The phonological working memory was assessed using the Pseudoword Repetition Test, and the Phonological Awareness: Instrument of Sequential Assessment -- CONFIAS was used to assess phonological awareness. Results: The students showed appropriate performance in phonological working memory regardless of the similarity of the pseudoword. Concerning phonological awareness, it was observed better performance in the syllabic level and lower score than expected for the phonemic level. Although several studies claim correlation between phonological working memory and phonological awareness, no correlation was found in this sample. Conclusion: The lack of correlation between these skills raises reflections regarding possible extrinsic factors that may influence performance in phonological awareness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To analyze the influence of the type of visual stimulus on the written production of deaf signers without complaints of writing impairments. Methods: Participants were 14 deaf subjects, of both genders, with ages between 8 and 13 years, students of third and fourth grades of Elementary School at a special school for deaf children, who were users of the Brazilian Sign Language. They were assessed by means of written productions based on two types of stimuli: a short sequence of four pictures, and a picture of an action. Each production was scored according to criteria adapted from the Communicative Competences theory (Generic, Encyclopedic and Linguistic). Results: In the analysis of the Generic Competence, no difference was found between the written productions based on the sequence of pictures or on the picture of an action. However, the picture of an action provided more narrative productions, whereas the sequence of pictures elicited more descriptive productions. Regarding the Encyclopedic and the Linguistic Competences, both visual stimuli provided similar results in written production. Both in the Linguistic and Encyclopedic Competences, the performance of the subjects was lower than expected for the level of education, demonstrating partial knowledge regarding the written Portuguese language. Nevertheless, it was observed that the sequence of pictures allowed a bit more elaborated organization of ideas and overall cohesion. Conclusion: None of the visual stimuli, whether sequence of pictures or picture of an action, provided better performance in the written production of deaf signers without complaints of writing impairments, for most of the aspects analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To investigate the influence of two types of visual stimuli in the written production of deaf signers with complaints of reading and writing alterations. Methods: Participants were 13 deaf students who were users of sign language and had complaints of reading and writing alterations (seven male and six female). Subjects' mean age was 13 years, and they presented severe or profound sensorineural hearing loss (average threshold lower than 71 dBHL in the frequencies of 500 Hz, 1 and 2 kHz). The educational level of participants ranged from 3rd to 8th grades of public and private elementary schools. They were evaluated for their performance in Brazilian Sign Language (LIBRAS), and carried out written productions based on two visual stimuli: an action picture and a sequence of pictures. The written samples were analyzed according to criteria adapted from the Communicative Competence Theory (Generic, Encyclopedic and Linguistic). Data were statistically analyzed. Results: Regarding the Generic Competence, the predominant type of discourse was Narration. Both Linguistic and Encyclopedic competences were impaired, regardless the stimuli used. Conclusion: Both types of visual stimuli used in the study did not provide differentiated written productions in deaf signers with complaints of writing alteration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To investigate the influence of visual stimuli on the written production of Elementary School students with no complaints of reading and writing difficulties. Methods: Participants were 25 Elementary School children without reading and writing complaints who were enrolled in 3rd and 4th grades of a public school. The following inclusion criteria were adopted: responses at 20 dBHL for frequencies from 500 Hz to 4 kHz on hearing screening; to be enrolled in school for at least two years; and to present alphabetic or orthographic writing level. Participants were divided into small groups, and the written productions were collected in two separate days. Productions were analyzed according to the criteria adopted, which were based on a study regarding communicative skills (generic, encyclopedic and linguistic). Data were statistically analyzed. Results: There was no difference in the duration of writing elaboration, regardless the type of visual stimulus. As for the generic skills, the predominant type of discourse was the narrative genre. Regarding the encyclopedic skills, there was evidence of greater intertextuality for the action picture. With regards to the linguistic skills, the produced texts were long, with inadequate score, orthographic errors and partial overall cohesion. Conclusion: The visual stimuli presented did not interfere in the written production of Elementary School students regarding communicative skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]