Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Visual-motor integration and reading Chinese in children with/without dyslexia

  • Published:
Reading and Writing Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Visual-motor integration is an ability to coordinate the visual information and limb movement, which has direct relevance to Chinese handwriting ability. Interestingly handwriting practice can also improve Chinese reading. However, the relationship between visual-motor integration and reading ability in Chinese is unclear. The present study investigated the role of visual-motor integration skills in reading Chinese among children with and without developmental dyslexia. In the study Chinese children with developmental dyslexia (DD-Group), chronological-age-matched children (CA-Group), and reading-level-matched children (RL-Group) were asked to participate in reading and reading related tasks as well as word-copying and picture-copying (visual-motor integration) tasks. The results revealed that the DD-Group performed significantly worse than the CA-Group on the word copying task, and that the DD-Group performed similarly to the RL-Group on the reading and reading related tasks and the word-copying task. However, the DD-Group performed significantly worse than the CA- and RL-Groups on the visual-motor integration task. Further, when age and intelligence were controlled visual-motor integration and word-copying skills could explain 14 and 16% of the variance in reading skills respectively. When reading-related cognitive skills were controlled, visual-motor integration skills could still explain 8% of variance in reading skills, but word-copying skills did not. The results of the current study indicated for the first time that visual-motor integration skills play an essential role in reading Chinese independent of word copying ability.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Afonso, O., Suárez-Coalla, P., & Cuetos, F. (2015). Spelling impairments in Spanish dyslexic adults. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 1–10.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Badian, N. (1997). Dyslexia and the double deficit hypothesis. Annals of Dyslexia, 47, 69–87.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bellocchi, S., Muneaux, M., Huau, A., Lévêque, Y., Jover, M., & Ducrot, S. (2017). Exploring the link between visual perception, visual-motor integration, and reading in normal developing and impaired children using DTVP-2. Dyslexia, 23, 296–315.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Booth, J. R., Burman, D. D., Meyer, J. R., Gitelman, D. R., Parrish, T. B., & Mesulam, M. M. (2002). Functional anatomy of intra- and cross-modal lexical tasks. Neuroimage, 16, 7–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bradley, L., & Bryant, P. E. (1983). Categorizing sounds and learning to read—a causal connection. Nature, 301, 419–421.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chan, D. W., Ho, C. S. H., Tsang, S. Mre, Lee, S. H., & Chung, K. K. H. (2004). Exploring the reading-writing connection in Chinese children with dyslexia in Hong Kong. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 19, 543–561.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chein, J. M., Ravizza, S. M., & Fiez, J. A. (2003). Using neuroimaging to evaluate models of working memory and their implications for language processing. Journal of Neurolinguistics, 16, 315–339.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cheng-Lai, A., Li-Tsang, C. W., Chan, A. H., & Lo, A. G. (2013). Writing to dictation and handwriting performance among Chinese children with dyslexia: Relationships with orthographic knowledge and perceptual-motor skills. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 34, 3372–3383.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chow, S. M. K., Choy, S.-W., & Mui, S.-K. (2003). Assessing handwriting speed of children biliterate in English and Chinese. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 96, 685–694.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chung, K. K., Ho, C. S. H., Chan, D. W., Tsang, S. M., & Lee, S. H. (2011). Cognitive skills and literacy performance of Chinese adolescents with and without dyslexia. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 24, 835–859.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Decker, S. L., Englund, J. A., Carboni, J. A., & Brooks, J. H. (2011). Cognitive and developmental influences in visual-motor integration skills in young children. Psychological Assessment, 23, 1010–1016.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Denckla, M. B., & Rudel, R. G. (1976). Rapid “automatized” naming (R.A.N.): Dyslexia differentiated from other learning disabilities. Neuropsychologia, 14, 471–479.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Emam, M., & Kazem, A. (2014). Visual motor integration in children with and without reading disabilities in Oman. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 112, 548–556.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fiez, J. A., Balota, D. A., Raichle, M. E., & Petersent, S. E. (1999). Effects of lexicality, frequency, and spelling-to-sound consistency on the functional anatomy of reading. Neuron, 24, 205–218.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gabbard, C., Goncalves, V. M., & Santos, D. C. (2001). Visual-motor integration problems in low birth weight infants. Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings, 8, 199–204.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goldstein, D. J., & Britt, T. W. (1994). Visual-motor coordination and intelligence as predictors of reading, mathematics, and written language ability. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 78, 819–823.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hammill, D. D. (2004). What we know about correlates of reading. Exceptional Children, 70, 453–468.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hammill, D. D., Pearson, N. A., Voress, J. K., & Reynolds, C. R. (2006). Full range test of visual-motor integration: Examiner’s manual. Austin, TX: PRO-ED.

    Google Scholar 

  • He, A. G., Tan, L. H., Tang, Y., James, G. A., Wright, P., Eckert, M. A., et al. (2003). Modulation of neural connectivity during tongue movement and reading. Human Brain Mapping, 18, 222–232.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ho, S. H., Chan, W. O., Lee, S. H., Tsang, S. M., & Luan, V. H. (2004). Cognitive profiling and preliminary subtyping in Chinese developmental dyslexia. Cognition, 91, 43–75.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huang, C. T. J. (1984). Phrase structure, lexical integrity, and Chinese compounds. Journal of the Chinese Language Teachers Association, 19, 53–78.

    Google Scholar 

  • Institute of Linguistic Studies, Beijing Language and Culture University. (1986). The modern Chinese frequency dictionary. Beijing: Beijng Language and Culture University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kevan, A., & Pammer, K. (2009). Predicting early reading skills from pre-reading measures of dorsal stream functioning. Neuropsychologia, 47, 3174–3181.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larsen, S. C., & Hammill, D. D. (1989). Test of Legible Handwriting (TOLH). Austin, TX: Pro-Ed.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ledberg, A., Bressler, S. L., Ding, M., Coppola, R., & Nakamura, R. (2007). Large-scale visuomotor integration in the cerebral cortex. Cerebral Cortex, 17, 44–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li, D., Chen, G. P., & Jin, Y. (1989). Combined Raven’s matrices test (Revised ed.). Shanghai: East China Normal University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Li, K. K., Leung, H., Lam, S., & Li-Tsang, C. (2008). An assessment tool for judging the overall appearance of chinese handwriting based on opinions from occupational therapists. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 4823, 288–299.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Longcamp, M., Anton, J. L., Roth, M., & Velay, J. L. (2003). Visual presentation of single letters activates a premotor area involved in writing. Neuroimage, 19, 1492–1500.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Longcamp, M., Richards, T. L., Velay, J. L., & Berninger, V. W. (2016). Neuroanatomy of handwriting and related reading and writing skills in adults and children with and without learning disabilities: French-American connections. Pratiques, 1, 171–172.

    Google Scholar 

  • Longcamp, M., Zerbato-Poudou, M., & Velay, J. L. (2005). The influence of writing practice on letter recognition in preschool children: A comparison between handwriting and typing. Acta Psychologia, 119, 67–79.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lyon, G. R., Shaywitz, S. E., & Shaywitz, B. A. (2003). A definition of dyslexia. Annals of Dyslexia, 53, 1–14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maldarelli, J. E., Kahrs, B. A., Hunt, S. C., & Lockman, J. J. (2015). Development of early handwriting: Visual-motor control during letter copying. Developmental Psychology, 51, 879–888.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martlew, M. (1992). Handwriting and spelling: Dyslexic children’s abilities compared with children of the same chronological age and younger children of the same spelling level. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 62, 375–390.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McBride-Chang, C., Chung, K. K., & Tong, X. (2011). Copying skills in relation to word reading and writing in Chinese children with and without dyslexia. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 110, 422–433.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Medwell, J., & Wray, D. (2014). Handwriting automaticity: The search for performance thresholds. Language and Education, 28(1), 34–51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meng, X., Cheng-Lai, A., Zeng, B., Stein, J. F., & Zhou, X. (2011). Dynamic visual perception and reading development in Chinese school children. Annals of Dyslexia, 61, 161–176.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miyahara, M., Kotani, K., & Algazi, V. (1998). Objective picture quality scale (PQS) for image coding. IEEE Transactions on Communications, 46, 1215–1226.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Naka, M., & Naoi, H. (1995). The effect of repeated writing on memory. Memory and Cognition, 23(2), 201–212.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Perfetti, C. A., & Tan, L. H. (2013). Write to read: The brain’s universal reading and writing network. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 17, 56–57.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Price, C. J., & Devlin, J. T. (2011). The interactive account of ventral occipitotemporal contributions to reading. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 15, 246–253.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Price, C. J., Moore, C. J., Humphreys, G. W., & Wise, R. J. S. (1997). Segregating semantic from phonological processes during reading. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 9, 727–733.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Qian, Y., & Bi, H. Y. (2015). The effect of magnocellular-based visual-motor intervention on Chinese children with developmental dyslexia. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 1–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Qian, Y., Deng, Y., Zhao, J., & Bi, H. Y. (2015). Magnocellular-dorsal pathway function is associated with orthographic but not phonological skill: FMRI evidence from skilled chinese readers. Neuropsychologia, 71, 84–90.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Santi, K. L., Francis, D. J., Currie, D., & Wang, Q. (2015). Visual-motor integration skills: Accuracy of predicting reading. Optometry and Vision Science, 92, 217–226.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shaywitz, S. E., Morris, R., & ShaywitZ, B. A. (2008). The education of dyslexic children from childhood to young adulthood. Annual Review of Psychology, 59, 451–475.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shu, H., McBride-Chang, C., Wu, S., & Liu, H. (2006). Understanding Chinese developmental dyslexia: Morphological awareness as a core cognitive construct. Journal of Educational Psychology, 98, 122–133.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Siok, W. T., & Fletcher, P. (2001). The role of phonological awareness and visual-orthographic skills in Chinese reading acquisition. Developmental Psychology, 37, 886–899.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sortor, J. M., & Kulp, M. T. (2003). Are the results of the Beery–Buktenica developmental test of visual-motor integration and its subtests related to achievement test scores? Optometry and Vision Science, 80, 758–763.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sumner, E., Connelly, V., & Barnett, A. L. (2013). Children with dyslexia are slow writers because they pause more often and not because they are slow at handwriting execution. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 26, 991–1008.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tan, L. H., Laird, A. R., Li, K., & Fox, P. T. (2005a). Neuroanatomical correlates of phonological processing of Chinese characters and alphabetic words: A meta-analysis. Human Brain Mapping, 25, 83–91.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tan, L. H., Spinks, J. A., Eden, G. F., Perfetti, C. A., & Siok, W. T. (2005b). Reading depends on writing, in Chinese. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 102, 8781–8785.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tinker, M. A. (1940). Dr Robinson on speed versus comprehension in reading—A discussion. Psychological Review, 31, 559–560.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tseng, M. H. (1993). Factorial validity of the Tseng handwriting problem checklist. Journal of Occupational Therapy Association Republic of China, 11, 13–28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tseng, M. H., & Chow, S. M. K. (2000). Perceptual-motor function of school-age children with slow handwriting speed. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 54, 83–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vellutino, F. R., & Scanlon, D. M. (1986). Experimental evidence for the effects of instructional bias on word identification. Exceptional Children, 5, 145–155.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Volman, M. J. M., van Schendel, B. M., & Jongmans, M. J. (2006). Handwriting difficulties in primary school children: A search for underlying mechanisms. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 60, 451–460.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, J. J., Bi, H. Y., Gao, L. Q., & Wydell, T. N. (2010). The visual magnocellular pathway in Chinese-speaking children with developmental dyslexia. Neuropsychologia, 48, 3627–3633.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, Y., McBride-Chang, C., & Chan, S. F. (2014). Correlates of Chinese kindergarteners’ word reading and writing: The unique role of copying skills? Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 27, 1281–1302.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, X. L., & Tao, B. P. (1996). Chinese character recognition test battery and assessment scale for primary school students. Shanghai: Shanghai Educational Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Waterman, A. H., Havelka, J., Culmer, P. R., Hill, L. J. B., & Mon-Williams, M. (2015). The ontogeny of visual-motor memory and its importance in handwriting and reading: A developing construct. Proceedings Biological Sciences/The Royal Society, 282(1798), 1–6.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weintraub, N., & Graham, S. (2000). The contribution of gender, orthographic, finger function, and visual-motor processes to the prediction of handwriting status. Occupation, Participation and Health, 20, 121–140.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wydell, T. N., & Butterworth, B. (1999). A case study of an English-Japanese bilingual with monolingual dyslexia. Cognition, 70, 273–305.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, Y., Fan, L. Z., Caspers, S., Heim, S., Song, M., Liu, C. R., et al. (2017). Cross-cultural consistency and diversity in intrinsic functional organization of Broca’s Region. NeuroImage, 150, 177–190.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ziegler, J. C., & Goswami, U. (2005). Reading acquisition, developmental dyslexia, and skilled reading across languages: A psycholinguistic grain size theory. Psychological Bulletin, 131, 3–29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This study was funded by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 31671155, 31371044), Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Imaging Technology (No. BAICIT-2016018), and the Scientific Foundation of Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. Y6CX29007). The authors are extremely grateful to all of the participants, parents and schools for their support and participation in this study. Thanks go to Tong-Qi Wei for support and comments on the earlier version of the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Brain Science and Learning Difficulties, Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Ze-Long Meng & Hong-Yan Bi

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Ze-Long Meng & Hong-Yan Bi

  3. Department of Life Sciences, College of Health and Life Sciences, Brunel University London, Uxbridge, UK

    Taeko N. Wydell

Authors
  1. Ze-Long Meng
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Taeko N. Wydell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Hong-Yan Bi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hong-Yan Bi.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no potential conflicts of interest

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Meng, ZL., Wydell, T.N. & Bi, HY. Visual-motor integration and reading Chinese in children with/without dyslexia. Read Writ 32, 493–510 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-018-9876-z

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-018-9876-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation