This article examines the results of an experimental study of how mono- and bilingual elementary school students learn to spell words with stress-tested root vowels, emphasizing the role of orthographic knowledge and linguistic intuition in the development of writing proficiency. The findings are based on a descriptive analysis of 48 mono- and bilingual first and second grade students divided into 4 groups, each consisting of 12 participants. The analysis yielded several important and non-trivial conclusions. The monolingual first graders showed a fairly high level of writing proficiency, and no correlation was observed between correct spelling of words and either correct stress placement or the choice of an appropriate check word. Among the first graders who were non-native speakers of Russian, the overall level of writing proficiency was lower, and a statistically significant correlation was found between correct spelling and the choice of a check word. The second graders (monolinguals and inophones) outperformed the first graders considerably, with no significant differences between the native and non-native speakers. The monolingual children displayed no correlation between correct spelling and the use of orthograms, while the inophones relied on the choice of a check word to spell without mistakes. Generally, monolingual students tend to read and write more frequently, both in the classroom and spontaneously, thus intuitively discovering the morphemic principle of Russian orthography. For bilingual students facing the constraint of limited speech input (insufficient understanding of “procedural” language rules), mastering orthograms is more essential to achieve writing proficiency. Therefore, bilingual students depend on school-taught verbalized (“declarative”) rules. In contrast, monolingual students use mainly their linguistic intuition to learn writing.

This article is designed as a synthesis of a brief analytical overview of dyslexia research conducted abroad, in the USSR, and in modern Russia, with the findings from the author’s own long-term investigationscarried out in different years. It focuses primarily on the diagnostic differentiation between various forms of children’s reading disorders. The latter is inextricably linked to the definition of dyslexia, which has been repeatedly revised in global scholarship, but in Russia remains largely unchanged since the 1970s. The institutional standpoint and its influence on the overall understanding of the problem was discussed. A critical evaluation of the views held by educational institutions on a differentiated approach to the dyslexia diagnosis and intervention was provided. All available data gathered via multidisciplinary clinical and psychological research on dyslexia as a distinct reading impairment were summarized. The results of a study on non-dyslexic, non-specific forms of reading disorders in children with primary developmental language disorder and in children with mental retardation were presented as a new practical material obtained using a combination of clinical and psychometric methods. The author’s concept and diagnostic principles for distinguishing between specific and non-specific reading disorders in children were proposed.

Existing theoretical and practical approaches to identifying writing and reading difficulties among elementary school students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were discussed. Although inclusive education still evades recognizing such students as a distinct nosological group of learners with special educational needs, teaching them can only be effective if a clear understanding of the causes andmechanisms underlying educational difficulties is achieved. Based on the obtained results, the prospects of using a neuropsychological approach to investigate different writing and reading errors made by children with ADHD were demonstrated. A typology of the most common errors was proposed. Actual cases drawn from   the practice of a speech therapist, including the catamnestic information, were analyzed, and it was revealed that the success of speech therapy for children with ADHD is determined in many ways by our knowledge of the structure of this disorder and possible causes of writing errors associated with it. Therefore, further research on writing and reading difficulties faced by elementary school students with ADHD is needed, with a particular focus on the collection and statistical processing of data on the prevalence of various types of errors.

This article considers the results of the speech therapy to prevent dysorthography in second grade students with general speech underdevelopment (GSU) due to insufficient knowledge of morphological (morphemic and morphological-syntactic) rules. During the error correction intervention, the children gradually developed the ability to consciously choose and apply orthograms using the morphological principles of spelling, differentiate them from other orthographic rules, and build relevant skills and general learning abilities (GLA). When working with linguistic and graphic material, they were taught to use traditional and innovative methods of handling orthographic tasks, employ specific and generalized strategies for spelling, as well as master cognitive, basic logical and research, and regulatory (self-control) GLA, which are central to spelling performance. The linguistic aspect of spelling development was promoted by strengthening the children’s proficiency in language as a complex semiotic system and helping them make linguistic generalizations. The ideas of the sound structure of words, semantics, and morphemic composition were summarized. The concepts of orthograms, terms, rules, algorithms, and spelling tasks were explained. The findings show that when children develop a psychological basis of spelling activity, they become more motivated in it, learn to encode linguistic information in an analytic–holistic style, and respond to it in a reflective way. They also improve their short-term verbal auditory memory, self-control and evaluation of spelling accuracy, and the ability to predict spellings and prevent spelling errors.

The process of visual perception and text analysis during reading, from the eye’s optics and its defects that are sufficient to impair letter discrimination, was explored. Visual processing was examined at the levels of visual attention and eye movements, with particular focus on the control of both saccadic and vergence eye movements in the binocular fixation on a text line. At the cortical level, the functions of dorsal and ventral streams, along with the consequences of dorsal stream dysfunction for letter recognition, were described. The findings demonstrate how visual impairments at any of these levels may interfere with reading ability and contribute to dyslexia. Existing visual theories of dyslexia were discussed, including the author’s theory of asymmetrical interaction between the cerebral hemispheres in visual recognition and the dominance of gestalt perception. The need to integrate the visual and phonological approaches to dyslexia   research was emphasized.

Dyslexia pathogenesis is generally defined based on the multifactorial nature of this disorder. One of the hypotheses is the magnocellular theory suggesting that word blindness stems from the deficit in visual gnosis, i.e., that dyslexic people have difficulties with the perception of dynamic stimuli due to the impairment of their visual M-pathway functioning. However, this point of view has been widely challenged by experts, which is probably associated with incorrect choice of diagnostic criteria. An eye-tracking study was carried out on elementary school students in order to investigate their eye movements in response to visual stimuli with varying modes of presentation. The results revealed differences between the functions of the M-pathway responsible for the holistic perception of an object and the dorsal stream processing information about the object movements. The correlations observed with the oculographic data and the reading comprehension scores confirmed that the state of visual gnosis affects the reading process. Yet, to accurately determine the contribution of the state of M-cells to the pathogenesis of dyslexia, future research should focus on stimuli defined by spatial and temporal frequencies rather than the specificity of motion alone.

This article explores the classical concepts of phenomena such as personal narrative, fictional narrative, and narrative discourse. An overview of the globally accepted typology of oral narrative genres was provided. The patterns used by children while mastering personal narrative skills were described. Longitudinal data on the age-related characteristics of narrative macro- and microstructure acquisition in preschool children were summarized. Methodological approaches to narrative elicitation and analysis were outlined. A new methodology for personal narrative elicitation and analysis in preschool children was introduced. Its primary advantage lies in the ecological validity and correspondence to the context of children’s natural communication with peers. Analytical approaches to personal and fictional narratives were considered. The study revealed a connection between children’s acquisition of narrative skills and text comprehension ability.

This article presents the results of a study on the speech development in bilingual children who graduated from a Russian elementary school. A group of bilingual children with limited proficiency in Russian, despite having completed four years of elementary education, was identified. Their errors in speaking and writing were analyzed, and the findings revealed difficulties with mastering Russian as a foreign language, along with speech disorders. Importantly, the problem of sequencing speech therapy (intervention in speech disorders) for such children with language instruction (teaching Russian as a foreign language) still lacks clear methodological support. One possible solution, which lies in the methodological convergence of speech therapy and philological tools at all stages of children’s language skills development, was proposed.

The role of linguistic and metalinguistic activities in speech development during ontogenesis was evaluated. The content of the concepts “linguistic ability” and “metalinguistic ability” was refined, and   their components were considered. The features of language acquisition in children with general speech underdevelopment in the context of remedial education and its outcomes were examined. The study revealed that, in addition to the immature linguistic ability and linguistic activity, such children display a lag in mastering metalinguistic activity skills and, accordingly, in both unconscious and conscious language reflection, which emerges as a mechanism that underlies the underdevelopment of speech. The specific manifestations of certain components of linguistic ability and metalinguistic ability in various forms of speech underdevelopment were described. The cumulative influence exerted by the insufficiency of the set of identified components on general speech underdevelopment in children at different age stages was discussed. The proposed perspective on mechanisms underlying general speech underdevelopment is a promising direction to further advance the diagnostics and remedial programs for affected children.

Alexithymia refers to a specific cognitive-affective disturbance characterized by difficulties in identifying and verbalizing sensations, feelings, and emotions. It has been investigated from various perspectives: psychological, clinical, cognitive, social, and, to a much lesser extent, linguistic. Over the past two decades, a series of interdisciplinary studies with alexithymic adults, including Russian-speaking samples, have led to the development of linguistically valid diagnostic tools that are now successfully used in clinical practice to treat adult patients with high levels of alexithymia. Much less is known about alexithymia in children and adolescents, and the association between alexithymia and language deficits in Russian-speaking samples of these age groups has received only sporadic attention. In the present article, the verbalization of pain sensations among adolescents with high levels of alexithymia is analyzed. Their perception of clinical pain descriptors is described. A new tool for diagnosing pain conditions in adolescents is proposed.

This article overviews the theoretical foundations for studying the grammatical number of nouns from the perspectives of linguistics and ontolinguistics. The topic is relevant because the number of children with speech difficulties has increased in recent years, thus highlighting the need for early identification and treatment of speech underdevelopment to support them. The opinions expressed by Russian and foreign linguists on the acquisition of the grammatical category of number by preschool children were summarized. The strategies used by preschool children to make plural nouns in their speech were analyzed. The cognitive prerequisites for the emergence of the concept of plurality were identified, and the age at which children first begin to produce plural forms of nouns was determined. The learning conditions under which preschool children develop the ability to correctly use plural forms of nouns were specified. The default rule for making plural nouns was formulated. The findings reveal that successful mastery of the morphological category of number is the first step in learning the grammatical structure of language and therefore requires further detailed consideration.