The effects of reading mode and braille reading patterns on braille reading speed and comprehension: A study of students with visual impairments in China.
Oral braille reading boosts comprehension, while one-hand or cooperative finger patterns boost silent speed.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Chen et al. (2019) watched Chinese students with visual impairments read braille in two ways: silently or out loud. They also noted how the kids moved their fingers: both hands together, one hand, or a mix.
The team timed reading speed and gave a short quiz to check what the kids understood.
What they found
Silent reading was faster, but oral reading gave better answers on the quiz. Using one hand or a cooperative hand pattern only helped speed during silent reading.
In short: choose oral mode when comprehension matters, and teach one-hand or cooperative patterns to boost silent speed.
How this fits with other research
Razuk et al. (2018) also tested a simple reading aid—green filters for dyslexic kids—and saw faster reading, just like the one-hand braille pattern sped up silent reading here.
Early et al. (2012) taught sighted adults to read braille with a computer matching game. All four learners kept the new skill weeks later. Together, these studies show small tweaks—color, finger pattern, or matching games—can lift reading speed or retention.
Jou et al. (2023) tried a picture next to Chinese text for dyslexic students. Eight of fifteen kids finished more of the passage, much like how oral braille raised comprehension in Xiaomeng’s study. Different groups, same lesson: format changes matter.
Why it matters
If you teach braille, ask yourself the goal. Need strong recall? Have the student read aloud. Need to finish the page quickly? Coach a one-hand or cooperative finger pattern during silent reading. You can switch modes within the same lesson to get the best of both.
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Start the next session with two minutes of oral braille, then shift to silent reading using a one-hand pattern and time the difference.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of reading mode (oral and silent reading) and braille reading patterns (one-handed pattern, mark pattern, parallel pattern, cooperative pattern) on the reading speed and comprehension of students with visual impairments in China. Seventy-three students with visual impairments aged 10-19 years participated in the study; 48 were students with congenital visual impairments and 25 were students with adventitious visual impairments. The participants' braille reading performance was assessed by the Chinese Reading Comprehension Test. Measurement indicators included reading speed (wpm) and reading comprehension. The results indicated that (1) Reading mode had a significant effect on both reading speed and reading comprehension. More specifically, although participants read faster in silent reading than in oral reading, they demonstrated better reading comprehension in oral reading than in silent reading. (2) There was a significant interaction effect between reading mode and braille reading patterns on reading speed. In particular, participants using cooperative and one-handed patterns read faster than other patterns in silent reading. This difference did not exist in the oral reading mode. (3) There was no difference between the measurement indicators of the students with congenital and adventitious visual impairments. Implications and recommendations are given based on the analyses.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2019 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2019.05.003