Features of Word-Finding Errors
in Children with Dyslexia
Becky Willis, B.A., School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas
Lori Osborn, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, University of Redlands
Some researchers suggest a general processing deficit is
at the heart of word-finding problems. In a review by
Messer and Dockrell (2006), they discuss a range of
cognitive-based deficits, including perception, memory,
and speed of processing, may be at the core of the
problems found in children with dyslexia.
Alternatively, some researchers have found evidence of a
phonological processing deficit to explain the
characteristics of dyslexia. This model suggests there
may be insufficient storage and retrieval of phonological
information. Failure to access phonological aspects of the
original target word may result in semantic or
phonological substitutions. However, a higher rate of
semantic errors has been found in previous research
(McGregor, 1997).
Therefore, it is of interest to examine the presence of
semantic errors as well as the semantic subcategories
(e.g., superordinate, coordinate, subordinate). Analyzing
the subcategories of semantic errors may provide better
understanding of the nature of the word-finding problems.
RESULTS
Participants
 30 children in 2nd through 4th grades were recruited
from a suburban public school district. The following
groups each were comprised of 10 participants:
 Dyslexic Group (DYS):
A determination of dyslexia was confirmed by a
review of school records and testing, which
included an evaluation by an assessment
specialist that revealed significant deficits in
phonological processing and decoding.
 Age Match Group (AM):
Children who are the same age as the children
with dyslexia; no history of reading problems
 Reading-Level Matched Group (RM):
Children at least one year younger than the group
with dyslexia but have equivalent grade-level
reading skills; matched on the Burns-Roe
Informal Reading Inventory administered by
classroom teachers
Characteristics of the Participants
PURPOSE
The purpose of this pilot study is to evaluate the presence
and type of word-finding errors in children with dyslexia,
with specific emphasis on semantics. This study differs
from previous studies because it compared children with
dyslexia to a reading-level matched group, in addition to
an age-matched group.
DYS (N = 10)
Age
AM (N = 10)
RM (N = 10)
9-4 (SD = 9 m) 9-2 (SD = 11 m) 8-6 (SD = 16 m)
B-R Reading Level (grade)
2.5 (SD = 1)
3.5 (SD = 1)
2.5 (SD = 1)
K-BIT Nonverbal IQ
107 (SD = 9)
110 (SD = 11)
112 (SD = 14)
TWF-2 Quotient
89 * (SD = 9)
112 (SD = 11)
105 (SD = 9)
* p < .0001
Procedures
Specifically, this study examines the following issues:
1. Do children with dyslexia make more word-finding
errors than children matched for age and children
matched for reading level?
2. What word-finding error types distinguish children with
dyslexia from children matched for age and children
matched for reading level?
3. Within these error types, are there specific semantic
errors that further discriminate the groups?
 On the Test of Word-Finding-2, children in the agematch and reading-level match groups performed
significantly better than children in the dyslexia group, F
(2, 27) = 13.464, p < .0001.
 Children in the dyslexia group made significantly more
semantic errors than children matched for age and
reading level, F (2, 27) = 12.826, p < .0001. The
reading-level matched group and the group with dyslexia
made significantly more phonological errors than the
age-matched group, F (2, 27) = 3.72, p < .03. However,
the mean number of errors for each group was
extremely low.
 The Test of Word Finding Second Edition (TWF-2;
German, 2000) was used to analyze word-finding
performance.
 Responses were coded as semantic or phonological,
or no-response based on criteria outlined in the TWF-2
manual and test protocol. The responses were further
coded according the type of semantic and phonological
error, as defined by the TWF-2 manual. Researchers
were blind to group membership when coding the error
types.
This pilot study examined the presence of word-finding
errors in children with dyslexia, when compared to sameage and reading-level matched peers. The study revealed
these findings:
 Children with dyslexia made more word-finding errors
than children in both of the comparison groups.
 Children with dyslexia made more semantic errors than
both comparison groups.
 In terms of semantics, children with dyslexia made
more coordinate, subordinate, functional, and
circumlocution errors than both comparison groups.
These findings provide some support for the notion that
difficulty accessing the appropriate phonological information
results in semantic substitutions.
More Semantic Errors in the DYS Group
 All children had a standard score of 90 or above on the
nonverbal portion of the Kaufman Brief Intelligence
Test (K-BIT).
 No reports of disorders of attention, hearing loss,
autism spectrum disorders, or learning English as a
second language.
CONCLUSIONS
Data were analyzed using analysis of variance with Tukey
post-hoc corrections to make comparisons between groups.
The analyses revealed the following results:
The data show a trend indicating difficulty in discriminating
between word classes, as seen in the group differences for
semantic subcategories. Our preliminary results suggest
there is more ease in accessing certain levels of words than
others. This informs us about semantic organization as well
as approaches to intervention.
14
11.9
12
10
8
6.3
6
5.0
4
2
0
Dyslexic
AgeMatch
ReadingMatch
 In terms of the types of semantic errors, children in the
dyslexia group made significantly more errors (p < .01) in
the following categories: coordinate, subordinate,
functional, and circumlocution. There were no
statistically significant differences on superordinate,
locative, composite, and associative levels.
16
15
14
12
12
11
10
10
DYS
AM
RM
8
6
6
6
5
5
4
4
4
3
A limitation of the study is the small sample size, which
makes it difficult to reveal similarities or differences between
groups. Additionally, further assessment of other skills such
as memory and speed of processing is necessary to give
alternative explanations for the findings.
In terms of intervention, these findings support the use of a
dual-focused approach, which involves teaching word
meanings along with retrieval strategies. These may include
metalinguistic and mneumonic cueing, segmenting, and
rehearsing strategies (German, 2002).
SELECTED REFERENCES
Types of Specific Semantic Errors
Mean # of Specific Semantic Errors
In addition to having reading difficulties, research has
shown that children with dyslexia also have word-finding
problems (Snowling, Wagtendonl & Strafford, 1988; Wolf
& Segal, 1992). Word-finding problems are defined by
German (2000) as an inability to retrieve a word when the
child knows the concept or meaning.
METHODS
Mean # of Semantic Errors
INTRODUCTION
3
2
German, D. (2002). A phonologically based strategy to improve word-finding abilities in children.
Communication Disorders Quarterly, 23, 179-192.
McGregor, K.K. & Waxman, S.R. (1998). Object naming at multiple hierarchical levels: a
comparison of preschoolers with and without word-finding deficits. Journal of Child
Language, 25 , 419-430.
McGregor, K.K. (1997) The nature of word-finding errors in preschoolers with and without wordfinding problems. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 40, 1232.
Messer, D. & Dockrell, J.E. (2006). Children’s naming and word-finding difficulties: descriptions
and explanations. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 49, 309-324.
Shaywitz, S.E., Fletcher, J.M., Holahan, J.M., Shneider, A.E., Marchione, K.E., Stuebing, K.K.,
Francis, D.J., Pugh, K.R., & Shaywitz, B.A. (1999). Persistence of dyslexia: The Connecticut
longitudinal study at adolescence. Pediatrics, 104, 1351-1359.
Scarborough, H. (2005). Developmental relationship between language and reading: reconciling
a beautiful hypothesis with some ugly Facts. In H. Catts & A.G. Kamhi (Eds.), The
connections between language and reading disabilities (pp. 3-24). New Jersey: Pearson.
Snowling, M., Wagtendonl, B., & Strafford, C. (1988). Object-naming deficits in developmental
dyslexia. Journal of Research in Reading, 11, 67-85.
Wolf, M., & Segal, D. (1992). Word-finding and reading in the developmental dyslexias. Topics
in Language Disorders, 13, 51-65.
0
Coordinate
Subordinate
Functional
Circumlocution
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We would like to thank the University of Redlands Summer Science
Research Program for supporting the development of this work.