Reading strategies employed by Greek braille readers: miscue analysis

Abstract

Reading development is said to progress in a series of developmental skills and stages that need to be acquired by emerging young readers. The literature on Greek braille reading and its development found that print readers opt for the same text decoding strategy even at the initial stages of development. This article explores the development of reading skills and strategies used by 18 young braille readers to decode text. One of the main findings was the difference in reading accuracy between braille readers attending grades one and two compared with those attending grades four and five. Thus, during the first two years of schooling there are high levels of letter substitutions and mirrorings by braille readers, but they are not repeated in grades four and five. The results of this work have implications in teaching instruction, and it is proposed that teaching instruction could focus on the number of hours children spend reading and experiencing the braille script.

Keywords:

• Reading errors
• Reading strategies
• Braille
• Primary school
• Text reading

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to acknowledge and thank the Greek State Scholarship’s Foundation (IKY) for its research‐related and financial support. This research work would not have been feasible without it