Ellen Irén Brinchmann

• Brinchmann, Ellen Irén & Braeken, Johan (2026). Rock-Paper-Screen: Fifth-graders' comprehension of simple and enhanced digital text. Learning and Individual Differences. ISSN 1041-6080. 128. doi: 10.1016/j.lindif.2026.102896. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  In this experiment, we compared 338 fifth-grade students' comprehension of text presented in three formats: paper, a simple linear digital format, and an enhanced digital format with an embedded dictionary. We also collected data on the students' prior reading comprehension skills, word reading efficiency, and daily digital device use, which allowed us to investigate whether medium effects varied depending on individual differences in reader characteristics. The results revealed no differences in students' text comprehension across the three reading formats. Additionally, there was no indication that performance across reading formats varied depending on students' prior reading skills or digital experience. Although we found no evidence that the embedded dictionary had an impact on students' text comprehension, the process data suggested that students used the dictionary strategically by clicking on words that were central to understanding the ideas presented in the text.

• Chen, Jianan; Brinchmann, Ellen Irén & Braeken, Johan (2025). Setting Discontinue Rules for Progressive Tests: A Practical and Transparent Toolkit. Assessment (ASM). ISSN 1073-1911. doi: 10.1177/10731911251385776. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Progressive tests are a popular tailored test format where items are administered in increasing order of difficulty level and discontinued according to a rule system that should counter excessive response burden for test participants and guarantee efficient use of resources for test administrators. To facilitate evidence-based decision-making for setting appropriate discontinue rules, we propose a transparent approach that charts the impact of varied alternative discontinue rules on accuracy and efficiency. These A–E charts are based on retroactively applying discontinue rules to normative item response data. We show that a universal discontinue rule likely does not exist and that the optimal rule varies as a function of the desired efficiency-accuracy trade-off suitable for the intended test use and target population. The proposed approach provides a pragmatic solution for practitioners, researchers, test developers, and test publishers to rethink the existing discontinue rules, systematically evaluate the alternatives, and set appropriate rules.

• Hagtvet, Bente Eriksen; Hølland, Silje; Brinchmann, Ellen Irén; Engevik, Liv Inger; Karlsen, Jannicke & Kruse, Jana (2024). The Importance of Intersubjectivity in Teacher– Child Joint Story Construction. I Erstad, Ola Andres; Hagtvet, Ragna Bente & Wertsch, James V. (Red.), Education and Dialogue in Polarized Societies. Oxford University Press. ISSN 9780197605424. s. 239–270. doi: 10.1093/oso/9780197605424.003.0013. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Brinchmann, Ellen Irén; Røe-Indregård, Hanne; Karlsen, Jannicke; Schauber, Stefan & Hagtvet, Ragna Bente Eriksen (2023). The linguistic complexity of adult and child contextualized and decontextualized talk. Child Development. ISSN 0009-3920. s. 1–13. doi: 10.1111/cdev.13932. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Abstract The association between decontextualized talk (DT; i.e., talk extending beyond immediate context) and child language outcomes is well‐attested but not well‐understood. This study tested the hypothesis that DT is more linguistically complex than contextualized talk (CT). Thirty‐eight Norwegian children ( M age  = 5.5 years; 25 girls; 30 Norwegian‐speaking monolinguals and eight multilinguals) and their teachers were videotaped during picture book reading, story card conversations and toy play (collected 2010–2011 and 2017). Results show that DT was more complex than CT among children and teachers. Both types of talk were more complex during book reading and story conversations than during play. The conversational context should be accounted for when theorizing about the role of DT in language development.

• Bratlie, Siri Steffensen; Brinchmann, Ellen Irén; Melby-Lervåg, Monica & Torkildsen, Janne von Koss (2022). Morphology—A Gateway to Advanced Language: Meta-Analysis of Morphological Knowledge in Language-Minority Children. Review of Educational Research. ISSN 0034-6543. doi: 10.3102/00346543211073186. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Knowledge about the smallest meaningful units of language, morphemes, is crucial for vocabulary and reading comprehension. This meta-analysis of 43 studies examined differences in morphological knowledge in the societal language between language-minority and language-majority children. There was a moderate to large mean group difference in morphological knowledge in favor of the language-majority children. Studies that examined inflectional knowledge (walk–walked, rose–roses) reported larger differences than studies that examined knowledge of derivations (coexist, serious) and compounds (bluebird, highlight). Studies that used oral tests and tests of expressive language reported larger differences than studies that used written tests and tests of receptive language. These findings show that morphology is an area of weakness in language-minority children. Paired with the evidence that morphological instruction improves general language ability and reading comprehension, the results suggest that morphology could be an essential component in language interventions for language-minority children.

• Busch, Tobias; Brinchmann, Ellen Irén; Braeken, Johan & Wie, Ona Bø (2022). Receptive Vocabulary of Children With Bilateral Cochlear Implants From 3 to 16 Years of Age. Ear and Hearing. ISSN 0196-0202. 43(6), s. 1866–1880. doi: 10.1097/AUD.0000000000001220. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Objectives: The vocabulary of children with cochlear implants is often smaller than that of their peers with typical hearing, but there is uncertainty regarding the extent of the differences and potential risks and protective factors. Some studies indicate that their receptive vocabulary develops well at first, but that they fail to keep up with their typical hearing peers, causing many CI users to enter school with a receptive vocabulary that is not age-appropriate. To better understand the receptive vocabulary abilities of children with cochlear implants this study explored age-related differences to matched children with typical hearing and associations between vocabulary skills and child-level characteristics. Design: A retrospective cross-sectional study with matched controls was conducted at the Norwegian national cochlear implant center at Oslo University Hospital. Eighty-eight children (mean age 8.7 years; range 3.2 to 15.9; 43 girls, 45 boys) who had received bilateral cochlear implants before 3 years of age were compared with two groups of children with typical hearing. One group was matched for maternal education, sex, and chronological age, the other group was matched for maternal education, sex, and hearing age. Receptive vocabulary performance was measured with the British Picture Vocabulary Scale. Results: Cochlear implant users’ receptive vocabulary was poorer than that of age-matched children with typical hearing (M = 84.6 standard points, SD = 21.1; children with typical hearing: M = 102.1 standard points, SD = 15.8; mean difference −17.5 standard points, 95% CI [−23.0 to −12.0], p < 0.001; Hedges’s g = −0.94, 95% CI [−1.24 to −0.62]), and children with cochlear implants were significantly more likely to perform below the normative range (risk ratio = 2.2, 95% CI [1.42 to 3.83]). However, there was a significant nonlinear U-shaped effect of age on the scores of cochlear implant users, with the difference to the matched typical hearing children being largest (23.9 standard points, on average) around 8.7 years of age and smaller toward the beginning and end of the age range. There was no significant difference compared with children with typical hearing when differences in auditory experience were accounted for. Variability was not significantly different between the groups. Further analysis with a random forest revealed that, in addition to chronological age and hearing age, simultaneous versus sequential implantation, communication mode at school, and social integration were predictors of cochlear implant users’ receptive vocabulary. Conclusions: On average, the receptive vocabulary of children with cochlear implants was smaller than that of their typical hearing peers. The magnitude of the difference was changing with age and was the largest for children in early primary school. The nonlinear effect of age might explain some of the ambiguity in previous research findings and could indicate that better intervention is required around school entry. The results emphasize that continuous monitoring and support are crucial to avoid far-reaching negative effects on the children’s development and well-being.

• Røe-Indregård, Hanne; Brinchmann, Ellen Irén; Rydland, Veslemøy; Rowe, Meredith L.; Hagtvet, Ragna Bente Eriksen & Zambrana, Imac Maria (2022). Teacher–Child Interactions During Toy Play and Book Sharing. Early Education and Development. ISSN 1040-9289. doi: 10.1080/10409289.2022.2142028. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Research Findings: Although it is well documented that toy play and book sharing shape communication between adults and children in different ways, relatively few studies have compared teacher – child interactions in the two activities. The aim of this observational study was to describe and compare the conversational functions of teachers’ and children’s interactional contributions during book sharing and toy play. Examining dyads of five- to six-year-old children (N = 38) and their preschool teachers in the two activities, we found that the teachers produced significantly higher proportions of questions during toy play and higher proportions of statements during book sharing and that their questions tended to be more advanced (i.e. inferential) during book sharing compared to toy play. Moreover, sequential analyses of the immediate dependencies between the teachers’ and children’s contributions revealed that the teachers’ statements were more likely to follow the children’s questions during toy play than during book sharing, which may suggest more “back-and-forth” communication during play. Practice or Policy: The study findings indicate that toy play and book sharing provide children with complementary communication experiences and that the choice of activity may shape their opportunities to engage in educational dialogs.

• Hjetland, Hanne Næss; Brinchmann, Ellen Iren; Scherer, Ronny; Hulme, Charles & Melby-Lervåg, Monica (2020). Preschool pathways to reading comprehension: A systematic meta-analytic review. Educational Research Review. ISSN 1747-938X. 30:100323, s. 1–23. doi: 10.1016/j.edurev.2020.100323. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  The ability to construct meaning from texts is the core of reading. We report a meta-analysis and a systematic review of 64 longitudinal studies tracing the development of reading comprehension from preschool. Previous research showed that linguistic comprehension and code-related abilities in preschool correlate moderately with reading comprehension, but the results across studies are inconsistent. Meta-analytic structural equation modelling showed two distinct but related pathways from preschool linguistic comprehension abilities to reading comprehension in school. One pathway consists of code-related skills (letter knowledge and phonological awareness), and it affects reading comprehension through word recognition. A second pathway consists of linguistic comprehension skills (vocabulary and grammar), and it has a direct influence on reading comprehension. Early interventions to facilitate language development appear to provide a promising approach to facilitate the later development of reading comprehension skills.

• Brinchmann, Ellen Iren; Braeken, Johan & Lyster, Solveig-Alma Halaas (2018). Is there a direct relation between the development of vocabulary and grammar? Developmental Science. ISSN 1363-755X. s. 1–13. doi: 10.1111/desc.12709. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Previous studies of individual differences have revealed strong correlations between children's vocabulary and grammatical abilities, and these data have been used to support theoretical accounts positing direct developmental relations between these two areas of language. However, between‐person differences do not necessarily reflect intra‐individual dynamics. Thus, in the present study, we analysed longitudinal data from three annual assessments of vocabulary and grammar in 217 children (Mage = 4 years and 3 months at first assessment) using a modelling strategy with some utility in distinguishing relations at the between‐ and within‐person levels. The results revealed strong correlations between grammar and vocabulary at the between‐person level, but the evidence of direct dependencies between the variables at the within‐person level was rather limited. Specifically, we found a small direct contribution from grammar to vocabulary for children between the ages of 4 and 5, but there was no evidence of any direct contributions from vocabulary to grammar. Further analyses suggested that the home literacy environment may represent a common source of individual differences in children's vocabulary and grammatical skills. In light of these results, we argue that the evidence of direct relations between vocabulary and grammatical development in preschool‐aged children may not be as strong as previously assumed.

• Hjetland, Hanne Næss; Brinchmann, Ellen Iren; Scherer, Ronny & Melby-Lervåg, Monica (2017). Preschool predictors of later reading comprehension ability: a systematic review. Campbell Systematic Reviews. 14. doi: 10.4073/csr.2017.14. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Background Knowledge about preschool predictors of later reading comprehension is valuable for several reasons. On a general level, longitudinal studies can aid in generating understanding and causal hypotheses about language and literacy development, both of which are crucial processes in child development. A better understanding of these developmental processes may guide the establishment of effective instruction and interventions to teach reading comprehension that can later be tested in randomized controlled trials. Knowledge about preschool precursors for reading comprehension skills can also aid in developing tools to identify children at risk of reading difficulties. Objectives The primary objective for this systematic review is to summarize the available research on the correlation between reading-related preschool predictors and later reading comprehension skills. Search methods We developed a comprehensive search strategy in collaboration with a search information retrieval specialist at the university library. The electronic search was based on seven different databases. We also manually searched the table of contents of three key journals to find additional references. Finally, we checked the studies included in two previous systematic reviews. Selection criteria The included studies had to employ a longitudinal non-experimental/observational design. To avoid the overrepresentation of participants with special group affiliation (e.g., participants with learning disabilities or second language learner status), we chose studies that included either a sample of typically developing children or an unselected cohort. Data collection and analysis The search resulted in 3285 references. After the duplicates were removed, all remaining references were screened for inclusion and exclusion. A total of 64 studies met the eligibility criteria. The analysis was conducted in two steps. First, the predictive relation between the abilities assessed in preschool and later reading comprehension skills was analyzed using Comprehensive Meta-analysis (CMA) software. Second, we used the correlation matrices in the included studies to further explore these relations by means of meta-analytic structural equation modeling. Results First, analyses of bivariate correlations showed that all the included predictors, except for non-word repetition, were moderately to strongly correlated with later reading comprehension in the bivariate analyses. Non-word repetition had only a weak to moderate contribution to later reading comprehension ability. To explain the between-study variation, we conducted a series of meta-regression analyses. Age at time of reading assessment could predict variations between studies in correlations related to the code-related predictors. Second, meta-analytic structural equation modeling showed a significant indirect effect of code-related skills on reading comprehension via consecutive word recognition. Third, there was a strong relationship in preschool between language comprehension and code-related skills. Language comprehension had a moderate direct impact on reading comprehension. As hypothesized, this impact increased with age, and linguistic comprehension becomes more important for reading comprehension when children master decoding. Moreover, the overall individual variance in reading comprehension explained by the model was 59.5%; that of consecutive word recognition was 47.6%. Authors’ conclusions Overall, our findings show that the foundation for reading comprehension is established in the preschool years through the development of language comprehension and code-related skills. Code-related skills and decoding are most important for reading comprehension in beginning readers, but linguistic comprehension gradually takes over as children become older. Taken together, these results suggest a need for a broad focus on language in preschool-age children.

• Brinchmann, Ellen Iren; Hjetland, Hanne Næss & Lyster, Solveig-Alma Halaas (2016). Lexical quality matters: Effects of word knowledge instruction on the language and literacy skills of third- and fourth-grade poor readers. Reading Research Quarterly. ISSN 0034-0553. 51(2), s. 165–180. doi: 10.1002/rrq.128. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  The purpose of this study was to explore the hypothesis that teaching students knowledge of word forms and meanings supports the development of decoding and linguistic comprehension, which are fundamental components of reading comprehension. We examined this hypothesis by investigating the effects of a comprehensive word knowledge intervention on the language and literacy skills of poor readers. The participants included 118 monolingual third- and fourth-grade students from 12 Norwegian elementary schools. A quasi-experimental approach was employed with students in the treatment and control groups matched on grade and reading comprehension level. The intervention was delivered by teachers in small groups for 60 minutes three times per week over a period of 10 weeks. At the end of the intervention, the treatment group showed significantly greater gains than the control group on researcher-created and transfer measures of language and a transfer measure of reading comprehension. There were no statistically significant effects of the intervention on two measures of decoding. The results support the hypothesis that comprehensive word knowledge instruction is effective in improving language abilities underpinning reading comprehension. The utility of this approach for improving decoding abilities remains unclear. This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Ellen Irén Brinchmann, Hanne Næss Hjetland, Solveig-Alma Halaas Lyster (2015). Lexical Quality Matters: Effects of Word Knowledge Instruction on the Language and Literacy Skills of Third- and Fourth-Grade Poor Readers. Reading Research Quarterly, which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/rrq.128. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving

• Hjetland, Hanne Næss; Brinchmann, Ellen Iren; Lyster, Solveig-Alma Halaas; Hagtvet, Bente Eriksen & Melby-Lervåg, Monica (2015). PROTOCOL: Preschool Predictors of Later Reading Comprehension Ability: A Systematic Review. Campbell Systematic Reviews. 11(1), s. 1–40. doi: 10.1002/CL2.139. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv

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• Chen, Jianan; Brinchmann, Ellen Irén & Braeken, Johan (2025). Setting Stopping Rules for Progressive Tests: A Practical and Transparent Toolkit. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Brinchmann, Ellen Irén; Røe-Indregård, Hanne; Karlsen, Jannicke; Schauber, Stefan & Hagtvet, Ragna Bente Eriksen (2021). Linguistic Qualities of Child and Teacher Contextualized and Decontextualized Talk. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Bratlie, Siri Steffensen; Brinchmann, Ellen Iren; Melby-Lervåg, Monica & Torkildsen, Janne von Koss (2019). Morphological Knowledge of Children with Language Minority Backgrounds and Monolingual children: A Meta-Analysis. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Bratlie, Siri Steffensen; Brinchmann, Ellen Iren; Melby-Lervåg, Monica & Torkildsen, Janne von Koss (2019). Morphological knowledge in language minority children compared with monolingual children: A meta-analysis. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Hjetland, Hanne Næss; Brinchmann, Ellen Iren; Scherer, Ronny & Melby-Lervåg, Monica (2018). Preschool predictors of later reading comprehension ability: a Campbell systematic review. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Hjetland, Hanne Næss; Brinchmann, Ellen Iren; Lyster, Solveig-Alma Halaas & Melby-Lervåg, Monica (2016). Preschool vocabulary and later reading comprehension ability: A systematic review. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Hjetland, Hanne Næss; Brinchmann, Ellen Iren; Lyster, Solveig-Alma Halaas; Hagtvet, Bente Eriksen & Melby-Lervåg, Monica (2015). Preschool predictors of later reading comprehension ability: A systematic review. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Brinchmann, Ellen Iren; Hjetland, Hanne Næss & Lyster, Solveig-Alma Halaas (2015). Lexical Quality Matters: Effects of Word Knowledge Instruction on the Language and Literacy Skills of Third- and Fourth-Grade Poor Readers. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Hjetland, Hanne Næss; Brinchmann, Ellen Iren; Lyster, Solveig-Alma Halaas; Hagtvet, Bente Eriksen & Melby-Lervåg, Monica (2014). Preschool Predictors of Later Reading Comprehension Ability: A Systematic Review. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv

Se alle arbeider i NVA