Advancing Literacy ACU

16/10/2025

Prof. Anne Castles and Jessica Colleu Terradas from our Centre will be presenting Nov. 1st at the Research Ed Conference in Sydney!

This session is perfect for teachers, researchers and academics who want to learn more about advancing high school literacy, so make sure to grab your ticket before they're gone!

researchED returns to Sydney on Saturday 1 November! Join us for a day of talking education evidence, what works in classrooms, and research-literacy.

19/07/2025

Check out Prof. Don Compton's poster at 12:40pm today to learn more about the beta-version of the developmental English Lexicon Project (d-ELP), soon to be made publicly available (stay tuned for more info about this new tool...) 👀

You can also find Dr. Signy Wegener presenting a poster about orthographic expectancies and strategic control. 🔎

Such a great way to finish up the last day of the conference!🤩

19/07/2025

It's the last day of , but it's not over just yet!

Prof. Saskia Kohnen will be presenting on the effects of explicit instruction on spelling outcomes. The findings are the first reveal of results from a systematic review and meta-analysis that members of our Centre and other collaborators have been working on for a long time!

Join us at 8:30am in room E1 to learn more📝

18/07/2025

Get pumped for Day 3 of with Dr. Erin Banales presenting a poster on the use of finger-tracking in dyslexic children's reading! 📖☝

Jessica Colleu will also be presenting a poster about the relationships between morphological knowledge, spelling, and writing in adolescents. 📝

Catch these two at the poster session at 12:40pm🗣👁️‍🗨️

17/07/2025

Next up at , Dr. Andrea Salins joins the symposium on reading anxiety, discussing her work on reading difficulty and mental health.🧠

See you in room D at 4:10pm!

17/07/2025

Stay tuned for the group presentation on word reading and spelling at , with Dr. Danielle Colenbrander presenting on how children read potentiophones. 📖

See you at 2:10pm in room E1!

17/07/2025

We've hit the ground running at this year's Annual Meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Reading ( ) in Calgary!

First up, we have Prof. Rauno Parrila presenting a poster on word reading tasks and early reading comprehension growth. Dr. Dalia Martinez will also be presenting a poster about the effects of morphological analysis training on suffix learning.

Catch them both at the poster session today, starting at 12:40pm! 🗣👁️‍🗨️

19/05/2025

Attention NSW Secondary School teachers - a free PL opportunity to improve your students' reading comprehension
Featuring Prof. Jessie Ricketts, Director of the Language & Reading Lab, Royal Holloway, University of London, Prof. Anne Castles, Dr. Danielle Colenbrander and Prof. Genevieve McArthur.
Please RSVP using this link: https://acu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1H5aW6R4sTgNIWO

12/05/2025

Do you know a child in year 6? A team of researchers passionate about child mental health are conducting a nation-wide study about the transition to high school.

Once signed up for the study, the child and their caregiver are booked in with a member of our team for a session that can be either completed online or in-person. The sessions will take approximately one and a half hours, during which time the child is supported in completing a survey about themselves and their social and emotional wellbeing. The child also completes some language and reading tasks as guided by our team member. Meanwhile, parents/caregivers are asked to complete a survey about their child’s social and emotional wellbeing and academic experiences, as well as their own mental health (30 to 45 minutes). Families will be contacted again for a second session when their child is in year seven and has made the transition to high school.
Families can register interest by scanning the QR code below.

12/05/2025

It was a pleasure to have our team back at the Ballarat campus for another event!

16/10/2024

Claire Galea, along with Dr. Andrea Salins & Prof. Genevieve McArthur, recently reported positive impacts of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library on sustained reading practices and home literacy environments of families in Tamworth, Australia. "Daily shared book reading was already connected to emerging literacy skills by 3 years of age!"

This longitudinal cohort-study investigated the impact of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library (the Imagination Library) in Tamworth, Australia. The Imagination Library delivers age-appropriate books...

16/10/2024

For the first time in Australia, Dr. Wesley Hoover will present on the Simple View of Reading & the Cognitive Foundations of Reading Acquisition at ACU Ballarat along with researchers from our Centre. The Conference 2025 will be held on Saturday, 25 March 2025 including presentations and workshops by Profs , Rauno Parrila, , & Gen McArthur, w/, , & PhD candidate . Primary & secondary teachers interested in improving reading in all disciplines can book Early Bird tickets now for $130 ($160 after Dec. 1). Tickets are limited, so get yours ASAP! https://www.trybooking.com/CUSMG