Evaluating the Research on the Instruction of Literacy with Language (RILL) intervention programme children learning through the medium of Welsh
| ISRCTN | ISRCTN10963572 |
|---|---|
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN10963572 |
| Secondary identifying numbers | WG-RILL-001 |
- Submission date
- 23/09/2022
- Registration date
- 27/09/2022
- Last edited
- 03/03/2025
- Recruitment status
- No longer recruiting
- Overall study status
- Completed
- Condition category
- Mental and Behavioural Disorders
Plain English summary of protocol
Background and study aims
The Remote Instruction of Language and Literacy (RILL: https://www.rillresearch.org) programme was conceived in early 2020 in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. In its current form, it provides a fun and intensive 10-week language and literacy programme that can be delivered either through the medium of English or through the medium of Welsh. Crucially, it applies cutting-edge knowledge from reading science – i.e., what works – and it can be delivered to the child in their home or in the classroom. It is therefore potentially available to highly disadvantaged children (school non-attenders) as well as those able to attend school. The aim of this study is to evaluate the RILL intervention programme with children learning through the medium of Welsh.
Who can participate?
Children who are in Key Stage 2 (8 – 10 years) with reading difficulties enrolled in mainstream Welsh-medium primary schools in Wales.
What does the study involve?
The study involves participants completing short screening tasks to assess their reading ability. This is followed by completing short assessment activities measuring reading, writing and language skills, online with a teaching assistant present. Some children will then complete the RILL programme, which is a set of lessons targeting reading and related skills. They will complete these lessons twice a week for 15 weeks, 45 minutes per lesson. Other children will complete classroom activities as normal and the RILL programme at a later date.
We assess children at three time points: once before the intervention, once at the end of the intervention at 15 weeks and once at the follow up 15 weeks later. This shows us how children have gained and maintained their language and literacy skills.
What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
Possible benefits are children's literacy will improve, teaching assistants' skill levels in delivering interventions will improve, and schools will benefit from support from the team. The researchers anticipate no risk to participants or schools.
Where is the study run from?
Bangor University in collaboration with Leeds Trinity University and the University of Oxford (UK)
When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
March 2022 to May 2024
Who is funding the study?
Welsh Government
Who is the main contact?
1. Prof Manon Jones, manon.jones@bangor.ac.uk
2. Dr Cameron Downing, cameron.downing@york.ac.uk
Contact information
Principal Investigator
Brigantia Building
Penrallt Road
Bangor University
Bangor
LL57 2AS
United Kingdom
 ORCID ID |
0000-0003-3266-5472 |
|---|---|
| Phone | +44 (0)1248382319 |
| manon.jones@bangor.ac.uk |
Scientific
Leeds Trinity University
Brownberrie Lane
Leeds
LS18 5HD
United Kingdom
| ORCID ID |
0000-0001-7350-4048 |
|---|---|
| Phone | +44 (0)1132837100 |
| cameron.downing@york.ac.uk |
Scientific
Brigantia Building
Penrallt Road
Bangor University
Bangor
LL57 2AS
United Kingdom
| ORCID ID |
0000-0003-4171-482X |
|---|---|
| Phone | +44 (0)1248388334 |
| m.caravolas@bangor.ac.uk |
Scientific
Brasenose College
Radcliffe Square
Oxford
OX1 4AJ
United Kingdom
| ORCID ID |
0000-0001-9499-5958 |
|---|---|
| Phone | +44 (0)1865277830 |
| charles.hulme@education.ox.ac.uk |
Study information
| Study design | Multicentre interventional concealed randomized controlled trial with wait-list control |
|---|---|
| Primary study design | Interventional |
| Secondary study design | Randomised controlled trial |
| Study setting(s) | School |
| Study type | Treatment |
| Participant information sheet | https://sites.google.com/view/rillcymraeg-english/teacher-area/evaluation-guide?authuser=0 |
| Scientific title | Evaluating the Research on the Instruction of Literacy with Language (RILL) intervention programme for children with reading difficulties, aged 8 - 10 years old, compared with age-matched, wait-list control children, learning through the medium of Welsh, on reading and language measures |
| Study acronym | RILL-Cym |
| Study objectives | Children receiving the Research on the Instruction of Literacy with Language (RILL) intervention will make greater gains on literacy and language outcome measures (indices of phonological awareness, word-level decoding and fluency, spelling, and vocabulary) compared with children in the wait-list control group. |
| Ethics approval(s) | Approved 07/09/2022, Ethics board of the School of Human and Behavioural Sciences (Brigantia Building, Penrallt Road, Bangor University, LL57 2AS, UK; +44 (0)1248388740; c.saville@bangor.ac.uk), ref: 2022-17213 |
| Health condition(s) or problem(s) studied | Children with reading difficulties (e.g., developmental dyslexia) |
| Intervention | For the intervention arm, children will receive the RILL intervention programme twice a week for 15 weeks. Each lesson is administered by a trained teaching assistant and lasts for up to 45 minutes per lesson. The intervention will be administered outside standard literacy instruction. The waitlist control arm will receive standard instruction during the period that the intervention arm receives RILL. After the children in the intervention arm receive RILL, children in the wait-list control group will then receive RILL (under the same conditions). |
| Intervention type | Behavioural |
| Primary outcome measure | Current primary outcome measure as of 30/01/2024: Reading measured using the Test of Word Reading Efficiency (TOWRE) at baseline (pretest), post test (15 weeks) and follow up (30 weeks) Previous primary outcome measure: Reading measured using the Test of Word Reading Efficiency (TOWRE) at baseline (pretest) and post test (15 weeks) |
| Secondary outcome measures | Current secondary outcome measures as of 30/01/2024: 1. Welsh word reading measured using an adapted version of the TOWRE at pre-, post-test and follow up 2. Pseudo word reading fluency measured using an adapted version of the TOWRE at pre-, post-test and follow up 3. Phoneme awareness measured using MABEL phoneme deletion in English and Welsh at pre-, post-test and follow up 4. Vocabulary measured using a criterion reference test at pre-, post-test and follow up 5. Rapid naming measured using the MABEL test battery at pre-, post-test and follow up Previous secondary outcome measures: 1. Welsh word reading measured using an adapted version of the TOWRE at pre and post test 2. Pseudo word reading fluency measured using an adapted version of the TOWRE at pre and post test 3. Phoneme awareness measured using MABEL phoneme deletion in English and Welsh at pre and post test 4. Vocabulary measured using a criterion reference test at pre and post test 5. Rapid naming measured using the MABEL test battery at pre and post test |
| Overall study start date | 31/03/2022 |
| Completion date | 30/05/2024 |
Eligibility
| Participant type(s) | Other |
|---|---|
| Age group | Child |
| Lower age limit | 8 Years |
| Upper age limit | 10 Years |
| Sex | Both |
| Target number of participants | 320 |
| Key inclusion criteria | 1. Children aged 8 - 10 years old 2. Undertaking Welsh-language instruction at school 3. Normal or corrected-to-normal vision and hearing 4. Identified as having literacy difficulties via a reading screener |
| Key exclusion criteria | Children not in a mainstream school setting |
| Date of first enrolment | 01/09/2022 |
| Date of final enrolment | 01/12/2022 |
Locations
Countries of recruitment
- United Kingdom
- Wales
Study participating centre
Bangor
LL57 2DG
United Kingdom
Sponsor information
Other
c/o Dr Richard Watkins
Bryn Eirias
Ffordd Abergele
Bae Colwyn
LL29 8BY
Wales
United Kingdom
| Phone | +44 (0)300 500 8087 |
|---|---|
| richardwatkins@gwegogledd.cymru |
Funders
Funder type
Government
Government organisation / Local government
- Alternative name(s)
- Welsh Government, The Welsh Government
- Location
- United Kingdom
Results and Publications
| Intention to publish date | 01/07/2024 |
|---|---|
| Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to share | Yes |
| IPD sharing plan summary | Stored in publicly available repository |
| Publication and dissemination plan | Planned publication in a high-impact, peer-reviewed journal. |
| IPD sharing plan | The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study will be stored in a publically available repository (http://reshare.ukdataservice.ac.uk); raw, anonymised data will become available 12 months after data collection and available indefinitely (or until a date decided upon at a later date). Will be open data, available to anyone via mechanisms available in reshare (the licence applied to the data will be attribution non-commercial share alike: CC BY-NC-SA). Consent will be obtained from participants to share anonymised data. |
Editorial Notes
03/03/2025: Contact details updated.
30/01/2024: The following changes were made:
1. The overall study end date was changed from 30/05/2023 to 30/05/2024.
2. The intention to publish date was changed from 01/12/2023 to 01/07/2024
3. A study contact title was changed.
4. The primary outcome measure was changed.
5. The secondary outcome measures were changed.
6. The plain English summary was updated with the assessment time points.
26/09/2022: Trial's existence confirmed by the Ethics board of the School of Human and Behavioural Sciences.
