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
ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT)	Nil known
Clinical Trials Information System (CTIS)	Nil known
Protocol serial number	WG-RILL-001
Sponsor	GwE
Funder	Llywodraeth Cymru

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

Prospectively registered

Protocol

Statistical analysis plan

Results

Individual participant data

Record updated in last year

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

Prof Manon Jones
Principal investigator

Brigantia Building
Penrallt Road
Bangor University
Bangor
LL57 2AS
United Kingdom

ORCID ID	0000-0003-3266-5472
Phone	+44 (0)1248382319
Email	manon.jones@bangor.ac.uk

Dr Cameron Downing
Scientific

Leeds Trinity University
Brownberrie Lane
Leeds
LS18 5HD
United Kingdom

ORCID ID	0000-0001-7350-4048
Phone	+44 (0)1132837100
Email	cameron.downing@york.ac.uk

Dr Marketa Caravolas
Scientific

Brigantia Building
Penrallt Road
Bangor University
Bangor
LL57 2AS
United Kingdom

ORCID ID	0000-0003-4171-482X
Phone	+44 (0)1248388334
Email	m.caravolas@bangor.ac.uk

Prof Charles Hulme
Scientific

Brasenose College
Radcliffe Square
Oxford
OX1 4AJ
United Kingdom

ORCID ID	0000-0001-9499-5958
Phone	+44 (0)1865277830
Email	charles.hulme@education.ox.ac.uk

Study information

Primary study design	Interventional
Study design	Multicentre interventional concealed randomized controlled trial with wait-list control
Secondary study design	Randomised controlled trial
Study type	Participant information sheet
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(s)	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)
Key secondary outcome measure(s)	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
Completion date	30/05/2024

Eligibility

Participant type(s)	Other
Age group	Child
Lower age limit	8 Years
Upper age limit	10 Years
Sex	All
Target sample size at registration	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 University

College Road
Bangor
LL57 2DG
United Kingdom

Results and Publications

Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to share	Yes
IPD sharing plan summary	Stored in publicly available repository
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.

Study outputs

Output type	Details	Date created	Date added	Peer reviewed?	Patient-facing?
Participant information sheet	Participant information sheet	11/11/2025	11/11/2025	No	Yes
Study website	Study website	11/11/2025	11/11/2025	No	Yes

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.