Theory-Based Prediction of Early Reading

This article presents a theory of the cognitive processes involved in learning to read and examines the degree to which measures derived from this theory are able to predict success in reading. Measures were selected to address five phonological processing constructs (naming speed, memory, rhyming, phonological synthesis, and phonological analysis), letter knowledge, and the ability to pronounce words by analyzing them into smaller parts (decoding). Measures of these constructs and several measures of reading achievement were administered to an initial sample of 161 kindergarten children and then readministered to as many of the same children as possible in grades 1 and 2; in grade 3 the reading achievement tests were administered. Principal components analyses were used to derive factor scores for the phonological constructs in kindergarten and grades 1 and 2. In grade 2 five factors were found, but in kindergarten and grade 1 the phonological synthesis and analysis measures formed one phonological awareness factor. The factor scores, letter knowledge, decoding, and the reading achievement scores for each grade were used as predictors of reading achievement in subsequent grades in a series of hierarchical regression analyses. Results supported the proposed theory, with phonological awareness (or analysis), naming speed, and letter recognition being the most frequent significant predictors and R2s ranging from .69 to .89. The constructs identified in the theory are argued to be important targets for both assessment and instruction. The value of theoretical models of achievement is discussed.Cet article présente une théorie sur les processus cognitifs impliqués dans l'apprentissage de la lecture et étudie à quel point les mesures qui en découlent peuvent prédire le succès dans la lecture. Les mesures ont été sélectionnées pour refléter cinq éléments de traitement phonologique (vitesse de dénomination, mémoire, rime, synthèse phonologique et analyse phonologique), la connaissance des graphèmes et la capacité de prononcer les mots en les découpant en plus petites unités (décodage). On a mesuré ces cinq éléments et, à plusieurs reprises, le rendement en lecture d'un échantillon initial de 161 enfants à la maternelle. Plus tard, on a refait l'analyse avec autant de ces enfants que possible alors qu'ils étaient en première et deuxième années. Quand ils sont arrivés en troisième année, on a administré des tests de rendement en lecture. Des analyses de composantes principales ont servi dans la dérivation des scores factoriels pour les éléments phonologiques à la maternelle et dans les deux premières années. Chez les enfants en deuxième année, on a retrouvé cinq facteurs, mais chez ceux â la maternelle et en première année, les mesures de synthèse et d'analyse phonologiques constituaient un facteur de reconnaissance phonologique. Les scores factoriels, la connaissance des graphèmes, le décodage et les résultats des tests de rendement en lecture pour chaque niveau scolaire ont servi de valeurs prédictives du rendement en lecture dans les années scolaires subséquentes pour une série d'analyses de régression hiérarchicales. Les résultats appuient la théorie proposée, les valeurs prédictives les plus significatives étant la reconnaissance (ou l'analyse) phonologique et la connaissance des graphèmes. Les R2 va-riaient entre 0,69 et 0,89. Il est proposé que les éléments identifiés par la théorie représentent des cibles importants tant pour l'évaluation que pour l'enseignement. On discute de la valeur des modèles théoriques de rendement

Cognitive predictors of word reading in Sinhala

We examined whether akshara knowledge, phonological awareness, phonological memory, and RAN predict variability in word and nonword reading skills in Grade 1–4 children (N = 200) learning to read Sinhala. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that akshara knowledge had the strongest unique association with both word and nonword reading accuracy across grades. Akshara knowledge and RAN predicted word and nonword reading fluency. The impact of phonological memory and syllable awareness on reading was mostly mediated by akshara knowledge, and phoneme awareness was not uniquely associated with word reading skills in any grade. These results suggest that there are multiple cognitive correlates of accurate and fluent word reading in Sinhala, and akshara knowledge is the most important predictor of learning to read words. The findings have implications for the literacy acquisition, development, and instruction in alphasyllabaries

Home literacy environment and early literacy development across languages varying in orthographic consistency

We examined the relation between home literacy environment (HLE) and early literacy development in a sample of children learning four alphabetic orthographies varying in orthographic consistency (English, Dutch, German, and Greek). Seven hundred and fourteen children were followed from Grade 1 to Grade 2 and tested on emergent literacy skills (vocabulary, letter knowledge, and phonological awareness) at the beginning of Grade 1 and on word reading fluency and spelling at the end of Grade 1, the beginning of Grade 2, and the end of Grade 2. Their parents responded to a questionnaire assessing HLE [parent teaching (PT), shared book reading (SBR), access to literacy resources (ALR)] at the beginning of Grade 1. Results showed first that PT was associated with letter knowledge or phonological awareness in Dutch and Greek, while ALR was associated with emergent literacy skills in all languages. SBR did not predict any cognitive or early literacy skills in any language. Second, PT and ALR had indirect effects on literacy outcomes via different emergent literacy skills in all languages. These findings suggest that not all HLE components are equally important for emergent literacy skills, reading fluency, and spelling. No specific trend in the role of orthographic consistency in the aforementioned relations emerged, which suggests that other factors may account for the observed differences across languages when children start receiving formal reading instruction in Grade 1

Separating the influences of prereading skills on early word and nonword reading

The essential first step for a beginning reader is to learn to match printed forms to phonological representations. For a new word, this is an effortful process where each grapheme must be translated individually (serial decoding). The role of phonological awareness in developing a decoding strategy is well known. We examined whether beginning readers recruit different skills depending on the nature of the words being read (familiar words vs. nonwords). Print knowledge, phoneme and rhyme awareness, rapid automatized naming (RAN), phonological short-term memory (STM), nonverbal reasoning, vocabulary, auditory skills, and visual attention were measured in 392 prereaders 4 and 5 years of age. Word and nonword reading were measured 9 months later. We used structural equation modeling to examine the skills–reading relationship and modeled correlations between our two reading outcomes and among all prereading skills. We found that a broad range of skills were associated with reading outcomes: early print knowledge, phonological STM, phoneme awareness and RAN. Whereas all of these skills were directly predictive of nonword reading, early print knowledge was the only direct predictor of word reading. Our findings suggest that beginning readers draw most heavily on their existing print knowledge to read familiar words

Differences in the literacy skills of Danish dyslexic students in two types of higher education programmes

Previous research has treated high-functioning dyslexic students as a homogeneous group. This study explores the clinical observation that dyslexic students attending university programmes differ from dyslexic students attending tertiary education professional programmes in some aspects of their literacy skills. Four groups, dyslexic university students (n = 32), dyslexic students attending professional programmes (n = 32), control university students (n = 31), and control students from professional programmes (n = 30), were assessed on measures of pseudoword reading, phonological choice, vocabulary, reading and spelling of morphologically complex single words, and reading aloud from a syntactically complex text. The results showed that the two dyslexic groups were comparable only on the phonological tasks, the dyslexic university students outperforming the professional programme students in all reading and spelling measures. Controlling vocabulary and number of semesters studied, the difference was no longer significant. Nevertheless, the analyses indicate that phonological deficits underlie the performance of professional programme students with dyslexia across a wide range of tasks, whereas university students with dyslexia may be able to limit the impact of phonological deficits to some extent by relying on some alternative cognitive attributes. Reading experience, orthographic learning, and working memory efficiency are discussed as possible explanations for this pattern of results