Abstract
The study examines the individual and combined contribution of several cognitive variables (phonemic awareness, phonological memory, and alphanumeric and non-alphanumeric rapid naming) to word and pseudoword reading ability among first-grade Spanish children. Participants were 116 Spanish-speaking children aged 6 years and without special educational needs, all of whom were attending schools in a medium socioeconomic area. Descriptive/exploratory and bivariate analyses were performed with the data derived from three measures of reading ability (accuracy, speed, and efficiency), and hierarchical multivariate regression models were constructed. In general, the results confirm that, with the exception of non-alphanumeric rapid naming, the cognitive variables studied are predictors of reading performance for words and pseudowords, although their influence differs depending on the reading measures and type of linguistic unit considered. Phonemic awareness, phonological memory, and alphanumeric rapid naming were the best predictors of reading accuracy for words and pseudowords. Variability in the other two measures of reading ability (speed and efficiency) was best explained by alphanumeric rapid naming. These results suggest that reading is a complex skill that depends on different types of cognitive variables according to the age and/or level of the reader, the type of orthography and the type of measure used. Furthermore, they highlight the need to provide instruction in these processes from an early age so as to address or prevent the problems that children may present.
Highlights
Fewer studies have been conducted into phonological memory than in relation to phonological awareness and Rapid automatized naming (RAN), but all three variables have been shown to be associated with reading acquisition and difficulties, since they promote the learning of graphemephoneme conversion rules and, reading accuracy and fluency (Puolakanaho et al, 2008; Kibby, 2009; Kibby et al, 2014)
Analysis of the associations between the cognitive variables and the reading variables revealed a significant relationship between almost all of them. For both words and pseudowords, reading accuracy was more strongly correlated with phonemic awareness, whereas reading speed and efficiency showed stronger correlations with alphanumeric rapid naming
In order to examine the contribution of the cognitive variables to word and pseudoword reading we performed a series of hierarchical regressions
Summary
In recent decades a considerable body of research has investigated the variables that determine the acquisition of reading, with most studies finding cognitive correlates of reading ability from an early age (Muter et al, 1998; Manis et al, 2000; Olofsson, 2000; Compton, 2003; Aarnoutse et al, 2005; Georgiou et al, 2006; Silvén et al, 2007; Landerl and Wimmer, 2008; Burke et al, 2009; Moll et al, 2009; Alcock et al, 2010; Babayigit and Stainthorp, 2011; Lei et al, 2011; Li et al, 2012; Nag and Snowling, 2012; Vaessen and Blomert, 2013; Xue et al, 2013). Phonological awareness, short-term phonological memory, and rapid automatized naming have all been shown to be important, with this being the case for languages of different complexity and linguistic consistency. Rapid automatized naming can involve both phonological and non-phonological skills, since the processes required by a naming task may be visual (detection and discrimination of visual features) and/or phonological (integrating visual information with stored phonological patterns and retrieval of phonological labels) in nature (Wolf and Bowers, 1999). Fewer studies have been conducted into phonological memory than in relation to phonological awareness and RAN, but all three variables have been shown to be associated with reading acquisition and difficulties, since they promote the learning of graphemephoneme conversion rules and, reading accuracy and fluency (Puolakanaho et al, 2008; Kibby, 2009; Kibby et al, 2014)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
