Direct and Indirect Effects Between First Literacy Errors, Visual Perception, and Phonological Awareness Variables

Abstract

This research is a descriptive study in the survey model to determine the direct and indirect effects between visual perception, phonological awareness, and literacy errors. The design of the study is exploratory correlational design. 552 first-grade primary school students participated in the study. The data were collected using measurement tools named phonological awareness, visual perception, word-sentence writing/spelling, and reading errors. According to the findings, visual perception affects sentence writing/spelling both directly and through word-writing-reading errors. Visual perception affects reading errors both directly and through word-sentence writing errors. The results show that the development of prerequisite skills and reading are mediated by writing, writing/spelling are mediated by reading, and learning develops in a spiral manner. It can be said that children’s reading-writing/spelling errors increase because they have difficulty in converting from sound to the letter, from letter to sound, and in synthesizing and analyzing according to their initial level of phonological awareness and visual perception development.