From infancy to adolescence: The longitudinal links between vocabulary, early literacy skills, oral narrative, and reading comprehension

Abstract

Previous research suggests that (a) individual differences in reading and language development are stable across childhood, (b) reading and vocabulary are intertwined, and (c) children’s oral narrative skill contributes to later reading comprehension. Each of these three phenomena is assessed using a longitudinal design spanning 15 years, from when children were 19 months old until they were 16 years old. Alongside measures for maternal vocabulary, a host of language and (early) reading measures, including vocabulary, early literacy development, oral narrative skill, and reading comprehension, were administered across eight time points to a sample of 58 children. Specific early language and reading skills were generally strongly correlated over time. Reading comprehension at age 12 was predicted by vocabulary at 19 months and emergent literacy at school entry. Vocabulary at 19 months of age predicted early literacy skills prior to school entry and reading comprehension at age 12 years, as did school entry literacy skills. Controlling for maternal and infant vocabulary, children’s oral narrative skill around school entry related uniquely to reading comprehension 10 years later. Findings provide new evidence for the long-term interplay between early language, literacy, and later reading and vocabulary development.