Abstract
Previous studies have showed that early problems with word decoding can lead to poor performance in text reading and comprehension and suggest that poor readers often struggle with reading deficits throughout their school years. Therefore, early detection of those children who are at risk for slow reading development and/or who belong to the lowest reading profiles is essential in order to organize proper support. The present study explores the heterogeneity and prevalence of latent reading profiles among 769 Finnish- and German-reading students during their first and second school years in three countries (Finland, Germany, and Italy) using latent profile analysis. The results identified three latent profiles among Finnish readers, one of which (sentence-level reading) was identified as developing slowly. Among German-reading students, four latent profiles were discovered, two of which were identified as developing slowly. The results of ordinal logistic regression modeling show that rapid automatic naming (RAN) was significantly related to poorer reading profiles among Finnish- and German-reading students, and that the poorer results in letter-sound connection testing among the German-reading group was also significantly related to poorer reading profiles. Although the educational systems have some differences between Germany and German-speaking areas of Italy, no significant country effect was detected. In addition, a child’s age and spoken language did not significantly affect the student’s reading profile.
Highlights
Most cross-linguistic studies of reading development have typically focused on whole-sample averages and correlations, rather than using a person-oriented approach that allows the researcher to analyze heterogeneous profiles that emerge within the samples
This study followed a large sample of children from first through second grades in two separate orthographies (German and Finnish) and three different educational systems (Finnish, German, and Italian) in order to better understand which of the factors that affect reading development are universal and which are orthography-specific (Landerl et al, 2013; Seymour, Aro, & Erskine, 2003)
As the sentence-level reading tasks became more challenging, the scores among students in Profile 1 fell below the average and were the lowest among all profiles
Summary
Most cross-linguistic studies of reading development have typically focused on whole-sample averages and correlations, rather than using a person-oriented approach that allows the researcher to analyze heterogeneous profiles that emerge within the samples. A profile that simultaneously examines several different aspects of reading can provide a comprehensive overview of the mechanisms behind the accumulation of risk and can help to identify children at higher risk and encourage the development of proper support systems. A person-oriented approach was used to examine the development of children’s reading skills. This study followed a large sample of children from first through second grades in two separate orthographies (German and Finnish) and three different educational systems (Finnish, German, and Italian) in order to better understand which of the factors that affect reading development are universal and which are orthography-specific (Landerl et al, 2013; Seymour, Aro, & Erskine, 2003)
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