Phonological and cognitive correlates of word-reading acquisition under two different instructional approaches in Greek

Abstract

This study examined whether phonological and cognitive tasks correlate with beginning reading acquisition in Hellenic populations under two different instructional approaches: a whole language approach supplemented by implicit coding instruction through incidental learning, as used in Cyprus, versus the syllable-splitting approach characterised by explicit decoding instruction, as used in Greece. Planning, attention, simultaneous, and successive processing tasks together with three phonological coding tasks (Oddity task, Phoneme Elision, and Sound Isolation) were administered to 50 Greek and 50 Cypriot Grade 1 students. Word Attack and Word Identification were also administered to measure early reading competency. The main findings of the study were as follows: (a) significant group differences were revealed in word-decoding accuracy but not in realword reading accuracy, an expected finding in a system characterised by high grapheme-phoneme consistency; (b) successive processing and phonological coding consisted of the fundamental abilities that differentiated the Greek from the Cypriot first-graders; and (c) the Greek group exhibited a higher linguistic ability than the Cypriot group. This was facilitated by the use of the distal cognitive processes to reading, that is, successive and simultaneous processing. The discussion focuses on the need to reconsider the nature of early reading instruction in languages such as Greek with high grapheme-phoneme consistency.