Phonological Awareness in Preschoolers With Spoken Language Impairment: Toward a Better Understanding of Causal Relationships and Effective Intervention. A Constructive Comment on Rvachew and Grawburg’s (2006) Study

Abstract

This comment refers to a recent study of S. Rvachew and M. Grawburg (2006) that compared the fit of 2 models of the relationships among speech perception, receptive vocabulary, articulation, phonological awareness, and emergent literacy knowledge in preschoolers with speech sound disorders. It is argued that phonological working memory is an important additional variable to be included in the model preferred by Rvachew and Grawburg (2006). Furthermore, the model should take into account the reciprocal relationship between phonological awareness and emergent literacy skills that is already evident at the preschool level. This could lead to a more precise assessment of preschoolers with speech impairment and, above all, to more efficient preventive intervention.