Relating Phonological Awareness and Rapid Automatized Naming to Phonological and Orthographic Processing of Written Words: Cross‐sequential Evidence from French

Abstract

ABSTRACTFew previous studies have directly linked the contribution of phonological awareness (PA) and rapid automatized naming (RAN) to the development of phonological processing and orthographic processing in reading. These studies are predominantly cross‐sectional and focus on reading development predictors, with relatively little emphasis on spelling achievement. The present study aims to address these issues with a cross‐sequential design conducted among French‐speaking beginning readers. Participants from kindergarten (n = 66) and Grade 1 (n = 87) were assessed with PA and RAN objects considering accuracy and speed. One year later, in Grade 1 or Grade 2, they were tested in word reading and spelling. ANOVAs showed a developmental change occurring in word reading and spelling between Grade 1 and Grade 2, going from phonological processing to orthographic processing. Hierarchical multiple regressions indicated that both PA and RAN predicted word reading and spelling in Grade 1, with a stronger proportion of the variance explained by RAN. In Grade 2, only PA explained the literacy outcomes, with a greater amount of the word spelling variance explained compared to the word reading variance. Our findings showed that PA and RAN contribute distinctively to word reading and spelling acquisition, suggesting that they represent independent processes. RAN's greater importance for early literacy skills (Grade 1) suggests that it accounts for the early processes implied in phonological processing. The longer‐lasting predictive value of PA (Grades 1 and 2) provides evidence of its importance for phonological and orthographic processing, especially in spelling.