Abstract
In tonal languages such as Thai, lexical tone (the pitch of a syllable) affects word meaning. This study examined the effects of lexical tone awareness (LTA) on early word recognition and the relationship between these abilities and word reading and spelling in subsequent grades. A longitudinal design was used to assess reading-related skills in 259 Thai children, first in kindergarten (130 girls, Mage=67.25months) and later in Grade 3 (Mage=102.25months). In kindergarten, the children were tested on lexical tone identification and differentiation, early literacy skills, non-verbal IQ, and early word recognition. In Grade 3, they were tested on word reading and spelling from dictation. The hierarchical regression analyses showed that the lexical tone identification skills in kindergarten accounted for 2% of the unique variance in early word recognition. However, none of the LTA skills could predict word reading and spelling from dictation after controlling for other literacy-related skills. These findings suggest that LTA skill positively associated with early word recognition at the kindergarten level, but not for word reading and spelling from dictation at a Grade 3 level.
Highlights
Longitudinal studies in which children’s literacy-related skills are investigated from kindergarten through to higher grades can provide valuable insights into children’s reading ability and help predict children who will develop reading disabilities or dyslexia (van Viersen et al, 2018; Verwimp et al, 2020)
When considering the differences in segmental and suprasegmental features of speech, it is interesting to explore the effects of lexical tone awareness (LTA) along with segmental phonological awareness on Thai children’s early word recognition, word reading, and spelling from dictation
The results are presented in two sections: descriptive analysis and prediction of word recognition, reading, and spelling from dictation
Summary
Longitudinal studies in which children’s literacy-related skills are investigated from kindergarten through to higher grades can provide valuable insights into children’s reading ability and help predict children who will develop reading disabilities or dyslexia (van Viersen et al, 2018; Verwimp et al, 2020). Lexical Tone Awareness (Hulme and Snowling, 2013; Snowling and Melby-Lervåg, 2016; McGrath et al, 2020) Given this principle assumption, the predominant view for many years was that children’s reading ability at age 7 years and older could be explained by observing their perception of phonetic segments, such as consonants and vowels in high frequency words at the kindergarten level (i.e., at the age of 4–6 years; Lyytinen et al, 2015; Snowling and Hulme, 2020). When considering the differences in segmental and suprasegmental features of speech, it is interesting to explore the effects of lexical tone awareness (LTA) along with segmental phonological awareness on Thai children’s early word recognition, word reading, and spelling from dictation. Alphasyllabic languages are used in South and South East Asia, Ethiopia, Northern Africa, and some northern regions of North America (Nag and Snowling, 2012)
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