The Highly Lawful Relationships Among Pseudoword Decoding, Word Identification, Spelling, Listening, and Reading

Abstract

It has been theorized that there are highly lawful relationships among levels of pseudoword decoding, word identification, spelling, listening, and reading that can be represented by relatively simple mathematical formulas. This theory was tested by reanalyzing data collected from 55 parochial school students in Grades 3 to 6 (Study I) and 83 public school students in Grades 4 and 5 (Study II). These students were given a battery of reading-related tests that included measures relevant to the theory noted previously. The results from Study II replicated those from Study I, indicating that (a) level of word identification and level of spelling are equal, (b) level of pseudoword decoding (or word attack) and level of ability to pronounce unknown real words are equal, (c) level of word identification equals the average of the level of reading and the level of pseudoword decoding, and (d) level of reading equals the average of the level of listening and the level of word identification. These data, along with previously collected data, suggest that measures of the aforementioned reading-related variables are so closely connected that (a) highly reliable measures of spelling level and word attack level for a student could be used to estimate or predict that student's levels of reading, listening, and word identification, and (b) highly reliable measures of reading level and word identification level for a student could be used to estimate or predict that student's levels of listening, spelling, and word attack.