The relation between first-graders’ reading level and vowel production variability in real and nonsense words: A temporal analysis

Abstract

The focus of this study is to determine if children who are poor readers produce vowels with greater variability than children with normal reading ability, since earlier research has indicated possible links between phonological difficulty, speech production variation, and reading problems. In continuation of our past research [K. Lydtin, A. Fowler, and F. Bell-Berti, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 110, 2704 (2001)], where we looked at the spectral aspects of vowel production, we will report the results of our study of vowel duration and its variability in poor and good readers. The vowels chosen for this study are /ɪ/, /ε/, and /æ/ in real and nonsense words occurring in both blocked and random presentation. [Work supported by U.S. Dept. of Education, McNair Scholars Program.]