Early Word Reading Research Articles

Orthographic and Semantic Learning During Shared Reading: Investigating Relations to Early Word Reading.

Shared reading provides preschool-age children with the opportunity to learn novel, low-frequency words. Abundant empirical evidence demonstrates that children can learn the meanings of such words during shared reading, referred to as "semantic learning." However, less is known about whether children learn the spellings of words during shared reading, referred to as "orthographic learning," and whether this learning is related to early word reading. The present study tested relations between individual differences in 4- to 6-year-old children's semantic and, critically, orthographic learning during shared reading and their early word reading skill. In an adaptation of the self-teaching paradigm, children listened to a storybook about novel inventions referred to with nonword names. Children then completed orthographic and semantic choice tests, as well as standardized measures of early word reading and phonological awareness. Individual differences in orthographic, but not semantic, learning during shared reading were related to early word reading, after controls for age and phonological awareness. This study provides a novel test of learning during shared reading, helping to specify the relation between orthographic and semantic learning and early word reading skill. These findings hold implications for theoretical perspectives on relations between learning during shared reading and early word reading, as well as implications for educational practice. https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.25492765.

Dynamic Assessments of Word Reading Skills in Diverse School-Age Children: A Meta-Analysis

Purpose: Dynamic assessments evaluate ability to learn and may be less biased against children who historically have underperformed on static measures that evaluate acquired knowledge. This meta-analysis examined the validity of dynamic assessments of word reading skills (phonological awareness, sound–symbol knowledge, and decoding), as measured by the strength of their correlation with performance on word reading measures. The consistency of their validity across participant reading status (typically developing vs. at risk), language status (monolingual vs. bilingual), and age group (4–5 vs. 6–7 vs. 8–9 years) was also examined to determine whether this assessment approach is an equitable means of evaluating early word reading skills. Method: Electronic databases and preprint repositories were searched to identify studies that evaluated dynamic assessments of word reading skills conducted with children between the ages of 4 and 10 years. Pearson's correlation coefficients representing the relationship between dynamic assessments and word reading measures were extracted, and an overall pooled mean effect size was calculated using a random-effects meta-analysis with robust variance estimation. Subgroup analyses for participant reading status, language status, and age group were also conducted to determine whether there were significant differences in effect sizes across groups. Results: Thirty-five studies with 192 effect sizes were identified. Overall, dynamic assessments of word reading skills demonstrated strong correlations with word reading measures ( g = 0.49). Subgroup analysis by age indicated that dynamic assessments are significantly better suited to evaluate word reading in younger children (ages 4–5 and 6–7 years) than older students (ages 8–9 years; p = .0001). Validity was consistent across typically developing and at-risk participants and across bilinguals and monolinguals. There were few studies conducted with bilinguals despite dynamic assessment's purported application for this population. Conclusion: This meta-analysis provides preliminary evidence to support dynamic assessments as a valid and equitable means of evaluating word reading skills with diverse children aged 4–7 years. Supplemental Material: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.25293046

The Role of Narrative Ability on Emergent Literacy Skills and Early Word Reading of Early Childhood Students

Narrative ability is one of the abilities included in emergent literacy and plays a very important role in the development of students' early reading skills. However, research examining the relationship between narrative skills, emergent literacy skills and word reading skills is still limited. Through this research, the researcher investigates the role of narrative ability on emergent literacy ability and reading ability. Besides that, the study investigates the predictive relationship between students' narrative ability, emergent literacy ability, and early word reading ability. The method used in this study was factorial design analysis with several types of data analysis, namely descriptive, correlation, and regression to see the role and relationship of narrative ability, emergent literacy ability, and students' initial word reading ability. Participants in this study were early childhood students, totaling 250 students with an age range of 2-5 years. The research findings show that narrative ability has a significant positive correlation with all aspects of emergent literacy measures. Narrative ability is able to predict the ability to read words in the univariate model. Storybook retelling instructions result in a story that is longer than the original story. This change in story length can have an impact on the use of complex language and decontextualization such as vocabulary development, development of linguistics units, understanding of characters in stories, and story organization. Furthermore, this study also shows that the relationship between students' narrative ability and word reading ability can be mediated by emergent literacy skills, including syntactic abilities, knowledge of letters, phonological abilities, pronunciation of letter sounds, and print conventions. Although the relationship between narrative ability and students' initial reading ability is not direct, this narrative ability makes a significant contribution because narrative ability has a significant impact on emergency literacy skills which, in turn, supports the development of students' reading skills. This research implies that parents or teachers need to consider various alternatives in developing students' reading skills by optimizing narrative skills and other emergency literacy skills so that students are better prepared when they enter school age.

A longitudinal study on sensitivity to symmetry in writing and associations with early literacy abilities

IntroductionYoung children reportedly find symmetrical prints, such as H, easier to copy and produce from memory than asymmetrical ones. Little is known about how sensitivity to symmetry in print relates to early word reading and writing development. We examined this in Chinese, a visually complex writing system featuring symmetrical patterns, such as X or X.MethodsSixty preschoolers in Beijing completed a character decision task (Experiment 1, Mage = 62.16 months) and a character learning task (Experiment 2, Mage = 63.96 months), using stimuli matched on visual complexity and frequency but differing in symmetry, and were assessed on Chinese word reading and word writing abilities twice with a 2-year interval.ResultsChildren were significantly more likely to endorse symmetrical complex stimuli as possible Chinese than asymmetrical complex ones, and they learned to read symmetrical characters significantly better than asymmetrical ones, reflecting their sensitivity to symmetry in Chinese characters. However, with age and nonverbal IQ statistically controlled, sensitivity to symmetry was not uniquely associated with Chinese word reading or word writing abilities at any time; rather, asymmetrical character learning, which necessitates reduced sensitivity to symmetry, was uniquely associated with Chinese word writing concurrently and longitudinally.DiscussionFindings highlight the close relationship between analytic perception of written words and early writing ability.

Morphological awareness and its role in early word reading in English monolinguals, Spanish-English, and Chinese-English simultaneous bilinguals.

Words' morphemic structure and their orthographic representations vary across languages. How do bilingual experiences with structurally distinct languages influence children's morphological processes for word reading? Focusing on English literacy in monolinguals and bilinguals (N = 350, ages 5-9), we first revealed unique contributions of derivational ( friend-li-est) and compound (girl-friend) morphology to early word reading. We then examined mechanisms of bilingual transfer in matched samples of Spanish-English and Chinese-English dual first language learners. Results revealed a principled cross-linguistic interaction between language group (Spanish vs. Chinese bilinguals) and type of morphological awareness. Specifically, bilinguals' proficiency with the type of morphology that was less characteristic of their home language explained greater variance in their English literacy. These findings showcase the powerful effects of bilingualism on word reading processes in children who have similar reading proficiency but different language experiences, thereby advancing theoretical perspectives on literacy across diverse learners.

The Relationship between Early Word Reading, Phonological Awareness, Early Music Reading and Musical Aptitude.

A wide range of evidence has demonstrated the impact of music learning on phonological awareness and the development of reading. Music reading, its relationship with linguistic abilities and reading skills are all highly researched areas. However, limited information is available regarding the relationship between early text reading and early music reading. This study examined the relationship between word reading and music reading, musical aptitude and phonological awareness. The sample consisted of 119 Hungarian grade 1 elementary school students, who were at the beginning of both their text-reading and music-reading studies. They had commenced their studies just nine months before the point of assessment. Phonological awareness, musical aptitude and music reading were the independent variables in the linear-regression model, whilst word reading was the dependent variable. Together, the independent variables explained 50% of the level of development of word reading. The findings suggest a link between early word reading and early music reading. Moreover, further research as well as transfer research may benefit from looking at the possible effects of acquiring and practicing symbol reading, a process most frequently accompanying music learning, on the development of text reading.

Early Phonological Neural Specialization Predicts Later Growth in Word Reading Skills.

According to the Interactive Specialization Theory, cognitive skill development is facilitated by a process of neural specialization. In line with this theory, the current study investigated whether neural specialization for phonological and semantic processing at 5-to-6 years old was predictive of growth in word reading skills 2 years later. Specifically, four regression models were estimated in which reading growth was predicted from: (1) an intercept-only model; (2) measures of semantic and phonological neural specialization; (3) performance on semantic and phonological behavioral tasks; or (4) a combination of neural specialization and behavioral performance. Results from the preregistered analyses revealed little evidence in favor of the hypothesis that early semantic and phonological skills are predictive of growth in reading. However, results from the exploratory analyses, which included a larger sample, added age at Time 1 as a covariate, and investigated relative growth in reading, demonstrated decisive evidence that variability in phonological processing is predictive of reading growth. The best fitting model included both measures of specialization within the posterior superior temporal gyrus (pSTG) and behavioral performance. This work provides important evidence in favor of the Interactive Specialization Theory and, more specifically, for the role of phonological neural specialization in the development of early word reading skills.

Concurrent predictors of word reading and reading comprehension for 9-year-olds with Williams syndrome

We examined the cognitive, language, and instructional factors associated with reading ability in Williams syndrome (WS). Seventy 9-year-olds with WS completed standardized measures of real-word reading, pseudoword decoding, reading comprehension, phonological skills, listening comprehension, nonverbal reasoning, visual-spatial ability, verbal working memory, rapid naming, and vocabulary. Reading instruction method was determined from school records and interviews with parents and teachers. Similar to prior findings for individuals with WS, reading ability varied widely, ranging from inability to read any words to reading comprehension at age level. Multiple regression analyses indicated that the primary concurrent predictor of word reading ability was reading instruction method, with a systematic phonics approach associated with considerably better performance than other reading instruction approaches. Phonological processing skills—as assessed by a composite of phonological awareness and verbal short-term memory—also contributed significant unique variance to word reading ability, as did visual-spatial ability. The concurrent predictors of reading comprehension were single-word reading and listening comprehension. These findings indicate that the factors that predict concurrent early word reading and reading comprehension abilities for children with WS are consistent with previous findings for typically developing children and that the Simple View of Reading applies to children with WS. Children with WS benefit strongly from systematic phonics instruction regardless of IQ. Instruction focused on improving listening comprehension is likely to improve reading comprehension, especially as word reading skills increase.

Linguistic Predictors of Single-Word Spelling in First Grade Students with Speech and/or Language Impairments.

The purpose of this study was (a) to compare the single-word spelling performance of first graders across four groups that varied by speech and language status; and (b) to determine the linguistic predictors of first-grade spelling for children with speech and/or language impairment compared to children with typical development. First grade children (N = 529) completed measures of spelling, early word reading, expressive vocabulary, phonological awareness, and morphosyntactic knowledge. Children with language impairment, with or without speech impairments, demonstrated lower spelling performance than children with typical development; children with speech impairment only did not differ from children with typical development. Additionally, early word reading and phonological awareness predicted spelling performance, regardless of group. Study findings indicate that language status, but not speech status, is a risk factor for low spelling performance in first grade, and that first grade spelling instruction should focus on developing early word reading and phonological awareness.

Executive functioning and word reading in Hong Kong Chinese children: A 1‐year longitudinal perspective

This study examined the bidirectionality between kindergarten children's executive functioning (EF) and word reading across two time points. Participants were 523 Hong Kong Chinese‐speaking children (mean age at Time 2 = 64.59 months; 52.9% male) and their parents. At Time 1, children were administered the measures of EF skills: inhibitory control, attention shifting, working memory and Chinese word reading. They were reassessed with these measures at Time 2 one year later. Results from the cross‐lagged panel model revealed that, controlling for child age, gender and parental education levels, children's word reading at Time 1 was significantly predictive of their working memory at Time 2, but that the three EF skills at Time 1 were not predictive of word reading at Time 2. These findings underscored the role of early word reading in promoting children's working memory.

Not just storybook reading: Exploring the relationship between home literacy environment and literate cultural capital among 5-year-old children as they start school

Home literacy environment (HLE) is an umbrella term to describe a wide range of home activities and experiences that promote literacy development. The present study explored whether there is a relationship between certain components of children’s language and literacy knowledge at school entry and their home literacy environment conceptualised in three different ways: active (e.g., reading books to the child), child-led (e.g., playing educational games on a tablet or smartphone), and passive or parent-led (e.g., parents reading articles for themselves online). A sample of 35 five-year old children and their parents participated. Children completed assessments of four indicators of early language and literacy development: receptive vocabulary, phonological awareness, letter-sound knowledge, and early word reading. Parents completed a questionnaire asking about their home literacy environment activities that were active, child-led, or passive. The results showed that active home literacy environment predicted receptive vocabulary, and vocabulary predicted the three measures of early literacy. Passive home literacy environment, that is, literacy behaviours of parents themselves such as reading books or articles online helped to predict children’s phonological processing. It seems that oral language (facilitated by active home literacy environment activities and experiences) enables children to acquire phonological awareness, which in turn enables children to acquire letter-sound knowledge and early word

Cognitive and linguistic precursors of early first and second language reading development

The present large-scaled longitudinal prediction study examined cognitive and linguistic precursors of early word decoding and reading comprehension from kindergarten to Grade 3 in 613 first language (L1) and 109 second language (L2) learners of Dutch. L1 learners outperformed L2 learners on reading comprehension, and on kindergarten vocabulary, rapid naming (RAN), and phoneme segmentation. No differences were found on word decoding across the grades, kindergarten grapheme knowledge, phoneme isolation, or short term memory (STM). Despite L2 learners' delay in reading comprehension and language-related precursors, the developmental paths and structural relations of L2 learners were highly similar to those of L1 learners. For both groups, RAN, grapheme knowledge and STM predicted word decoding development. Word decoding, phonemic awareness, vocabulary, and STM predicted reading comprehension. There were strong autoregressive effects of both word decoding and reading comprehension. In kindergarten, L2 learners showed delays in RAN, phonological awareness, and vocabulary. These measures were all indicative of future reading.

Universal and language-specific predictors of early word reading in a foreign language: An analysis of the skills that underlie reading acquisition in three different orthographies.

A central question in the field of foreign language acquisition is whether the processes involved in reading development in a foreign language are universal or dependent on characteristics of the specific language involved. We investigated the impact of orthographic depth and writing system on word reading acquisition in a foreign orthography, by studying children who are proficient readers in the transparent alphabetic Dutch orthography and who learn to read simultaneously in the transparent alphabetic Spanish orthography, the nontransparent alphabetic French orthography and the nonalphabetic Chinese orthography. Results showed that the skills that underlie foreign language word reading are not universal, but are different for alphabetic and nonalphabetic orthographies, and are also different for transparent and nontransparent alphabetic orthographies, albeit to a lesser extent. Word reading acquisition in transparent alphabetic Spanish depended mainly on reading skills in the native language. In contrast, in nontransparent alphabetic French and nonalphabetic Chinese, word reading was mainly influenced by cognitive skills: French word reading by phonological awareness and verbal intelligence, and Chinese word reading by verbal and nonverbal intelligence. Findings thus suggest that the processes underlying foreign language word reading acquisition are not universal but rather depend on the specific language involved. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Young children’s narrative skill: concurrent and predictive associations with emergent literacy and early word reading skills

Narrative skill is included in emergent literacy frameworks and believed to be important for children’s early reading development. Yet, empirical evidence concerning associations with other emergent literacy skills and later word reading skills is limited. We comprehensively assessed the emergent literacy skills of 3- to 5.5-year old children (n = 243), along with their word identification and decoding skills 2 years later. Narrative skill was modestly associated with all measures of emergent literacy. Narrative skill predicted word reading skills in univariate models but not after accounting for other emergent literacy skills. Further analyses showed that associations between narrative and word reading skills were fully mediated by other emergent literacy skills. When considered in light of prior work indicating associations between narrative skill and reading comprehension, these indirect associations between narrative and early word reading suggest a second pathway by which narrative skill may support reading development.

Supplemental Material for Universal and Language-Specific Predictors of Early Word Reading in a Foreign Language: An Analysis of the Skills That Underlie Reading Acquisition in Three Different Orthographies

Supplemental Material for Universal and Language-Specific Predictors of Early Word Reading in a Foreign Language: An Analysis of the Skills That Underlie Reading Acquisition in Three Different Orthographies

The Role of Morphological Awareness in Word Reading Skills in Japanese: A Within-Language Cross-Orthographic Perspective

ABSTRACTWe examined the relationship between morphological awareness and word reading skills in syllabic Hiragana and morphographic Kanji. Participants were 127 Grade 1 Japanese-speaking children who were followed until Grade 2. The results showed that Grade 1 morphological awareness was uniquely and comparably associated with word reading skills in both Hiragana and Kanji in Grade 1 after controlling for nonverbal and verbal cognitive abilities, phonological awareness, and rapid automatized naming. The effect of Grade 1 morphological awareness on Grade 2 Kanji word recognition was slightly stronger (∆R2 = .10) than the effect on Grade 2 Hiragana reading fluency (∆R2 = .03). The findings suggest that morphological awareness plays an important role in early word reading skills across the two scripts, and with reading skill development it may become more important for mastering morphographic Kanji characters.

The efficacy of early language intervention in mainstream school settings: a randomized controlled trial.

Oral language skills are a critical foundation for literacy and more generally for educational success. The current study shows that oral language skills can be improved by providing suitable additional help to children with language difficulties in the early stages of formal education. We conducted a randomized controlled trial with 394 children in England, comparing a 30-week oral language intervention programme starting in nursery (N=132) with a 20-week version of the same programme starting in Reception (N=133). The intervention groups were compared to an untreated waiting control group (N=129). The programmes were delivered by trained teaching assistants (TAs) working in the children's schools/nurseries. All testers were blind to group allocation. Both the 20- and 30-week programmes produced improvements on primary outcome measures of oral language skill compared to the untreated control group. Effect sizes were small to moderate (20-week programme: d=.21; 30-week programme: d=.30) immediately following the intervention and were maintained at follow-up 6months later. The difference in improvement between the 20-week and 30-week programmes was not statistically significant. Neither programme produced statistically significant improvements in children's early word reading or reading comprehension skills (secondary outcome measures). This study provides further evidence that oral language interventions can be delivered successfully by trained TAs to children with oral language difficulties in nursery and Reception classes. The methods evaluated have potentially important policy implications for early education.

Small Group Reading Instruction: Activities for Teaching Phonemic Awareness, the Alphabetic Principle, and Phonics in a Tier 2 Setting

Explicit and systematic instruction in phonemic awareness, the alphabetic principle, and phonics are critical for children who are struggling to read words. Further, it is the responsibility of the speech-language pathologist (SLP) to provide intervention for students that present with written language difficulties including those who have not yet been identified as having a disability. This paper serves as a guide for SLPs who aim to improve the word reading skills of young elementary-age students in a small group setting, characteristic of Tier 2 in a Response to Intervention (RTI) framework. First, phonemic awareness, the alphabetic principle, and phonics are defined and their critical roles for success with early word reading are discussed. Next, examples of activities addressing each of these skills are provided including the rationale for each activity, required materials, and additional considerations and/or modifications for students with varying skill levels. The paper concludes with further important considerations when addressing the word reading skills of young struggling readers.

Predicting word reading ability: a quantile regression study

Predictors of early word reading are well established. However, it is unclear if these predictors hold for readers across a range of word reading abilities. This study used quantile regression to investigate predictive relationships at different points in the distribution of word reading. Quantile regression analyses used preschool and kindergarten measures of letter knowledge, phonological awareness, rapid automatised naming, sentence repetition, vocabulary and mother's education to predict first‐grade word reading. Predictors generally varied in significance across levels of word reading. Notably, rapid automatised naming was a significant unique predictor for average and good readers but not poor readers. Letter knowledge was generally a stronger unique predictor for poor and average readers than good readers. Well‐known word reading predictors varied in significance at different points along the word reading distribution. Results have implications for early identification and statistical analyses of reading‐related outcomes.What is already known about this topic Early predictors of word reading are well established, with letter knowledge, phonological awareness and rapid automatised naming identified as key predictors. These relationships are primarily investigated in average readers, or in groups of good and poor readers separated by an arbitrary cut‐off score. What this paper adds In this study, we used quantile regression to determine significant predictors of word reading across a range of word reading abilities. The quantile regression approach avoids the loss of power that can arise when creating subgroups and has none of the issues associated with the use of a single, arbitrary cut-off score to separate good and poor readers. Letter knowledge and phonological awareness were significantly predictive of word reading across the distribution of word reading abilities, whereas rapid automatised naming was significant only for good readers, and sentence recall was significant only for poor readers. Implications for theory, policy and practice Results reinforce the usefulness of measures such as letter knowledge, phonological awareness and sentence repetition in the early identification of children at risk for reading disabilities. Results also suggest that measures of rapid naming may add little unique information in differentiating between children who subsequently read in the below‐average range.

Full-day kindergarten and children's later reading: The role of early word reading

Full-day kindergarten is one means to improve the academic skills of children, particularly those at risk for academic difficulties. Full-day children generally earn higher end-of-kindergarten reading scores than those in half-day. Unfortunately, the benefit of full-day programs fades shortly after kindergarten. Research, however, has not considered whether the specific reading skills children attain in kindergarten help sustain the full-day kindergarten benefit. This study examined full- and half-day kindergarten children's early word reading attainment (composite of letter knowledge, beginning sounds, ending sounds, and sight words) and its association with reading in elementary school. Full-day children were more likely to attain early word reading by the end of kindergarten which, in turn, predicted higher reading scores in first, third, and fifth grades. Early word reading attainment was associated with decreased SES–related reading gaps in elementary school.