There is increasing evidence for an association between both serial order short-term memory (STM) and the long-term learning (LTL) of serial order information and reading abilities. In this developmental study, we examined the hypothesis that STM for serial order supports online grapheme-to-phoneme conversion processes during the initial stages of…

The main aim of this study was to develop standardised tests that assess some of the most important spelling skills for children in primary school: sound-letter mappings (non-lexical spelling) and word spelling accuracy (lexical spelling). We present normative comparison data for children in Grades 1-7 as well as measures of validity and…

A study was conducted to measure possible sex differences in phonological awareness and reading ability among children in early primary school. A subset of the "Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills" (DIBELS) was administered to 140 children in kindergarten through to second grade (mean ages five to seven years). Independent…

The aim of the present study was to examine the relation between decoding and segmental and suprasegmental phonology, and their contribution to reading comprehension, in the upper primary grades. Following a longitudinal design, the performance of 99 Dutch primary school students on phonological awareness (segmental phonology) and text-reading…

We examined the longitudinal predictors of nonword decoding, reading fluency, and spelling in three languages that vary in orthographic depth: Finnish, Greek, and English. Eighty-two English-speaking, 70 Greek, and 88 Finnish children were followed from the age of 5.5 years old until Grade 2. Prior to any reading instruction, they were…

This study examines the concurrent relationships between phoneme awareness, visual-verbal paired-associate learning, rapid automatized naming (RAN), and reading skills in 7- to 11-year-old children. Path analyses showed that visual-verbal paired-associate learning and RAN, but not phoneme awareness, were unique predictors of word recognition,…

Does the intensification of what can be called "language-specific speech perception" around reading onset occur as a function of maturation or experience? Preschool 5-year-olds with no school experience, 5-year-olds with 6 months' schooling, 6-year-olds with 6 months' schooling, and 6-year-olds with 18 months' schooling were tested on…

English language predictors of English and French reading development were investigated in a group of 140 children who were enrolled in French immersion programs. Children were first tested in kindergarten, and their reading achievement was tested yearly in both English and French from Grades 1 to 3, with word-level and passage-level measures that…

It was proposed that the young child's awareness of the phonology of language would influence early reading success. Results revealed a strong relationship between the first grader's reading performance and two measures of his/her phonological awareness, invented spelling and phoneme segmentation abilities. (Author/RD)

Finds that low-income, inner-city children who had a phoneme awareness intervention program in kindergarten, followed by a first-grade reading program emphasizing phoneme awareness and the alphabetic code, remained significantly ahead of control children at the end of first grade in terms of both invented spelling and standard spelling. (SR)

Describes an action research project carried out by a kindergarten teacher as she incorporated phonemic awareness activities into the daily classroom routine. Discusses classroom activities, how she developed data collection processes, and how her data analysis showed systematic student growth in literacy and enthusiasm. (SR)

The order of difficulty of positions and the segmentability of phoneme categories are discussed in relation to the hypothesis that phonemes are functioning units in the perception and production of speech. The final version of the program for teaching phonemic segmentation is described. (Author/LMO)

Investigates the role of phonological and orthographic information in vowel selection across grades 1, 2, and 3. Results suggest: (1) beginners make best-guess decisions to spell ambiguous vowels based solely on phonological information; and (2) as they acquire more sound-letter correspondence knowledge, children start to use orthographic…

Forty-five normally developing children, ages five, six, and seven, participated in a metaphonologic study examining the knowledge of auditory/articulatory correspondences. With development, there were significant increases in correct responses on the nonverbal task and in verbal explanation types. No significant relationship between performance…

Examines the efficiency and sensitivity of five accuracy-based phonological awareness tasks for monitoring the development of these skills in kindergarten and Grade 1 students. Discusses the results and their implications for using accuracy-based measures of phonological awareness skills as part of a comprehensive assessment of young children's…