It is widely recognized that individuals with dyslexia have difficulties with word reading and spelling, and individuals with reading comprehension difficulties have low vocabulary knowledge. However, little is known about the extent to which spelling and vocabulary are informative of reading difficulties. In the present study, we investigated…

We examined the relation between home literacy environment (HLE), parents' reading skills, and children's emergent literacy skills (pinyin letter knowledge, phonological awareness, and vocabulary) and reading (word reading and reading comprehension) in a sample of 168 Chinese children (M[subscript age] = 74.26 months) followed from kindergarten to…

Definitions of dyslexia typically make reference to unexpected poor reading, although how best to operationalize unexpected remains an issue. When operationally defined as reading below expectations based on the level of oral language, cases of unexpected poor reading make up fewer than half of cases of poor reading, and cases of unexpected poor…

In an effort to understand cognitive foundations of oral language comprehension (i.e., listening comprehension), we examined how inhibitory control, theory of mind, and comprehension monitoring are uniquely related to listening comprehension over and above vocabulary and age. A total of 156 children in kindergarten and first grade from…

This study examined the relation between exposure to shared book reading and Spanish-speaking English learners' (ELs'; n = 102) narrative production and comprehension skills in kindergarten (mean age = 6.12 years). Audio- and videotaped book-reading sessions in Spanish were coded in terms of teachers' extratextual talk and gestures. Using a silent…

There is now compelling evidence that children's early vocabulary development is essential to their long-term reading comprehension. Findings from experimental studies have indicated that vocabulary knowledge influences the development of conceptual knowledge and comprehension, suggesting a causal relationship among these fundamental language…

The aim of this five-year longitudinal study was to examine whether 13 Greek precocious readers' performance on a variety of reading, spelling, and phonological-awareness tasks from kindergarten through the fourth grade was different from that of 12 Greek nonprecocious readers and, if there were differences between the two groups' performances,…

A counterbalanced, within-subjects design was carried out to study the efficacy of electronic books in fostering kindergarten children's emergent story understanding. The study compared effects of children's independent reading of stories electronically with effects of printed books read aloud by adults. Participants were 18 four- to five-year-old…

Investigates whether listening to stories in literary Arabic would have salutary effects on kindergarten children's emergent literacy skills. Finds that children in the experimental classes outperformed control classes on comprehension and active use of language. Concludes that children can acquire a second register through exposure in school…

Examines children's comprehension of stories and their verbal interactions during storybook readings in groups of various sizes. Finds that reading to children in small groups results in as much interaction as one-to-one readings and leads to greater comprehension than whole-class or even one-to-one readings. (KEH)

Examines the nature of children's sense of theme in narratives as it develops over three age levels--kindergarten, second grade, and fourth grade--and investigates the role of literature in that development. Concludes that thematic identification is an early developmental strategy. (MM)

Evaluates and compares English graphophonic and word knowledge of anglophone children in French immersion (FI) programs with those of children in regular English (ENG) classrooms. Reveals no differences between the FI and ENG children in kindergarten, but ENG students scored higher at the end of Grades 1 and 2 on most measures. (NKA)