Effects of real-word versus pseudo-word phonics instruction on the reading and spelling achievement in first graders. (c2014)

The purpose of this study was to examine the relation between the ability to quickly acquire initial mental graphemic representations (MGRs) in kindergarten and fourth grade literacy skills in children with typical language (TL) and children with language impairment (LI). The study is a longitudinal extension of a study conducted by Wolter and Apel in which kindergarten children with LI and TL were administered early literacy measures as well as a novel written pseudoword task of MGR learning (spelling and identification of target pseudowords). In the current study (4 years later), the authors administered reading and spelling measures to 37 of the original 45 children (18 children with LI, 19 children with TL). The children with LI performed significantly lower than their peers with TL on all fourth grade literacy measures. For both groups, kindergarten initial MGR acquisition ability significantly related to fourth grade real-word reading and spelling. For the children with LI, kindergarten initial MGR acquisition ability also related to fourth grade pseudoword decoding and reading comprehension. Collectively, the findings suggest that initial MGR learning in kindergarten is an essential skill that may uniquely relate to later literacy abilities.

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A longitudinal study of the effects of syllabic structure on the development of reading and spelling skills in French

Applied Psycholinguistics ◽

10.1017/s014271640001095x ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 18 (4) ◽

pp. 485-505 ◽

Cited By ~ 38

Author(s):

Liliane Sprenger-Charolles ◽

Linda S. Siegel

Keyword(s):

Longitudinal Study ◽

Simple Structure ◽

First Graders ◽

Complex Structure ◽

Critical Role ◽

Short Term ◽

Phonological Structure ◽

Central Hypothesis ◽

Reading And Spelling ◽

Phonological Mediation

ABSTRACTThe central hypothesis of this study was that phonological mediation plays a critical role in the early development of reading and spelling in French. Therefore, the phonological structure of items, as opposed to their visual characteristics, was expected to be a significant determinant of performance. This hypothesis was tested in a short-term longitudinal study with a group of first graders (N = 57) who were administered a reading and a spelling task involving pseudowords of different syllabic structures. The first prediction was that there would be better performance on pseudowords with a simple structure (CVCVCV) than on pseudowords with a complex structure (CCVCVC or CVCCVC), and that errors on syllables with a complex structure would involve the deletion of codas or the simplification of complex onsets. We also predicted that errors would be consistent with a sonority hierarchy; for example, we expected more deletions of liquids than obstruents in clusters.

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