Reading-related abilities underlying phonological awareness: a cross-sectional study in children with and without dyslexia

Abstract

Purpose

The present cross-sectional study examined the individual role of rapid automatized naming (RAN), verbal short-term memory (VSTM), and phonological verbal fluency (PVF) along with word reading performance in predicting phonological awareness (PA).

Materials and methods

A total of 225 Arabic speaking children from grades 2, 3, 4 and 5 took part in this study, divided into two groups of readers: typical developing readers and dyslexic readers. The participants were tested on word and pseudoword reading, phonological awareness, rapid naming, verbal short-term memory and phonological verbal fluency.

Results

There are different predictive patterns between the two groups. Whereas Raven and Grade contributed directly in predicting PA in typical readers, VSTM and PVF directly predicted PA in children with dyslexia. However, word reading played a dual role in the both groups as direct predictors of PA, mediating the predictive relationships between PA and the other variables.

Conclusion

The results suggest the potential existence of an underlying phonological representation processing ability shared between PA, phonological access (RAN and PVF), VSTM, and word reading ability.

Keywords:

• Phonological awareness
• rapid automatized naming
• phonological verbal fluency
• verbal short-term memory
• developmental dyslexia

Disclosure statement

Authors disclose no conflict of interest or other potentially conflicting interests.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Smail Layes

Smail Layes is a professor in psychology and associate member in the Centre de Recherches sur les Fonctionnements et Dysfonctionnements Psychologiques (CRFDP), University of Rouen (France).

Robert Lalonde

Robert Lanlonde is a professor at the Department of psychology and member in the Centre de Recherches sur les Fonctionnements et Dysfonctionnements Psychologiques (CRFDP), University of Rouen (France).

Mohamed Rebai

Mohamed Rebai is an emeritus professor and member in the Centre de Recherches sur les Fonctionnements et Dysfonctionnements Psychologiques (CRFDP), University of Rouen (France).