Abstract
There is good evidence that phoneme awareness and letter-sound knowledge are reliable longitudinal predictors of learning to read, though whether they have a causal effect remains uncertain. In this article, we present the results of a mediation analysis using data from a previous large-scale intervention study. We found that a phonology and reading intervention that taught letter-sound knowledge and phoneme awareness produced significant improvements in these two skills and in later word-level reading and spelling skills. Improvements in letter-sound knowledge and phoneme awareness at the end of the intervention fully mediated the improvements seen in children's word-level literacy skills 5 months after the intervention finished. Our findings support the conclusion that letter-sound knowledge and phoneme awareness are two causal influences on the development of children's early literacy skills.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 572-577 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Psychological Science |
Volume | 23 |
Issue number | 6 |
Early online date | 26 Apr 2012 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Jun 2012 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- academic achievement
- cognitive development
- letter-sound knowledge
- phoneme awareness
- reading
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Psychology