Growth of Word and Pseudoword Reading Efficiency in Alphabetic Orthographies: Impact of Consistency.

Growth of Word and Pseudoword Reading Efficiency in Alphabetic Orthographies: Impact of Consistency. J Learn Disabil. 2017 Jul 01;:22219417718197 Authors: Caravolas M Abstract Word and pseudoword reading are related abilities fundamental to reading development in alphabetic orthographies. They are respectively assumed to index children's orthographic representations of words, which are in turn acquired through the underlying "self-teaching mechanism" of alphabetic pseudoword decoding. Little is known about concurrent growth trajectories of these skills in the early grades among children learning different alphabetic orthographies. In the present study, between- and within-group latent growth models of word and pseudoword reading efficiency were tested on data spanning Grades 1 and 2 from learners of the inconsistent English and consistent Czech and Slovak orthographies. Several language-general patterns emerged. Significant growth was observed for both skills in all languages. Growth was faster for word than pseudoword reading efficiency, and strong lexicality effects that increased over time were obtained across languages. Language-specific patterns were also found. In line with predictions about the costs of learning lower-consistency orthographies, readers of English experienced relatively slower growth on both reading skills. However, their lag was smaller, and evident only at the latter two time points for word reading. In contr...
Source: Journal of Learning Disabilities - Category: Disability Authors: Tags: J Learn Disabil Source Type: research