Examining the independent contribution of prosodic sensitivity to word reading and spelling in early readers

Andrew J. Holliman, N. Gutiérrez Palma, Sarah Critten, Clare Wood, Helen Cunnane, Claire Pillinger

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    26 Citations (Scopus)
    135 Downloads (Pure)

    Abstract

    This study was designed to examine the independent contribution of prosodic sensitivity—the rhythmic patterning of speech—to word reading and spelling in a sample of early readers. Ninety-three English-speaking children aged 5–6 years old (M = 69.28 months, SD = 3.67) were assessed for their prosodic sensitivity, vocabulary knowledge, phonological, and morphological awareness (predictor variables) along with their word reading and spelling (criterion variables). Bivariate (zero-order) correlation analyses revealed that prosodic sensitivity was significantly associated with all other variables in this study. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that after controlling for individual differences in vocabulary, phonological, and morphological awareness, prosodic sensitivity was still able to explain unique variance in word reading, but was unable to make an independent contribution to spelling. The findings suggest that prosodic sensitivity gives added value to our understanding of children’s reading development.

    Publisher Statement: The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11145-016-9687-z
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)509-521
    Number of pages23
    JournalReading and Writing
    Volume30
    Issue number3
    Early online date22 Sept 2016
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Mar 2017

    Keywords

    • Prosody
    • Vocabulary
    • Phonology
    • Morphology
    • Reading
    • Spelling

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