Phonological processing skills and the prediction of word reading in beginning and intermediate readers: A latent variable multi-group analysis.

Initial reading instruction emphasises explicit segmentation and blending of sounds to decode words with a view to children developing a more efficient lexical strategy later on. Consequently, children may rely on different aspects of phonological skills as they develop from beginning to intermediate readers. This study measures the separate contribution of two types of phonological ability (awareness and memory) in matched groups of typical English-speaking children in the first and third years of school. Separate structural equation models revealed that explicit phonological awareness made a significant contribution to word reading in both groups after the effects of visual-spatial memory, visual-verbal paired associate learning, non-verbal IQ and vocabulary had been controlled. However, phonological memory was a reliably stronger predictor in the older group than it was in the younger group. It is suggested that children increase their reliance on phonological memory as they develop from beginning to intermediate readers, possibly reflecting a greater reliance on the lexical route.