Although we know that spelling develops more slowly than reading in asymmetrically transparent orthographies, such as Italian, we do not know whether spelling lags behind reading in orthographies considered symmetrically transparent for both spelling and reading. This is because reading and spelling skills are rarely tested on the same lexical…

The contribution of linguistic skills to reading has been reported in different languages; however, this contribution varies according to the specific features of each language. Arabic is characterized by diglossia, i.e. the existence of two distinct varieties: Spoken Arabic (SpA) and Standard Arabic (StA). This study examined the extent to which…

The present study examined the strategies used by Greek novice readers in the initial phases of reading acquisition. Fifty (50) children were assessed at four successive testing periods throughout 1st grade of Primary School. Thus, 21 boys (42%) and 29 girls (58%) participated in this study. Their mean age at the beginning of the study was 74.43…

Although there is a growing research base on Arabic literacy development to inform our understanding of the factors that account for variability in word reading skill, the current body of research is limited by two major constraints. First, although several studies examine one or more early literacy constructs, we were able to locate only two…

We examined the cross-lagged relations between reading and spelling in five alphabetic orthographies varying in consistency (English, French, Dutch, German, and Greek). Nine hundred and forty-one children were followed from Grade 1 to Grade 2 and were tested on word and pseudoword reading fluency and on spelling to dictation. Results indicated…

The purpose of this yearlong study was to examine literate identity development of first-grade students in a student-centered, literature-based classroom where meaning making was privileged over decoding skills. This cross-case analysis traced the identity trajectories of two case studies: one student with strong decoding skills (above grade level…

Although the transparency of a writing system is hypothesized to systematically influence the cognitive skills associated with reading development, results of cross-language investigations are inconsistent and usually do not address this issue in a developmental context. We therefore investigated the cognitive dynamics of reading fluency of…

This article investigates the ways in which alphabetic print concepts govern a sense of natural and appropriate early reading development, and juxtaposes the concepts found in early literacy curriculum and assessment with hypertextual elements found in new forms of texts written for children. Using a theoretical approach that combines…

Background: The aim of the present study was twofold: 1) to determine whether phonological skills measured in deaf prereaders predict their later phonological and reading skills after one year of reading instruction as is the case for hearing children; 2) to examine whether the age of exposure to a fully specified phonological input such as Cued…

Four groups of children in first grade were compared on early literacy tasks. Children in three of the groups were bilingual, each group representing a different combination of language and writing system, and children in the fourth group were monolingual speakers of English. All the bilingual children used both languages daily and were learning…

This study has been done to gather data as to whether there is improvement in vocabulary development, reading comprehension and reading fluency when a child is reading aloud and he or she has a reading companion as opposed to not having a reading companion. As this literature review indicates there has been a lot of research on the benefits of…

The road to becoming a reader begins the day a child is born and continues through the end of third grade. At that point, a child must read with ease and understanding to take advantage of the learning opportunities in fourth grade and beyond--in school and in life. Learning to read and write starts at home, long before children go to school. Very…