The present study explored how children's prephonological writing foretells differential learning outcomes in primary school. The authors asked Portuguese-speaking preschool children in Brazil (mean age 4 year 3 months) to spell 12 words. Monte Carlo tests were used to identify the 31 children whose writing was not based on spellings or sounds of…

Two studies were conducted to investigate the correlates of hyperlexia in Brazilian Portuguese-speaking children with the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Study 1 involved 3 groups of school age children individually matched for word reading ability: 6 ASD hyperlexic children, 6 ASD non-hyperlexic children, and 6 typically developing…

Two longitudinal studies were conducted to investigate the development of Brazilian Portuguese-speaking children's ability to spell words in light of Ferreiro's and Ehri's models of spelling development. Twenty children participated in the 1st study. Their spelling skills were evaluated periodically from ages 4 to 6 years. The 124 children who…

Investigates whether Brazilian Portuguese-speaking prereaders who have mastered letter names are capable of processing letter-sound relations to learn to read words in which the letters correspond to phonemes contained in the names of the letters. Suggests they can use their knowledge of the names of the letters to learn to read by processing and…

Investigates the relationship between different levels of phonological awareness and literacy acquisition in Portuguese. Finds that phonemic awareness plays an important role in alphabetic literacy acquisition. Notes that both sensitivity to phonemic similarity and phonemic segmentation skills significantly predicted reading and spelling ability,…

Examines whether letter-name knowledge facilitates learning spellings in which the names of one or more letters can be heard in the pronunciation of the words. Results suggest preschool Portuguese children who know the names of the letters can learn to read by processing letter-sound relations in words; however, children may not use this mechanism…

Investigates strategies beginners use to learn to read words in a relatively regular writing system, Brazilian Portuguese. Finds strategies used depend on the method of instruction (phonics or whole-word), similar to what happens for children learning to read English. Suggests any differences between children learning to read more or less…