Background: Research has suggested that background music can have a positive or negative effect that can influence the affective state of individuals. Although research has demonstrated that fear negatively influences our cognitive performance, there is a research gap in understanding the combined effects of different background music tempo and…

Background: This study explored the impact of different cut-off points used to identify children with reading difficulties on the distribution of these children across the three poor reader groups predicted by the simple view of reading (dyslexia, specific comprehension difficulty and mixed difficulty). Additionally, the study investigated whether…

Background: Vocabulary knowledge (VK) and morphological awareness (MA) are crucial linguistic variables for reading comprehension. However, the extent to which MA subskills are intertwined with different facets of VK in their contributions to reading comprehensions, and how MA influences the reading abilities of English as a foreign language (EFL)…

Background: Morphological awareness plays a crucial role in supporting higher-level text processing. We examined its contribution to reading comprehension in children of different ages and ability levels in order to determine when and for whom morphological awareness is of particular importance. Methods: Three groups of children (aged 6-8 years, N…

Background: Rapid automatised naming (RAN) has been found to predict children's reading and arithmetic abilities. However, the underlying mechanisms for its involvement in the two abilities are not clear. This study examines how RAN shared variances with domain-general and domain-specific abilities in predicting reading and arithmetic in Chinese…

Background: The role of morphological awareness for literacy development is non-controversial, but it is likely to depend on the characteristics of a specific orthography. Previous studies analysing the role of morphological awareness are mainly based on English samples; thus, it is unclear how generalisable these results are. In the current…

Background: The present study examined patterns and predictors of reading comprehension growth in first language (L1) and second language (L2) readers in the upper grades of primary school. Previous research suggests that L1 and L2 readers differ in their growth trajectories and that differences in language proficiency play a role in this.…

The opaque English orthography complicates learning to read, as irregular words, such as the word "pint," cannot be Addread accurately by decoding. Studies with first language (L1) English children show that vocabulary facilitates word reading, especially in the case of irregular words. It is unclear whether this influence of vocabulary…

Background: Research on academic development has mainly focused on early time periods with less attention on individual differences in development in the later school years. Methods: To improve our knowledge of how students develop academically during later school years, this study used a multivariate growth model to investigate the developmental…

This study examined the bidirectionality between kindergarten children's executive functioning (EF) and word reading across two time points. Participants were 523 Hong Kong Chinese-speaking children (mean age at Time 2 = 64.59 months; 52.9% male) and their parents. At Time 1, children were administered the measures of EF skills: inhibitory…

Background: Phonological processing skills have been found to contribute to spelling development across different orthographies; however, less is known about the role of orthographic knowledge. This longitudinal study explores the contribution of phonological and orthographic knowledge to spelling development in a semi-transparent orthography…

Background: The important role of phonological processing for reading has been demonstrated by many studies. The purpose of this research was to investigate the role of phonological processing for reading in Russian. Specifically, we tested whether the overall complexity of a phonological task predicts reading fluency and reading comprehension.…

Background: The relationship between rapid automatized naming (RAN) and reading has been examined extensively, but there is still a question as to the reason for the relationship. To reduce involvement of alphanumeric and vocabulary knowledge in RAN, and to possibly reduce phonological demands, researchers have suggested using the RAN sizes that…

Educators and researchers agree that oral language is fundamental to students' reading acquisition. It is not clear how best to conceptualise oral language within models of reading -- as one's overall understanding of spoken language, or as individual skills, each with unique contributions to children's reading comprehension. In our longitudinal…

Background: Children's spellings are often scored as correct or incorrect, but other measures may be better predictors of later spelling performance. Method: We examined seven measures of spelling in Reception Year and Year 1 (5-6 years old) as predictors of performance on a standardised spelling test in Year 2 (age 7). Results: Correctness was…