The degree to which orthographic knowledge accounts for the link between rapid automatized naming (RAN) and reading is contested, with mixed results reported. This longitudinal study compared two groups of 10- and 11-year-old children, a low RAN group (N = 69) and matched controls (N = 74), on various measures of orthographic knowledge. The low…

The author replicated and extended a study by Flowerday, Schraw, & Stevens (2004) that examined the effects of choice, topic interest, and situational interest on reading engagement, attitude, and learning in college-age students. The study was replicated using fourth and fifth graders as subjects. The study was extended to examine the effects of…

The purpose of this study was to examine the developmental trajectory of speed and accuracy of words in context and in isolation among skilled, average, and less skilled readers (N = 201). The authors assessed fluency of words read in isolation and in contextual measures in the fall, winter, and spring of 1st grade. They performed a multivariate…

Finds that lexical level in a second language (L2) is a better predictor of reading in L2 that the learners' general ability, predicting certain failure (when the learner's lexical level is lower than 3,000 word families), or certain success (when the level is over 5,000). (SR)

The reading habit which is most consistently sensitive to reading ability measures is the habit of seeking out books by known authors. (Author)

Gives children (ages 5+ to 9+) four tests of phonological skill to investigate relationships between these measures and their predictive relationship with reading and spelling ability. Finds performance at phonemic segmentation, rhyme sound categorization, and alliteration sound categorization improved with age, but all groups performed onset-rime…

Investigates the use of orthographic analogies in 6-year-olds. Notes that neither rime nor phoneme awareness measures were correlated with rime inference uses and that vowel, but not rime inference, was correlated with scaffolding errors. Finds that rime detection was the strongest predictor of reading ability, whereas phoneme segmentation was the…

Reports that children's reading speed for paragraphs in which either words, syllables, or letters were spaced widely apart was a good predictor of reading ability in grades one through three, but not in grades four through six. (GT)

Reports on three studies comparing the reading and phonological skills of children with Down Syndrome (DS) and younger normally developing children of similar reading level. Notes that for children with DS, letter-sound knowledge did not predict reading. Suggests that children with DS do not possess full phoneme awareness. (PM)

Investigates the relationship between cognitive abilities at age four and reading at age seven. Shows that reading ability was positively correlated with knowledge of grapheme-phoneme correspondence, visual memory, auditory sequential memory, and Draw-a-Man scores (intelligence). Suggests that cognitive deficits predate reading problems. (PA)

A functional prediction scheme was sought for use in kindergarten which would have good predictive power for future reading achievement and be easy and quick to administer and score, inexpensive, and conducive to classroom use. A group of 21 kindergarten children was tested for reading readiness, intelligence, and psycholinguistic ability. Their…

A study was conducted to examine the relationship between the reading skill of male Naval recruits and their performance during the first year in the Navy, as indicated by discharge during or after recruit training, behavioral infractions, and recommendations for reenlistment. The average reading grade level equivalency score obtained on the…

Examines the relationship of auditory-visual integration and reading performance in a sample of British 8 to 9 year olds. (HOD)

Reinterprets the question of whether second-language reading is a language problem (linguistic threshold) or a reading problem (linguistic interdependence), using data from a study of 186 adult native English speakers reading in English and Spanish. Results indicated that neither hypothesis is wholly reflective of the second-language reading…

Multiple factors contribute to individual differences in reading ability. The two most thoroughly examined are socioeconomic status (SES) and phonological awareness (PA). Although these factors are often investigated individually, they are rarely considered together. Here we propose that SES systematically influences the relationship between PA…