| This study investigated a number of possible cognitive correlates of reading acquisition, using elementary-age children as subjects. The cognitive correlates examined were word recognition accuracy, spoken language comprehension, verbal short-term memory, use of phonological and semantic coding, phonemic and syllabic awareness, perceptual speed, speed of access to letter codes in memory, and automatization of number recognition. The principal questions of the experiment involved whether or not the deficits associated with reading failure change across the age or grade continuum; what the deficits are; and whether or not the deficits seen in beginning readers persist into the upper elementary grades. The results indicated that the deficits associated with reading failure do indeed change with grade level. Among children reading at a kindergarten to third grade level, the major deficit associated with reading failure involved problems with word recognition accuracy, particularly ability to read phonetically regular words; these children were also likely to have difficulties with spoken language comprehension and verbal short-term memory. On the other hand, among children reading at a fourth to ninth grade level, recognition of phonetically irregular words was most problematic, not recognition of regular words. Spoken language comprehension and use of phonological coding also tended to be deficient in these older poor readers. Thus, problems with spoken language comprehension and word recognition accuracy were found in younger readers and tended to persist into the upper elementary grades; however, word recognition accuracy, and the experimental tests as a whole, accounted for much less of the variance among upper elementary than among early elementary readers. The results are discussed in terms of a theoretical framework for understanding reading failure, and educational implications for assessment and instruction are presented. |
