The role of naming speed and phonemic awareness in reading, spelling, and orthographic knowledge

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to examine the roles of rapid naming speed and phonological awareness in Grade three children's ability to read, spell, and process orthographic knowledge. In Study One, the role of these two skills was examined in three groups of children identified as having single deficits in either digit naming speed or phonological awareness, or deficits in both skills (i.e., double-deficit group). Results indicated that while deficits in phonological awareness were strongly linked to difficulties with reading words and nonwords, and with spelling dictation skills, slow naming speed skill also contributed to difficulties in these areas. In addition, slow naming speed was connected most strongly to spelling recognition. With respect to orthographic skill, children with naming speed deficits generally struggled more than those with phonological deficits. Children with deficits in both skills performed most poorly on all of the measures given, although in some cases, their performances did not differ significantly from one or the other single deficit groups. The results were generally supportive of the additive effects of phonological and naming speed skills, and confirm previous findings that naming speed provides something important to children's written language skills in addition to the effects of phonological awareness

Study Two extended these findings through the addition of two control groups: children with good phonological awareness and naming speed skills (i.e., the so-called double asset group), and reading-level matched controls (i.e., Grade One average readers) for the poorest readers, the double-deficit group. 68 Grade Three children divided into four groups based on their naming speed and phonological awareness scores (17 doubleasset, 17 with phonological deficits, 18 with naming-speed deficits, and 16 with doubledeficits), completed tests of word and non-word decoding, dictation and recognition of spelling words, and various measures of letter-pattern knowledge at the word and subword level. Children in the double-asset group were generally good readers and spellers and performed well on all measures of orthographic knowledge. Children with phonological deficits were relatively poor decoders of words and nonwords, and struggled with spelling dictation tasks but read more quickly than their naming speed deficit peers. Children with naming speed deficits were better decoders, but slower readers, and struggled more with spelling recognition than dictation. On measures of orthographic knowledge, children with naming speed deficits were slower than their phonological deficit peers, although both single deficit groups struggled with orthographic accuracy on many tasks. Children with deficits in both phonological awareness and naming speed struggled the most on all measures of written language. Preliminary comparisons between the double deficit group and their reading-level matched controls revealed a mixed pattern of strengths and weaknesses for the two groups, with the older, dyslexic readers outperforming the control group mainly on tasks involving real words, and the younger, good readers performing the best on the phonological screening measure and in detecting letters in strings with high orthographic structure.

The results of the two studies are interpreted as providing support for the doubledeficit hypothesis of language development which suggests that both naming speed and phonological awareness are important for the development of strong reading and spelling skills. Children with deficits in ~ naming speed or phonological awareness perform more poorly than their double-asset peers on many measures of reading, spelling and orthographic knowledge, while children with deficits in both skills are the poorest readers and spellers.