Skip to main content
Log in

Longitudinal prediction and prevention of early reading difficulty

  • Part I Medical And Educational Studies
  • Published:
Annals of Dyslexia Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The results of many studies suggest that early reading problems are associated with deficiencies in certain spoken language skills. Children who encounter reading difficulty tend to be deficient in the perception of spoken words, the ability to retain linguistic material in temporary memory, and the ability to comprehend certain spoken sentences, as well as in their awareness about the phonological structure of spoken words. This paper summarizes these findings and provides an explanation in terms of the requirements of skilled reading. It further reviews the results of two longitudinal studies which show that inferior performance in kindergarten tests of language skills may presage future reading problems in the first grade. Based on these studies, procedures are suggested for kindergarten screening and for some ways of aiding children who, by virtue of inferior performance on the screening tests, might be considered at risk for early reading difficulties.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alegria, J., Pignot, E. and Morais, J. 1982. Phonetic analysis of speech and memory codes in beginning readers.Memory and Cognition 10: 451–456.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baddeley, A. D. 1978. The trouble with levels: A reexamination of Craik and Lockhardt’s framework for memory research.Psychological Review 85: 139–152.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brady, S., Shankweiler, D. and Mann, V. 1983. Speech perception and memory coding in relation to reading ability.Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 35: 345–367.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bradley, L. and Bryant, P. E. 1978. Difficulties in auditory organization as a possible cause of reading backwards.Nature 271: 746–747.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chomsky, N. 1964. Comments for project literacy meeting. Project Literacy Report No. 2, pp 1–8. Reprinted in M. Lester (ed.)Reading in Applied Transformational Grammar. New York, Holt Rinehart and Winston.

    Google Scholar 

  • Conrad, R. 1964. Acoustic confusions in immediate memory.British Journal of Psychology 55: 75–84.

    Google Scholar 

  • Conrad, R. 1972. Speech and Reading.In J. F. Kavanaugh and I. G. Mattingly (eds.).Language by Ear and by Eye: The Relationships between speech and reading. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crowder, R. G. 1982.The Psychology of Reading. New York, N.Y.: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Curtis, M. E. 1980. Development of components of reading skill.Journal of Educational Psychology 72: 656–669.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Daneman, M. and Carpenter, P. A. 1980. Individual differences in working memory and reading.Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior 19: 450–466.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Denckla, M. B. and Rudel, R. G. 1976. Naming of object drawings by dyslexic and other learning-disabled children.Brain and Language 3: 1–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Drenowski, A. 1980. Memory functions for vowels and consonants: An interpretation of acoustic similarity effects.Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior 19: 176–193.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fischer, F. W., Liberman, I. Y. and Shankweiler, D. 1977. Reading reversals and developmental dyslexia: A further study.Cortex 14: 496–510.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hung, D. L. and Tzeng, O. J. L. 1981. Orthographic variations and visual information processing.Psychological Bulletin 90: 377–414.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, M. and McClelland, J. L. 1979. Processing determinants of reading speed.Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 108: 151–181.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Katz, R. B. 1982. Phonological deficiencies in children with reading disability: Evidence from an object naming task. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis. University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT.

    Google Scholar 

  • Katz, R. B., Shankweiler, D., and Liberman, I. Y. 1981. Memory for item order and phonetic recoding in the beginning reader.Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 32: 474–484.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kleiman, G. 1975. Speech in reading.Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior 14: 323–339.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Levy, B. A. 1977. Reading: Speech and meaning processes.Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior 16: 623–638.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liberman, I. Y. 1982. A Language-oriented view of reading and its disabilities.In H. Mykelburst (ed.).Progress in Learning Disabilities, Vol. V. New York: Grune and Stratton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Liberman, I. Y., Liberman, A. M., Mattingly, I. G. and Shankweiler, D. 1980. Orthography and the beginning reader.In J. Kavanaugh and R. Venezky (eds.).Orthography, Reading and Dyslexia. Baltimore: University Park Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Liberman, I. Y., Mann, V. A., Shankweiler, D., and Werfelman, M. 1982. Children’s memory for recurring linguistic and non-linguistic material in relation to reading ability.Cortex 18: 367–375.

    Google Scholar 

  • Liberman, I. Y. and Mann, V. A. 1981. Should reading remediation vary with the sex of the child?In A. Ansara, N. Geschwind, A. Galaburda, N. Albert, and N. Gartrell (eds.).Sex Differences in Dyslexia. Towson, Md: The Orton Society.

    Google Scholar 

  • Liberman, I. Y., Shankweiler, D., Blachman, B., Camp, L. and Werfelman, M. 1980. Steps towards Literacy. Report prepared forWorking Group on Learning Failure and Unused Learning Potential. President’s Commission on Mental Health, Nov. 1, 1977.In P. Levinson and C. H. Sloan (eds.).Auditory Processing and Language: Clinical and research perspectives. New York: Grune and Stratton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Liberman, I. Y., Shankweiler, D., Fischer, F. W., and Carter, B. 1974. Explicit syllable and phoneme segmentation in the young child.Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 18: 201–212.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mann, V. A. 1984. Reading Skill and Language Skill.Developmental Review 4: 1–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mann, V. A. In press. Why some children encounter reading problems: The contribution of difficulties with language processing and linguistic sophistication to early reading difficulty.To appear in B. Wong and J. Torgessen (eds.).Learning Disability: Some new perspectives. New York: Academic Press.

  • Mann, V. A. 1982. Reading Skill and Language Skill.Haskins Laboratories Status Report on Speech Research, SR-69 151–170.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mann, V. A. and Liberman, I. Y. in press. Phonological awareness and verbal short-term memory: Can they presage early reading success?Journal of Learning Disabilities.

  • Mann, V. A., Liberman, I. Y. and Shankweiler, D. 1980. Children’s memory for sentences and word strings in relation to reading ability.Memory and Cognition 8: 329–335.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mann, V. A., Shankweiler, D. and Smith, S. T. in press. The association between comprehension of spoken sentences and early reading ability: The role of phonetic representation.Journal of Child Language.

  • Mattingly, I. G. 1972. Reading, the linguistic process, and linguistic awareness.In J. F. Kavanaugh and I. G. Mattingly (eds.).Language by Ear and by Eye: The Relationship between speech and reading. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morais, J., Cary, L., Alegria, J. and Bertelson, P. 1979. Does awareness of speech as a sequence of phonemes arise spontaneously?Cognition 7: 323–331.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Perfetti, C. A. and McCutchen, D. 1982. Speech processes in reading.Speech and Language: Advances in basic research and practice 7: 237–269.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shankweiler, D. and Liberman, I. Y. 1972. Misreading: A search for the causes.In J. F. Kavanaugh and I. G. Mattingly (eds.).Language by Ear and by Eye: The relationships between speech and reading. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shankweiler, D., Liberman, I. Y., Mark, L. S., Fowler, C. A. and Fischer, F. W. 1979. The speech code and learning to read.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 5: 531–545.

    Google Scholar 

  • Slowiazek, M. L. and Clifton, C. 1980. Subvocalization and reading for meaning.Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior 19: 573–545.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stevenson, H. W., Stigler, J. W., Lucker, G. W., Hsu, C-C. and Kitamura, S. 1982. Reading disabilities: The case of Chinese, Japanese and English.Child Development 53: 1164–1181.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stanovich, K. 1982 (a). Individual differences in the cognitive processes of reading: I. Word decoding.Journal of Learning Disabilities 15: 485–493.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stanovich, K. 1982 (b). Individual differences in the cognitive processes of reading: II. Text-level processes.Journal of Learning Disabilities 15: 549–554.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tzeng, O. J. L., Hung, D. L., and Wang, W. S-Y. 1977. Speech recoding in reading Chinese characters.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning and Memory 3: 621–630.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Additional information

This paper was prepared while the author was a Fulbright Fellow at the Research Institute of Logopedics and Phoniatrics at the University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan. Much of the research herein described was supported by NICHD Grant HD-01994 and BRS Grant 05596 to Haskins Laboratories, Inc.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Mann, V.A. Longitudinal prediction and prevention of early reading difficulty. Annals of Dyslexia 34, 117–136 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02663616

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02663616

Keywords

Navigation