Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate literacy development beyond the early school years. We investigated mean-level and rank-order changes in two reading (word decoding speed and reading comprehension) and two spelling (word and pseudoword spelling accuracy) tasks during a 4-year period from beginning to the later grades of elementary school, and examined whether rank-order changes in literacy skills could be predicted from verbal working memory, phonological awareness, and morpho-syntactic awareness. The sample consisted of Croatian speaking children, poor (n = 50) and good (n = 61) readers. Croatian is a language with a highly transparent orthography but a rather complex grammar. Word decoding speed and word spelling accuracy improved significantly over the study period, word decoding speed more so among good than among poor readers, supporting the Matthew effect hypothesis. Literacy skills were moderately stable, with the highest stability coefficients obtained for word decoding speed, and the lowest for pseudoword spelling. The predictors of rank-order changes varied across literacy outcomes, but did not differ for poor and good readers. Morpho-syntactic awareness predicted rank-order development of all outcomes except for word spelling. Phonological awareness predicted rank-order development of reading comprehension and word spelling. Verbal working memory predicted rank-order development of word spelling only, and at a low level. The finding that the more language related cognitive variables, i.e., morpho-syntactic and phonological skills, were stronger predictors of literacy development than working memory, for both poor and good readers, suggests remedial focus on these more predictive variables.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aarnoutse, C., van Leeuwe, J., Voeten, M., & Oud, H. (2001). Development of decoding, reading comprehension, vocabulary and spelling during the elementary school years. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 14, 61–89. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008128417862.
Adlof, S. M., Catts, H. W., & Lee, J. (2010). Kindergarten predictors of second versus eighth grade reading comprehension impairments. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 43, 332–345. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022219410369067.
Ajdukovic, M., & Kolesaric, V. (2003). Eticki kodeks istrazivanja s djecom [Code of research with children ethics]. Zagreb: Vijece za djecu Vlade Republike Hrvatske i Drzavni zavod za zastitu obitelji, materinstva i mladezi.
Aro, M., & Wimmer, H. (2003). Learning to read: English in comparison to six more regular orthographies. Applied Psycholinguistics, 24, 621–635. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0142716403000316.
Barbosa, T., Miranda, M. C., Santos, R. F., & Bueno, O. F. A. (2009). Phonological working memory, phonological awareness and language in literacy difficulties in Brazilian children. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 22, 201–218. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-007-9109-3.
Bast, J., & Reitsma, P. (1998). Analyzing the development of individual differences in terms of Matthew effects in reading: Results from a Dutch longitudinal study. Developmental Psychology, 34, 1373–1399. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.34.6.1373.
Bourassa, D. C., & Treiman, R. (2001). Spelling development and disability: The importance of linguistic factors. Language, Speech & Hearing Services in Schools, 32, 172–181. https://doi.org/10.1044/0161-1461(2001/016).
Cain, K., Oakhill, J., & Bryant, P. E. (2004). Children’s reading comprehension ability: Concurrent prediction by working memory, verbal ability, and component skills. Journal of Educational Psychology, 96, 31–42. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.96.1.31.
Caravolas, M., Lervåg, A., Defior, S., Seidlová Málková, G., & Hulme, C. (2013). Different patterns, but equivalent predictors, of growth in reading in consistent and inconsistent orthographies. Psychological Science, 24, 1398–1407. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797612473122.
Caravolas, M., Volin, J., & Hulme, C. (2005). Phonological awareness is a key component of alphabetic literacy skills in consistent and inconsistent orthographies: Evidence from Czech and English children. Journal of Experimental Child Psyhology, 92, 107–139. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2005.04.003.
Caspi, A., Roberts, B. W., & Shiner, R. L. (2005). Personality development: Stability and change. Annual Review of Psychology, 56, 453–484. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.55.090902.141913.
Catts, H. W., Fey, M. E., Zhang, X., & Tomblin, J. B. (1999). Language basis of reading and reading disabilities: Evidence from a longitudinal study. Scientific Studies of Reading, 3, 331–361. https://doi.org/10.1207/s1532799xssr0304_2.
Catts, H. W., Gillispie, M., Leonard, L. B., Kail, R. V., & Miller, C. A. (2002). The role of speed of processing, rapid naming, and phonological awareness in reading achievement. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 35, 509–524. https://doi.org/10.1177/00222194020350060301.
Compton, D. L., Fuchs, L. S., Fuchs, D., Lambert, W., & Hamlett, C. (2012). The cognitive and academic profiles of reading and mathematics learning disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 45, 79–95. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022219410393012.
Ehri, L. C. (1997). Learning to read and learning to spell are one and the same, almost. In C. A. Perfetti, L. Rieben, & M. Fayol (Eds.), Learning to spell: Research, theory, and practice across languages (pp. 237–269). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Ehri, L. C. (2002). Phases of acquisition in learning to read words and implications for teaching. In R. Stainthorp & P. Tomlinson (Eds.), Learning and teaching reading (pp. 7–28). London: British Journal of Educational Psychology Monograph Series II.
Ehri, L. C. (2005). Development of sight word reading: Phases and findings. In M. J. Snowling & C. J. Hulme (Eds.), The science of reading: A handbook (pp. 135–154). Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
Eklund, K., Torppa, M., Aro, M., Leppänen, P. H. T., & Lyytinen, H. (2015). Literacy skill development of children with familial risk for dyslexia through grades 2, 3, and 8. Journal of Educational Psychology, 107, 126–140. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0037121.
Etmanskie, J., Partanen, M., & Siegel, L. S. (2014). A longitudinal examination of the persistence of late emerging reading disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 49, 21–35. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022219414522706.
Farnia, F., & Geva, E. (2013). Growth and predictors of change in English language learners’ reading comprehension. Journal of Research in Reading, 36, 389–421. https://doi.org/10.1111/jrir.12003.
Frost, R. (2005). Orthographic systems and skilled word recognition processes in reading. In M. J. Snowling & C. J. Hulme (Eds.), The science of reading: A handbook (pp. 272–295). Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
Furnes, B., & Samuelsson, S. (2010). Predicting reading and spelling difficulties in transparent and opaque orthographies: A comparison between Scandinavian and US/Australian children. Dyslexia, 16, 119–142. https://doi.org/10.1002/dys.401.
Galletly, S. A., Knight, B. A., Dekkers, J., & Galletly, T. A. (2009). Indicators of late emerging reading-accuracy difficulties in Australian schools. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 34, 54–64. https://doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2009v34n5.5.
Georgiou, G. K., Parrila, R., & Papadopoulos, T. C. (2008). Predictors of word decoding and reading fluency across languages varying in orthographic consistency. Journal of Educational Psychology, 100, 566–580. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.100.3.566.
Gough, P. B., & Tunmer, W. E. (1986). Decoding, reading, and reading disability. Remedial and Special Education, 7, 6–10. https://doi.org/10.1177/074193258600700104.
Hoover, W. A., & Gough, P. B. (1990). The simple view of reading. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 2, 127–160. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00401799.
Indrisano, R., & Chall, J. S. (1995). Literacy development. Journal of Education, 177, 63–83. https://doi.org/10.1177/002205749517700104.
Jacobson, C. (2001). Manual till Ordkedjetestet [The Wordchains test Manual]. Sockholm: Psykologiförlaget.
Klicpera, C., & Schabmann, A. (1993). Do German-speaking children have a chance to overcome reading and spelling difficulties? A longitudinal survey from the second until the eighth grade. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 8, 307–323. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03174084.
Kwong, T. E., & Brachman, K. J. (2014). Strategy choice mediates the link between auditory processing and spelling. PLoS ONE, 9(9), e107131. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0107131.
Landerl, K., Ramus, F., Moll, K., Lyytinen, H., Leppänen, P. H. T., Lohvansuu, K., …, & Schulte-Körne, G. (2013). Predictors of developmental dyslexia in European orthographies with varying complexity. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 54, 686–694. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.12029.
Landerl, K., & Wimmer, H. (2008). Development of word reading fluency and spelling in a consistent orthography: An 8-year follow-up. Journal of Educational Psychology, 100, 150–161. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.100.1.150.
Langston, K., & Peti-Stantic, A. (2014). Language planning and national identity in Croatia. London: Palgrave MacMillan.
Leach, J. M., Scarborough, H. S., & Rescorla, L. (2003). Late-emerging reading disabilities. Journal of Educational Psychology, 95(2), 211–224. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.95.2.211.
Lee, I. A., & Preacher, K. J. (2013). Calculation for the test of the difference between two dependent correlations with no variable in common [Computer software]. Available from http://quantpsy.org.
Leppänen, U., Niemi, P., Aunola, K., & Nurmi, J.-E. (2004). Development of reading skills among preschool and primary school pupils. Reading Research Quarterly, 39, 72–93. https://doi.org/10.1598/RRQ.39.1.5.
Lerner, R. M. (2002). Concepts and theories of human development (3rd ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Lervåg, A., Bråten, I., & Hulme, C. (2009). The cognitive and linguistic foundations of early reading development: A Norwegian latent variable longitudinal study. Developmental Psychology, 45, 764–781. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0014132.
Lindeblad, E., Nilsson, S., Gustafson, S., & Svensson, I. (2016). Assistive technology as reading interventions for children with reading impairments with a one-year follow-up. Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology, 12, 713–724. https://doi.org/10.1080/17483107.2016.1253116.
Lundberg, I. (2001). Vilken bild är rätt? [Which picture is the correct one?]. Stockholm: Natur och Kultur.
Lundberg, I., & Reichenberg, M. (2013). Developing reading comprehension among students with mild intellectual disabilities: An intervention study. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 57, 89–100. https://doi.org/10.1080/00313831.2011.623179.
Lundberg, I., & Sterner, G. (2006). Reading, arithmetic, and task orientation—How are they related? Annals of Dyslexia, 56, 361–377. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11881-006-0016-0.
Melby-Lervåg, M., & Hulme, C. (2013). Is working memory training effective? A meta-analytic review. Developmental Psychology, 49, 270–291. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0028228.
Moll, K., Ramus, F., Bartling, J., Bruder, J., Kunze, S., Neuhoff, N., … & Landerl, K. (2014). Cognitive mechanisms underlying reading and spelling development in five European orthographies. Learning and Instruction, 29, 65–77. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2013.09.003.
Muter, V., Hulme, C., Snowling, M., & Stevenson, J. (2004). Phonemes, rimes, vocabulary, and grammatical skills as foundations of early reading development: Evidence from a longitudinal study. Developmental Psychology, 40, 665–681. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.40.5.665.
Parrila, R., Aunola, K., Leskinen, E., Nurmi, J.-E., & Kirby, J. R. (2005). Development of individual differences in reading: Results from longitudinal studies in English and Finnish. Journal of Educational Psychology, 97, 299–319. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.97.3.299.
Partanen, M., & Siegel, L. S. (2014). Long-term outcome of the early identification and intervention of reading disabilities. Reading & Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 27, 665–684. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-013-9472-1.
Patel, T. K., Snowling, M. J., & de Jong, P. F. (2004). A cross-linguistic comparison of children learning to read in English and Dutch. Journal of Educational Psychology, 96, 785–797. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.96.4.785.
Perry, C., & Ziegler, J. C. (2004). Beyond the two-strategy model of skilled spelling: Effects of consistency, grain size, and orthographic redundancy. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology A, Human Experimental Psychology, 57, 325–356. https://doi.org/10.1080/02724980343000323.
Peti-Stantic, A. (2014). Informativity of the sentence information structure: Word order. In A. Peti-Stantic & M. M. Stanojevic (Eds.), Language as information. Proceedings from the CALS Conference 2012 (pp. 155–178). Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.
Peti-Stantic, A. (2015). How much grammar is needed in lexicon? In M. Smolej (Ed.), Slovnica in slovar: Aktualni jezikovni opis [Grammar and Dictionary: Current language description] (pp. 569–577). Ljubljana: Center za slovenscino kot drugi/tuji jezik, Filozofska fakulteta v Ljubljani.
Pfost, M., Dörfler, T., & Artelt, C. (2012). Reading competence development of poor readers in a German elementary school sample: An empirical examination of the Matthew effect model. Journal of Research in Reading, 35, 411–426. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9817.2010.01478.x.
Phillips, L. M., Norris, S. P., Osmond, W. C., & Maynard, A. M. (2002). Relative reading achievement: A longitudinal study of 187 children from first through sixth grades. Journal of Educational Psychology, 94, 3–13. https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-0663.94.1.3.
Plaza, M. (2001). The interaction between phonological processing, syntactic awareness and reading: A longitudinal study from kindergarten to grade 1. First Language, 21, 3–24. https://doi.org/10.1177/014272370102106101.
Plaza, M., & Cohen, H. (2003). The interaction between phonological processing, syntactic awareness, and naming speed in the reading and spelling performance of first-grade children. Brain and Cognition, 53, 287–292. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0278-2626(03)00128-3.
Rau, A. K., Moeller, K., & Landerl, K. (2014). The transition from sublexical to lexical processing in a consistent orthography: An eye-tracking study. Scientific Studies of Reading, 18, 224–233. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888438.2013.857673.
Roncevic Zubkovic, B. (2011). Vjestina citanja u ranoj adolescenciji: Profili ucenika [Reading skill in early adolescence: Student profiles]. Drustvena istrazivanja, 20, 189–210. https://doi.org/10.5559/di.20.1.10.
Rosner, J., & Simon, P. D. (1971). The auditory analysis test: An initial report. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 4, 384–392. https://doi.org/10.1177/002221947100400706.
Rutter, M. (1987). Continuities and discontinuities from infancy. In J. Osofsky (Ed.), Handbook of infancy (2nd ed., pp. 1256–1296). New York: Wiley.
Scarborough, H. S. (2001). Connecting early language and literacy to later reading (dis)abilities: Evidence, theory, and practice. In S. Neuman & D. Dickinson (Eds.), Handbook for research in early literacy (pp. 97–110). New York: Guilford Press.
Scarborough, H. S., & Parker, J. D. (2003). Matthew effects in children with learning disabilities: Development of reading, IQ, and psychosocial problems from grade 2 to grade 8. Annals of Dyslexia, 53, 47–71. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11881-003-0004-6.
Seymour, P. H. K., Aro, M., & Erskine, J. M. (2003). Foundation literacy acquisition in European orthographies. British Journal of Psychology, 94, 143–174. https://doi.org/10.1348/000712603321661859.
Share, D. L. (2008). On the Anglocentricities of current reading research and practice: The perils of overreliance on an “outlier” orthography. Psychological Bulletin, 134, 584–615. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.134.4.584.
Share, D. L., & Leikin, M. (2004). Language impairment at school entry and later reading disability: Connections at lexical versus supralexical levels of reading. Scientific Studies of Reading, 8, 87–110. https://doi.org/10.1207/s1532799xssr0801_5.
Shaywitz, B. A., Holford, T. R., Holahan, J. M., Fletcher, J. M., Stuebing, K. K., Francis, D. J., et al. (1995). A Matthew effect for IQ but not for reading: Results from a longitudinal study. Reading Research Quarterly, 30, 894–906. https://doi.org/10.2307/748203.
Siegel, L. S., & Ryan, E. B. (1988). Development of grammatical-sensitivity, phonological, and short-term memory skills in normally achieving and learning disabled children. Developmental Psychology, 24, 28–37. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.24.1.28.
Siegel, L. S., & Ryan, E. B. (1989a). The development of working memory in normally achieving and subtypes of learning disabled children. Child Development, 60, 973–980. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.1989.tb03528.x.
Siegel, L. S., & Ryan, E. B. (1989b). Subtypes of developmental dyslexia: The influence of definitional variables. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 1, 257–287. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00377646.
Snowling, M. J., Muter, V., & Carroll, J. (2007). Children at family risk of dyslexia: A follow-up in early adolescence. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 48, 609–618. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2006.01725.x.
Stanovich, K. E. (1986). Matthew effects in reading: Some consequences of individual differences in the acquisition of literacy. Reading Research Quarterly, 21, 360–407. https://doi.org/10.1598/RRQ.21.4.1.
Storch, S. A., & Whitehurst, G. J. (2002). Oral language and code-related precursors to reading: Evidence from a longitudinal structural model. Developmental Psychology, 38, 934–947. https://doi.org/10.1037//0012-1649.38.6.934.
Swanson, H. L., & Alexander, J. (1997). Cognitive processes as predictors of word recognition and reading comprehension in learning disabled and skilled readers: Revisiting the specificity hypothesis. Journal of Educational Psychology, 89, 128–158. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.89.1.128.
Swanson, H. L., & Howell, M. (2001). Working memory, short-term memory, and speech rate as predictors of children’s reading performance at different ages. Journal of Educational Psychology, 93, 720–734. https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-0663.93.4.720.
Swanson, H. L., Zheng, X., & Jerman, O. (2009). Working memory, short-term memory, and reading disabilities: A selective meta-analysis of the literature. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 42, 260–287. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022219409331958.
Tabachnick, G. B., & Fidell, L. (2001). Using multivariate statistics (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.
Tilanus, E. A. T., Segers, E., & Verhoeven, L. (2013). Diagnostic profiles of children with developmental dyslexia in a transparent orthography. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 34, 4194–4202. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2013.08.039.
Tong, X., Tong, X., Shu, H., Chan, S., & McBride-Chang, C. (2014). Discourse-level reading comprehension in Chinese children: What is the role of syntactic awareness? Journal of Research in Reading, 37(S1), S48–S70. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9817.12016.
Treiman, R., & Kessler, B. (2005). Writing systems and spelling development. In M. J. Snowling & C. J. Hulme (Eds.), The science of reading: A handbook (pp. 120–134). Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
Vaessen, A., & Blomert, L. (2010). Long-term cognitive dynamics of fluent reading development. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 105, 213–231. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2009.11.005.
Vaessen, A., & Blomert, L. (2013). The cognitive linkage and divergence of spelling and reading development. Scientific Studies of Reading, 17, 89–107. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888438.2011.614665.
Vellutino, F. R., Fletcher, J. M., Snowling, J. M., & Scanlon, D. M. (2004). Specific reading disability (dyslexia): What have we learned in the past four decades? Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 45, 2–40. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.0021-9630.2003.00305.x.
Willows, D. M., & Ryan, E. B. (1981). Differential utilization of syntactic and semantic information by skilled and less skilled readers in the intermediate grades. Journal of Educational Psychology, 73, 607–615. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.73.5.607.
Zaretsky, E., Kuvac Kraljevic, J., Core, C., & Lencek, M. (2009). Literacy predictors and early reading and spelling skills as a factor of orthography: Cross-linguistic evidence. Written Language and Literacy, 12, 52–81. https://doi.org/10.1075/wll.12.1.03zar.
Zentall, S. S., & Lee, J. (2012). A reading motivation intervention with differential outcomes for students at risk for reading disabilities, ADHD, and typical comparisons: “Clever is and clever does”. Learning Disability Quarterly, 35, 248–259. https://doi.org/10.1177/0731948712438556.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank all the children who participated in the study, as well as their parents. We are also grateful to Edita Ilijašević, Kristina Kos, Nataša Lalić, Irena Rasonja, Melanija Slaviček, Silva Strnad-Jerbić, and Tanja Subotičanec, school psychologists, Maja Brozičević and Mirjana Ugarković, graduate psychology students who helped in data collection, and Julie Kim who helped in the data analysis.
Funding
The study was financed by a Grant from the Swedish Research Council, Award Number 421-2006-2318, and the Sten A Olsson Foundation for Research and Culture (date of approval December 17th, 2010).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Keresteš, G., Brkovic, I., Siegel, L.S. et al. Literacy development beyond early schooling: a 4-year follow-up study of Croatian. Read Writ 32, 1955–1988 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-018-9931-9
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-018-9931-9