Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Direct and indirect effects of print exposure on silent reading fluency

  • Published:
Reading and Writing Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Print exposure is an important causal factor in reading development. Little is known, however, of the mechanisms through which print exposure exerts an effect onto reading. To address this gap, we examined the direct and indirect effects of print exposure on silent reading fluency among college students (n = 52). More specifically, we focused on phonetic decoding and sight word reading efficiency as potential mediators of the indirect effects of print exposure on silent reading fluency. Silent reading fluency was chosen as the outcome given that the natural reading experience occurs predominately in the silent mode. Results showed that the direct effect of print exposure on silent reading fluency was significant. Sight word reading efficiency partially mediated the indirect effect of print exposure on silent reading fluency. Phonetic decoding efficiency also partially mediated the indirect effect of print exposure on silent reading fluency, but only when followed by sight word reading efficiency to form a serial and joint mechanism (i.e., print exposure → phonetic decoding → sight word reading → silent reading fluency). Present findings highlight two mechanisms through which print exposure exerts an effect onto silent reading fluency, both of which involve sight word reading efficiency.

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

Access this article

Log in via an institution

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

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Acheson, D. J., Wells, J. B., & MacDonald, M. C. (2008). New and updated tests of print exposure and reading abilities in college students. Behavioral Research Methods, 40, 278–289.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, R. C., Wilson, P. T., & Fielding, L. G. (1988). Growth in reading and how children spend their time outside of school. Reading Research Quarterly, 23, 285–303.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bräten, I., Lie, A., Andreassen, R., & Olaussen, B. S. (1999). Leisure time reading and orthographic processes in word recognition among Norwegian third-and fourth-grade students. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 11, 65–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chateau, D., & Jared, D. (2000). Exposure to print and word recognition processes. Memory & Cognition, 28, 143–153.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cunningham, A. E., & Stanovich, K. E. (1990). Assessing print exposure and orthographic processing skill in children: A quick measure of reading experience. Journal of Educational Psychology, 82, 733–740.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cunningham, A. E., & Stanovich, K. E. (1993). Children’s literacy environments and early word recognition subskills. Reading and Writing, 5, 193–204.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cunningham, A. E., & Stanovich, K. E. (1997). Early reading acquisition and its relation to reading experience and ability 10 years later. Developmental Psychology, 33, 934–945.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ecalle, J., & Magnan, A. (2008). Relations between print exposure and literacy skills: New evidence from grade 1–5. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 26, 525–544.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Echols, L. D., West, R. F., Stanovich, K. E., & Zehr, K. S. (1996). Using children’s literacy activities to predict growth in verbal cognitive skills: A longitudinal investigation. Journal of Educational Psychology, 88, 296–304.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ehri, L. C. (1995). Phases of development in learning to read words by sight. Journal of Research in Reading, 18, 116–125.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ehri, L. C. (1998). Grapheme–phoneme knowledge is essential for learning to read words in English. In J. Metsala & L. Ehri (Eds.), Word recognition in beginning reading (pp. 3–40). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ehri, L. C. (2014). Orthographic mapping in the acquisition of sight word reading, spelling memory, and vocabulary learning. Scientific Studies of Reading, 18, 5–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frith, U. (1985). Beneath the surface of developmental dyslexia. In K. Patterson, J. Marshall, & M. Coltheart (Eds.), Surface dyslexia (pp. 301–330). London: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gagliano, A., Cluffo, M., Ingrassia, M., Ghidoni, E., Angelini, D., Benedetto, L., et al. (2015). Silent reading fluency: Implications for the assessment of adults with developmental dyslexia. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 37, 972–980.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grant, A., Wilson, A. M., & Gottardo, A. (2007). The role of print exposure in reading skills of postsecondary students with and without reading disabilities. Exceptionality Education Canada, 17, 175–194.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gustafson, S. (2001). Cognitive abilities and print exposure in surface and phonological types of reading disability. Scientific Studies of Reading, 5, 351–375.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harlaar, N., Dale, P. S., & Plomin, R. (2007). Reading exposure: A (largely) environmental risk factor with environmentally-mediated effects on reading performance in the primary school years. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 48, 1192–1199.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harlaar, N., Trzaskowski, M., Dale, P. S., & Plomin, R. (2014). Word reading fluency: Role of genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphisms in developmental stability and correlations with print exposure. Child Development, 85, 1190–1205.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hayes, A. F. (2012). PROCESS: A versatile computational tool for observed variable mediation, moderation, and conditional process modeling [White paper]. Retrieved from http://www.afhayes.com/public/process2012.pdf.

  • Jorm, A. F., & Share, D. L. (1983). Phonological recoding and reading acquisition. Applied Psycholinguistics, 4, 103–147.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kirby, J. R., Parrila, R. K., & Pfeiffer, S. L. (2003). Naming speed and phonological awareness as predictors of reading development. Journal of Educational Psychology, 95, 453–464.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kudo, M. F., Lussier, C. M., & Swanson, H. L. (2015). Reading disabilities in children: A selective meta-analysis of the cognitive literature. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 40, 51–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lowder, M. W., & Gordon, P. C. (2017). Print exposure modulates the effects of repetition priming during sentence reading. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 21, 1–8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mano, Q. R. (2016). Developing sensitivity to subword combinatorial orthographic regularity (SCORe): A two-process framework. Scientific Studies of Reading, 20, 231–247.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mano, Q. R., & Osmon, D. C. (2008). Visuoperceptual-orthographic reading abilities: A confirmatory factor analysis study. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 30(4), 421–434.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mano, Q. R., Williamson, B. J., Pae, H. K., & Osmon, D. C. (2016). Stroop interference associated with efficient reading fluency and prelexical orthographic processing. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 38, 275–283.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martin-Chang, S. L., & Gould, O. N. (2008). Revisiting print exposure: Exploring differential links to vocabulary, comprehension and reading rate. Journal of Research in Reading, 31, 273–284.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McArthur, G., Castles, A., Kohnen, S., Larsen, L., Jones, K., Anandakumar, T., et al. (2015). Sight word and phonics training in children with dyslexia. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 48, 391–407.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McBride-Chang, C. (1996). Phonological processing skills and print exposure: Correlates of word reading in children ages 9 to 16. Reading & Writing Quarterly: Overcoming Learning Difficulties, 12, 385–400.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McGrew, K., Laforte, E., & Schrank, F. (2014). Technical Manual. Woodcock-Johnson IV. Rolling Meadows, IL: Riverside.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mol, S. E., & Bus, A. G. (2011). To read or not to read: A meta-analysis of print exposure from infancy to early adulthood. Psychological Bulletin, 137, 267–296.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Montag, J. L., & MacDonald, M. C. (2015). Text exposure predicts spoken production of complex sentences in eight and twelve year old children and adults. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 144, 447–468.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moore, M., & Gordon, P. C. (2015). Reading ability and print exposure: Item response theory analysis of author recognition test. Behavioral Research, 47, 1095–1109.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nathan, R. G., & Stanovich, K. E. (1991). The causes and consequences of differences in reading fluency. Theory into Practice, 30, 176–184.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. (2000). Report of the National Reading Panel. Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction (NIH Publication No. 00-4769). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

  • Norton, E. S., & Wolf, M. (2012). Rapid automatized naming (RAN) and reading fluency: Implications for understanding and treatment of reading disabilities. Annual Review of Psychology, 63, 427–452.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oldfield, R. C. (1971). The assessment and analysis of handedness: The Edinburgh Inventory. Neuropsychologia, 9, 97–113.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Osana, H. P., Lacroix, G. L., Tucker, G. J., Idan, E., & Jabbour, G. W. (2007). The impact of print exposure quality and inference construction on syllogistic reasoning. Journal of Educational Psychology, 99, 888–902.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Patterson, K., Marshall, J., & Coltheart, M. (1985). Surface dyslexia. London: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Payne, B. R., Gao, X., Noh, S. R., Anderson, C. J., & Stine-Morrow, E. A. (2012). The effects of print exposure on sentence processing and memory in older adults: Evidence for efficiency and reserve. Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition, 19, 122–149.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pikulski, J. J., & Chard, D. J. (2005). Fluency: Bridge between decoding and reading comprehension. The Reading Teacher, 58, 510–519.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reitsma, P. (1983). Printed word learning in beginning readers. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 36, 321–339.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sears, C. R., Siakaluk, P. D., Chow, V. C., & Buchanan, L. (2008). Is there an effect of print exposure on the word frequency effect and the neighborhood size effect? Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 37, 269–291.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shahar-Yames, D., & Share, D. L. (2008). Spelling as a self-teaching mechanism in orthographic learning. Journal of Research in Reading, 31, 22–39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Share, D. L. (1999). Phonological recoding and orthographic learning: A direct test of the self-teaching hypothesis. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 72, 95–129.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Share, D. L., & Stanovich, K. E. (1995). Cognitive processes in early reading development: A model of acquisition and individual differences. Issues in Education: Contributions from Educational Psychology, 1, 1–57.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sparks, R. L., Patton, J., & Murdoch, A. (2014). Early reading success and its relationship to reading achievement and reading volume: Replication of ‘10 years later’. Reading and Writing, 27, 189–211.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spear-Swerling, L., Brucker, P. O., & Alfano, M. P. (2010). Relationships between sixth-graders’ reading comprehension and two different measures of print exposure. Reading and Writing, 23, 73–96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stanovich, K. E. (1986). Matthew effects in reading: Some consequences of individual differences in the acquisition of literacy. Reading Research Quarterly, 21, 360–407.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stanovich, K. E., & Cunningham, A. E. (1992). Studying the consequences of literacy within a literate society: The cognitive correlates of print exposure. Memory & Cognition, 20, 51–68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stanovich, K. E., & West, R. F. (1989). Exposure to print and orthographic processing. Reading Research Quarterly, 24, 402–433.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Swanson, H. L. (2012). Adults with reading disabilities: Converting a meta-analysis to practice. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 45, 17–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Therrien, W. J. (2004). Fluency and comprehension gains as a result of repeated reading: A meta-analysis. Remedial and Special Eduction, 25, 252–261.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Torgesen, J. K., Wagner, R. K., & Rashotte, C. A. (2012). Test of word reading efficiency-second edition. Austin, TX: Pro-Ed.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Cincinnati, 47 Corry Blvd., Edwards 1 Bldg, Suite 5130C, Cincinnati, OH, 45219, USA

    Quintino R. Mano & Julia M. Guerin

Authors
  1. Quintino R. Mano
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Julia M. Guerin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Quintino R. Mano.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Mano, Q.R., Guerin, J.M. Direct and indirect effects of print exposure on silent reading fluency. Read Writ 31, 483–502 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-017-9794-5

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-017-9794-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation