Work

Speech sound skills, language comprehension, and early reading development in poor readers

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: This retrospective study investigates two questions: (a) whether speech sound difficulties, reported by parents looking back on their children's early speech sound skills and concurrently at ages 7-8, can predict language comprehension and early reading challenges in children identified as poor readers and (b) whether there is a relationship between the type of speech errors and language comprehension and early reading skills in these children. Two hundred twenty-eight children identified as poor readers were assessed on reading and language comprehension. The findings revealed that children whose parents reported early speech sound difficulties, and those with speech sound difficulties at ages 7-8, had significantly poorer language comprehension compared to children without a history of speech sound difficulties. This difference in language comprehension skills persisted after controlling for phoneme awareness. Additionally, both delayed and disordered speech errors significantly predicted difficulties in language comprehension compared to children without speech sound difficulties.

Source: Journal of Child Language

DOI: 10.1017/s0305000925100329

Authors: Line Walquist-Sørli, Monica Melby-Lervåg, Oddgeir Friborg, Trude Nergård-Nilssen

Institutions: UiT The Arctic University of Norway, University of Oslo

Language: English

Topic: Reading and Literacy Development

Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,550