Abstract
Background: The relationship between phoneme awareness, rapid automatized naming (RAN), verbal short-term/working memory (ST/WM) and diagnostic category is investigated in control and dyslexic children, and the extent to which this depends on orthographic complexity. Methods: General cognitive, phonological and literacy skills were tested in 1,138 control and 1,114 dyslexic children speaking six different languages spanning a large range of orthographic complexity (Finnish, Hungarian, German, Dutch, French, English). Results: Phoneme deletion and RAN were strong concurrent predictors of developmental dyslexia, while verbal ST/WM and general verbal abilities played a comparatively minor role. In logistic regression models, more participants were classified correctly when orthography was more complex. The impact of phoneme deletion and RAN-digits was stronger in complex than in less complex orthographies. Conclusions: Findings are largely consistent with the literature on predictors of dyslexia and literacy skills, while uniquely demonstrating how orthographic complexity exacerbates some symptoms of dyslexia.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 686-694 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry |
Volume | 54 |
Issue number | 6 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Jun 2013 |
Keywords
- Dyslexia
- phonology
- orthography
- cross-linguistic
- OPAQUE ORTHOGRAPHIES
- DIFFERENT LANGUAGES
- NAMING SPEED
- TRANSPARENT
- ACQUISITION
- CONSISTENCY
- CHILDREN
- STATES