The bidirectional relation between letter-name knowledge and phonological awareness was independent of maturation and correlated developmental trajectories¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r2 · q3
Currency · newest study 2016 · checked against its sources 2026-10-20 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? Initial letter-name knowledge predicted phonological awareness growth, and initial phonological awareness predicted letter-name growth, even after accounting for age and common rate of growth across the two skills. → Lerner Matthew D. 2016

Evidence¶

Lerner Matthew D. 2016¶

Lerner Matthew D., Lonigan Christopher J. (2016). Bidirectional Relations between Phonological Awareness and Letter Knowledge in Preschool Revisited: A Growth Curve Analysis of the Relation between Two Code-Related Skills. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2015.09.023

q3 · i? · associational · r2

The predictive growth models included child age and growth in the predictor's code-related skill to rule out general maturation and correlated development as alternative explanations. The article states the results "do not support either of these alternative explanations."

"initial letter-name knowledge was predictive of growth in phonological awareness and initial phonological awareness was predictive of growth in letter-name knowledge even after accounting for age and the common rate of growth across the two skills."

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Alphabet Knowledge and Print Awareness — predictor: learners who differ on it differ in outcomes
• Phonological Awareness — predictor: learners who differ on it differ in outcomes

Related Claims¶

• The bidirectional letter-knowledge–phonological-awareness relation extends to supra-phonemic tasks, indicating an earlier developmental origin than previously reported — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Children with higher initial letter-name knowledge show faster growth in phonological awareness across the preschool year — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Initial phonological awareness uniquely predicts growth in letter-name knowledge, most strongly via elision skill — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Initial level and growth were negatively related within phonological awareness and letter-name knowledge, consistent with a compensatory pattern — related
• Children use letter-name knowledge as a shortcut when inventing phonologically based spellings — related
• Initial letter-sound knowledge and phonological awareness were not uniquely related to growth in each other — reports the opposite