Children with higher initial letter-name knowledge show faster growth in phonological awareness across the preschool year¶

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 uniquely predicted growth in phonological awareness (blending, elision, rhyme, and composite factors) after controlling for age, initial phonological awareness, vocabulary, and growth in letter knowledge. → 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

Longitudinal growth curve modeling of 358 preschoolers assessed at three time points (beginning, middle, end of preschool year); the predictive models controlled for age, initial level of the same factor, vocabulary, and growth in letter-name knowledge. The article reports that children with "higher initial levels of letter-name knowledge experienced faster growth in phonological awareness."

"Children with higher initial levels of letter-name knowledge experienced faster growth in phonological awareness across the preschool year than did children with lower initial levels of letter-name knowledge."

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

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

Related Claims¶

• The bidirectional letter-knowledge–phonological-awareness relation extends to supra-phonemic tasks, indicating an earlier developmental origin than previously reported — a broader claim this one bears on
• The bidirectional relation between letter-name knowledge and phonological awareness was independent of maturation and correlated developmental trajectories — a broader claim this one bears on
• Initial phonological awareness uniquely predicts growth in letter-name knowledge, most strongly via elision skill — related
• Initial level and growth were negatively related within phonological awareness and letter-name knowledge, consistent with a compensatory pattern — related
• Initial letter-sound knowledge and phonological awareness were not uniquely related to growth in each other — reports the opposite
• Children use letter-name knowledge as a shortcut when inventing phonologically based spellings — related
• Vocabulary was largely unrelated to growth in phonological awareness, with significance only for blending — related