Haskins Publications

Number	240
Year	1977
Drawer	4
Entry Date	06/03/1999
Authors	Fowler, C. A., Liberman, I. Y., & Shankweiler, D.
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Publication	Language and Speech, 20, 162-173.
url	http://www.haskins.yale.edu/Reprints/HL0240.pdf
Abstract	Using second, third, & fourth graders (N = 120 from each grade), the error pattern in beginning reading was examined from two perspectives: the location of a misread cons or vowel segment within the syllable & the phonetic relationship between a cons or vowel & a misreading of it. The first analysis showed, as earlier work suggested, that conss in the final position in a syllable were more frequently misread than initial conss. In contrast, a vowel's position within the syllable had no effect on the frequency with which it was misread. Regarding the second analysis, consonant errors were found to bear a close phonetic relationship to their target sounds, while errors on vowels were essentially unrelated, phonetically, to the vowel as written. The striking differences, demonstrated by the results of both analyses, between consonant & vowels were attributed to the different linguistic functions of the two segment types & their different representations in English orthography. These findings underscore the importance of nonvisual, language-related cognitive operations in reading acquisition.
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