| Abstract | Children who encounter reading difficulty tend to be deficient in the perception of spoken words, the ability to retain linguistic material in temporary memory, the ability to comprehend certain spoken sentences, and awareness about the phonological structure of spoken words. This paper
summarizes these findings and provides an explanation in terms of the requirements of skilled reading. The results of 2 longitudinal studies, in which 106 Subjects were tested with measures including the PPVT, Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests, and naming and verbal memory instruments, show that inferior performance in kindergarten tests of language skills presaged future reading problems in the 1st grade. Based on these studies, procedures are suggested for kindergarten screening and for some ways of aiding children who, by virtue of inferior performance on the screening tests, might be considered at risk for early reading difficulties. (This paper was originally presented at the 33rd Annual Conference of the Orton Dyslexia Society, San Diego, California, November 1983.) |
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