Invisible Print? Reading Skill Predicts Children's Learning of Novel Spoken Words
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| Title: | Invisible Print? Reading Skill Predicts Children's Learning of Novel Spoken Words |
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| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Taylor J. Bryant (ORCID |
| Source: | Infant and Child Development. 2026 35(1). |
| Availability: | Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www.wiley.com/en-us |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 16 |
| Publication Date: | 2026 |
| Sponsoring Agency: | National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) (DHHS/NIH) |
| Contract Number: | F31DC021877 R01DC017156 |
| Document Type: | Journal Articles Reports - Research |
| Descriptors: | Reading Skills, Predictor Variables, Vocabulary Development, Orthographic Symbols, Oral Language, Child Language, Reading Ability, Reading Tests, Norm Referenced Tests, Effect Size, Phonology, Memory |
| DOI: | 10.1002/icd.70062 |
| ISSN: | 1522-7227 1522-7219 |
| Abstract: | Research indicates that when literate children and adults hear a new word that they have never seen in print, they create an expectation for how the word may be spelled. However, studies have not yet examined the extent to which orthographic knowledge plays a role in children's spoken vocabulary learning when words are taught without print. The current study used structural equation modelling to examine the relation between children's word reading ability and their ability to learn novel words from spoken instruction. Children (N = 335; 7-9 years; 52% female; < 1% American Indian/Alaskan Native, 33% Black, 1% Multiracial, < 1% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, 2% Other; 57% White; 6% did not report race; 2% Hispanic/Latino, 97% Not Hispanic/Latino; < 1% did not report ethnicity) completed norm-referenced language and reading assessments and experimental measures of spoken word learning. Word reading ability and vocabulary knowledge uniquely predicted spoken word learning with respective medium-small and medium-large effects after controlling for phonological memory, general language ability, and nonverbal cognition. Thus, orthographic skill has important effects on vocabulary learning, unaccounted for in previous research, that should be addressed in current theory and practice. |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Entry Date: | 2026 |
| Accession Number: | EJ1497624 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | Research indicates that when literate children and adults hear a new word that they have never seen in print, they create an expectation for how the word may be spelled. However, studies have not yet examined the extent to which orthographic knowledge plays a role in children's spoken vocabulary learning when words are taught without print. The current study used structural equation modelling to examine the relation between children's word reading ability and their ability to learn novel words from spoken instruction. Children (N = 335; 7-9 years; 52% female; < 1% American Indian/Alaskan Native, 33% Black, 1% Multiracial, < 1% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, 2% Other; 57% White; 6% did not report race; 2% Hispanic/Latino, 97% Not Hispanic/Latino; < 1% did not report ethnicity) completed norm-referenced language and reading assessments and experimental measures of spoken word learning. Word reading ability and vocabulary knowledge uniquely predicted spoken word learning with respective medium-small and medium-large effects after controlling for phonological memory, general language ability, and nonverbal cognition. Thus, orthographic skill has important effects on vocabulary learning, unaccounted for in previous research, that should be addressed in current theory and practice. |
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| ISSN: | 1522-7227 1522-7219 |
| DOI: | 10.1002/icd.70062 |
