Article

Phonological representations at the onset of reading acquisition: Steady use of phonological detail from preschool to 2nd grade

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Abstract

We tracked the developmental path of aspects of spoken word recognition in the beginning years of reading acquisition in German L1 speaking children. Speech processing of phonemic detail in voicing was tested in preschool, in the 1st and in the 2nd grade. During the word onset priming test, spoken words (targets; “Kino”, Engl. cinema) followed spoken syllables (primes) that were either identical to target word onsets (“Ki“), deviated in the onsetspeech sound in voicing (“Gi”) or were unrelated (“Ba”). Event-related potentials (ERP) and lexical decision latencies were recorded. Results showed a comparable pattern from preschool to 2nd grade. ERP effects emerged around 100 – 300 ms, replicating previous findings for voicing variations. Children’s faster lexical decisions with increasing age were not paralleled in ERP timing differences between age groups. Thus, from a developmental perspective, emerging and increasing reading skills might not relate to increasing sensitivity for phonemic detail in the tested aspects of spoken word recognition. 

Keywords: spoken word processing, lexical access, event-related potentials, literacy acquisition, preschoolers