ON THE INTERACTION BETWEEN PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS AND READING ACQUISITION - ITS A 2-WAY STREET

We have investigated the reciprocal influence of reading acquisition a nd phonemic awareness. Using a between-grades quasi-experimental desig n, we have found that learning to read is the most important factor th at accounts for the drastic improvement of phonemic segmentation skill s during the first year of schooling. On the other hand, we found that improving phonemic skills in kindergarten facilitated reading acquisi tion in children at risk for developing reading disorders. We suggest that, for most children, exposure to the alphabet automatically trigge rs phonemic awareness, which is a necessary condition for efficient ac quisition of reading. However, the emergence of phonemic awareness req uires a previously developed sensitivity to phonology, which in some c hildren may be absent. The present data suggest that, if phonological skills are absent, they may be developed in preschoolers by explicit t raining, thereby preventing failure in reading acquisition.