CHANGING RELATIONS BETWEEN PHONOLOGICAL PROCESSING ABILITIES AND WORDLEVEL READING AS CHILDREN DEVELOP FROM BEGINNING TO SKILLED READERS -A 5-YEAR LONGITUDINAL-STUDY

Relations between phonological processing abilities and word-level rea ding skills were examined in a longitudinal correlational study of 216 children. Phonological processing abilities, word-level reading skill s, and vocabulary were assessed annually from kindergarten through 4th grade, as the children developed from beginning to skilled readers. i ndividual differences in phonological awareness were related to subseq uent individual differences in word-level reading for every time perio d examined. individual differences in serial naming and vocabulary wer e related to subsequent individual differences in word-level reading i nitially, but these relations faded with development. Individual diffe rences in letter-name knowledge were related to subsequent individual differences in phonological awareness and serial naming, bur there wer e no relations between individual differences in word-level reading an d any subsequent phonological processing ability.