DEVELOPMENT OF PHONOLOGICAL SENSITIVITY IN 2-YEAR-OLD TO 5-YEAR-OLD CHILDREN

This study examined phonological sensitivity in 238 children from midd le- to upper-income families and 118 children from lower-income famili es across different levels of Linguistic complexity. Children ranged i n age from 2 to 5 years. Overall, the results indicated that as childr en increased in age, phonological sensitivity both increased in absolu te terms and became more stable. Significant social class differences in growth of phonological sensitivity were also obtained. Phonological sensitivity at different levels of linguistic complexity (e.g., sylla bles, phonemes) was substantially interrelated at each age and predict ed word reading ability in older children independently of language sk ills and letter knowledge. These results indicate that phonological se nsitivity can be assessed in young preschool children and that lower l evels of phonological sensitivity may serve as developmental precursor s to higher levels of phonological sensitivity.