Predicting delay in reading achievement in a highly transparent language

A random sample of 91 preschool children was assessed prior to receiving fo rmal reading instruction. Verbal and nonverbal measures were used as predic tors for the time of instruction required to accurately decode pseudowords in the highly orthographically regular Finnish language. After 2 years, par ticipants were divided into four groups depending on the duration of instru ction they had required to reach 90 % accuracy in their reading of pseudowo rds. Participants were classified as precocious decoders (PD), who could re ad at school entry; early decoders (ED), who learned to read within the fir st 4 months of Grade 1; ordinary decoders (OD), who learned to read within 9 months; and late decoders (LD), who failed to reach the criterion after 1 8 months of reading instruction at Grade 2. Phonological awareness played a significant role only in differentiating PD from ED and OD. However, phono logical awareness failed to predict the delayed learning process of LD. LD differed from all other groups in visual analogical reasoning in an analysi s not containing phonological awareness measures. Letter knowledge and visu al analogical reasoning explained above 90% of the PD-LD difference. Presch ool composite (objects, colors, and digits) naming speed measures best pred icted reading fluency at the end of Grade 2. The supportive role of orthogr aphic knowledge in phonological awareness, the role of visual analogical re asoning, and the inability of phonological measures to discriminate late de coders are discussed.