Reading Instruction: Between Supraphonological Processing and Cognitive Pathways of Language Acquisition

Abstract

In a predictive study conducted on children in kindergarten, first, and second grades of elementary school, the researcher found that supraphonological tasks (simple syllabic and suprasegmental tasks related to morphemes) remain closely related to children's reading and writing performance. Among the supraphonological (phonological) tasks used, it was found that the task of identifying the first morpheme sound and the task of identifying the final syllable predict reading outcomes, explaining 27.6% of the variance in children's reading performance. Specifically, 15.7% of the variance was explained by syllabic tasks and 24.2% by suprasegmental tasks, highlighting the significant contribution of suprasegmental tasks in explaining reading variance. The predictive value of these tasks remains considerable even when controlling for phonological tasks, and vice versa, allowing us to conclude that such tasks are strong predictors of reading and writing performance, independent of each other. This variance is explained by children's implicit cognitive abilities in acquiring the Arabic language.