Working memory and reading ability in children

A psycholinguistic perspective

Authors

  • Katarzyna Wiejak
  • Radosław Kaczan
  • Grażyna Krasowicz-Kupis
  • Piotr Rycielski

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17239/L1ESLL-2017.17.04.01

Keywords:

executive functions, letter knowledge, reading accuracy, reading development, short term memory, working memory

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to give an insight into the reading process and working memory as factor that affects this process at early stages of its development. The basic assumption of the psycholinguistic view is that reading is a linguistic, metalinguistic and metacognitive activity that requires conscious control of cognitive processes involved.

The study covered 1138 children from reception class as well as the 1st grade. The subjects were examined using the Reading Tests Battery that offers a comprehensive evaluation of various aspects of reading: letter recognition and naming, isolated words decoding and pseudowords decoding. Executive functions were measured with the use of the Working Memory Test. Each task of the test corresponds to one of the working memory functions highlighted by Klaus Oberauer: simultaneous storage and processing, supervision and coordination.

The main results confirm a significant relationship between general indicators of working memory and the results of reading tests. The highest correlations were obtained for the Letter Naming and Letter Recognition tests as well as all three working memory test measures. Monitoring function did not correlate with the reading measures, and the function of coordination featured a very low level of covariance.

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Published

2017-09-06

How to Cite

Wiejak, K., Kaczan, R., Krasowicz-Kupis, G., & Rycielski, P. (2017). Working memory and reading ability in children: A psycholinguistic perspective. L1-Educational Studies in Language and Literature, 17(4), 1–22. https://doi.org/10.17239/L1ESLL-2017.17.04.01