Rachel Davis Valdosta State University The Relationship Between Phonological Awareness and Naming Speed in Preschool Children Rachel Davis Valdosta State University

Disclosure Statement No authors had any financial or non-financial conflicts of interest associated with the content of this presentation.

Introduction One of the main processes of single word reading is word recognition. Deficits in word reading lead to deficits in comprehension. As single word reading becomes more autonomic and fluent, more attention can be given to comprehension of what is being read

Introduction One of the strongest predictors of later reading success is phonological awareness (PA). Skills associated with perceiving, manipulating, and evaluating the sounds in spoken language Naming speed (NS) is a more complex speed of processing ability. NS screeners help identify those with dyslexia

Purpose To examine the relationship between PA and RAN in preschool children to see if testing that can predict later reading difficulties is able to be done at such a young age. Experimental question: Can a RAN screener be tested with children younger than kindergarten and does it have a relationship with phonological awareness at such a young age?

Hypothesis A rapid-automatized naming screener used on children younger than kindergarten will not have a relationship with phonological awareness at such a young age.

Methods Participants: 2 typically developing 4 yr/old male and female who had not yet begun kindergarten Phonological awareness: Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals – Fourth Edition (CELF-4) Naming speed: Arkansas Rapid Automatized Naming Screener (AR-RAN) Both tests were administered to each participant

PA Accuracy Proportion Results Participant PA Accuracy Proportion RAN Time RAN Errors A 0.5 3:36 11 B 0.55 1:46 3

Conclusion Results indicate that a RAN screener using colors can be used and that it does it have a relationship with PA at the age of 4. This sheds light on the ability to be able to predict at the youngest age possible whether a child could be at risk of developing a reading disorder such as dyslexia in the future.

Discussion The hypothesis was rejected. With a greater raw score on the CELF- 4 and less time and less errors on the AR-RAN, Participant B performed better on both tests Thus, showing an association between rapid- automatized naming and phonological awareness in this study

Limitations Only two participants were used Both participants are of the same race, ethnicity and economic status Both participants were currently attending a daycare/ pre-K Not a full representation of all 4 year olds as a whole

Recommendations Expand study – more diverse participants Longitudinal study to go beyond the relationship between naming speed and phonological awareness abilities Whether a child younger than five years of age will have reading difficulties such as dyslexia in the future