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Development and Prediction of Context-Dependent Vowel Pronunciation in Elementary Readers
Steacy, Laura M. Compton, Donald Petscher, Yaacov Elliott, James D. Smith, Kathryn Rueckl, Jay G. Sawi, Oliver Frost, Stephen J. Pugh, Kenneth R.
Steacy, Laura M.
Compton, Donald
Petscher, Yaacov
Elliott, James D.
Smith, Kathryn
Rueckl, Jay G.
Sawi, Oliver
Frost, Stephen J.
Pugh, Kenneth R.
Abstract
As children learn to read, they become sensitive to context-dependent vowel pronunciations in words, considered a form of statistical learning. The work of Treiman and colleagues demonstrated that readers’ vowel pronunciations depend on the consonantal context in which the vowel occurs and reading experience. Using explanatory item-response models we examined child- and nonword-factors associated with children’s assignment of more versus less frequent grapheme-phoneme correspondences (GPC) to vowel pronunciations as a function of rime coda in monosyllabic nonwords. Students (N = 96) in grades 2-5 read nonwords in which more versus less frequent vowel GPCs were wholly supported or partially favored by the rime unit. Use of less frequent vowel GPCs was predicted by set for variability, word reading, and rime support for the context-dependent vowel pronunciation. We interpret the results within a developmental word reading model in which initially incomplete and oversimplified GPC representations become more context dependent with reading experience.
Keywords
reading, early childhood, statistical learning, grapheme-phoneme correspondences, context dependent vowel pronunciation, vowel pronunciation, nonword factors, elementary readers
Date
2019
Type
Journal article
Journal
Book
Volume
23
Issue
1
Page Range
49-63
Article Number
ACU Department
Faculty of Education and Arts
Collections
Relation URI
Event URL
Open Access Status
License
All rights reserved
File Access
Controlled
Notes
© 2018 Society for the Scientific Study of Reading