Phonological and Cognitive Reading Related Skills as Predictors of Word Reading and Reading Comprehension among Arabic Dyslexic Children

Abstract

The present study sought to identify cognitive reading-related skills (i.e. visual attention, rapid automatized naming and working memory) that might distinguish dyslexic Arabic children from skilled ones in 4 th and 5 th grades, and to examine the potential contribution of these factors to word reading and reading comprehension. Two experiments were conducted for this purpose. In Experiment 1, normal readers (N = 108) and dyslexics (23) were given a set of literacy tasks, visual attention, and rapid automatized naming. The results indicated that dyslexic children exhibited lower reading-related skills than controls. Visual attention and phonological processing were able to predict word reading. Experiment 2 was carried out on 36 dyslexic children compared to chronological-age controls. This experiment was designed to assess the relation between phonological awareness and working memory with word recognition and reading comprehension. Results showed significant differences between groups in literacy scores. In addition, inter-correlations indicated a strong relation between word recognition and reading comprehension on one hand and phonological awareness and verbal working memory on the other. Regression analyses showed that rapid naming, visual attention, and verbal working memory were significantly associated with literacy. The findings underscored the importance of cognitive skills in the acquisition of Arabic literacy and emphasized persistent difficulties in dyslexic children from multiple causes.