The Importance of Phonemic Awareness and Vocabulary for Written Language Performance in Elementary School

Various scientific studies document that phonological awareness is a key factor in the acquisition of literacy and remains most influential during the first years of elementary school [1,2]. The significance of phonological awareness during the following acquisition of written language, compared to other linguistic components, remains inadequately researched [3]. Therefore, the bond between phonological awareness and literary language skills in the late elementary school was examined in an own study [4]. A sample of German children (31 third graders and 26 fourth graders) was tested concerning their reading and spelling performance, their phonological awareness (phoneme-level) and vocabulary knowledge (receptive). It could be observed that phonological skills are still systematically linked to spelling performance on this level of education. Vocabulary (word recognition) knowledge correlates with reading abilities of the children. Subsequent analysis showed that phonological awareness has a significantly higher predictive power for the spelling performance than the amount of vocabulary obtained. The findings for reading performance were vice versa. The results indicate that phonological awareness remains a relevant component for spelling performance even at the end of elementary school and should therefore be considered when planning a therapy for children with restrictions in this domain.