Development of phonological sensitivity in 2- to 5-year-old children

This study examined phonological sensitivity in 238 children from middle- to upper-income families and 118 children from lower-income families across different levels of linguistic complexity. Children ranged in age from 2 to 5 years. Overall, the results indicated that as children increased in age, phonological sensitivity both increased in absolute terms and became more stable. Significant social class differences ingrowth of phonological sensitivity were also obtained. Phonological sensitivity at different levels of linguistic omplexity (e.g., syllables, phonemes) was substantially interrelated ateach age and predicted word reading ability in older children independently of language skills and letter knowledge. These results indicate that phonological sensitivity can be assessed in young preschool children and that lower levels of phonological sensitivity may serve as developmental precursors to higher levels of phonological sensitivity. The development of phonological processing is an impor-tant precursor to the acquisition of early reading skills (e.g., Adams, 1990; Wagner & Torgesen, 1987). Phonological processing refers to the use of phonological information (i.e., the sounds of one's language) in processing written and oral language. A growing body of research indicates that individual differences in one form of phonological process-ing, phonological sensitivity, are causally related to the normal acquisition of beginning reading (e.g., Bryant