The contribution of segmental and suprasegmental phonology to reading comprehension

The aim of the present study was to examine the relation between decoding and segmental and suprasegmental phonology, and their contribution to reading comprehension, in the upper primary grades. Following a longitudinal design, the performance of 99 Dutch primary school students on phonological awareness (segmental phonology) and text-reading prosody (suprasegmental phonology) in grades 4 and 5 and reading comprehension in grade 6 were examined. In addition, decoding efficiency as a general assessment of reading was examined. Structural path modeling first showed that the relation between decoding efficiency and both measures of phonology from fourth to fifth grade was unidirectional. Second, the relation between decoding in grades 4 and 5 and reading comprehension in grade 6 became indirect when segmental and suprasegmental phonology were added to the model. Both factors independently exerted influence on later reading comprehension. This leads to the conclusion that not only segmental but also suprasegmental phonology contribute substantially to children's reading development