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Handbook of Literacy in Akshara Orthography pp 261–276Cite as

The Role of Phonological Processing and Oral Language in the Acquisition of Reading Skills in Devanagari

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Part of the book series: Literacy Studies ((LITS,volume 17))

Abstract

We examined the relative contributions of phonological processing and oral language on word and non-word reading abilities in Devanagari in 230 children from grades 1 to grade 5. Phonological skills were assessed using tasks of rhyming and syllable replacement while oral language was assessed using semantic and verbal fluency. Phonological awareness made independent contributions to word reading across all grades. In addition, across grades 1 and 2, akshara recognition significantly explained word reading while in grades 3–5, oral language fluency was uniquely associated with word reading performance. Our study provides new insights on reading acquisition in Devanagari and adds to a growing body of literature on reading in akshara orthographies.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge M. Joshi for valuable comments on the manuscript, Geet Oberoi (Orkids Centre for Learning Disabilities), Bhoomika R. Kar (University of Allahabad), Kate Currawala (Maharashtra Dyslexia Association) and Kshipra Vaidya (Shanta Vaidya Memorial Foundation) for data collection and Cognitive Science Initiative of the Department of Science and Technology, India, for financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Language, Literacy and Music Laboratory, National Brain Research Centre, Gurgaon, Haryana, India

    Nandini Chatterjee Singh

  2. R & D Engineer(Project), Language, Literacy and Music Laboratory, National Brain Research Centre, Gurgaon, Haryana, India

    T. A Sumathi

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  1. Nandini Chatterjee Singh
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  2. T. A Sumathi
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Correspondence to Nandini Chatterjee Singh .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Teaching, Learning, and Culture, College of Education and Human Development, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA

    R. Malatesha Joshi

  2. Department of Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

    Catherine McBride

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Singh, N.C., Sumathi, T.A. (2019). The Role of Phonological Processing and Oral Language in the Acquisition of Reading Skills in Devanagari. In: Joshi, R.M., McBride, C. (eds) Handbook of Literacy in Akshara Orthography. Literacy Studies, vol 17. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05977-4_14

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05977-4_14

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