Introduction: Children with Specific Learning Disorders (SLD) suffer from some cognitive deficits affecting their school achievement. The correlation between phonemic awareness (PhA) and word reading is the same in other orthographies.Ĭonclusion: The statistically significant correlation between WM and word reading indicates that WM supports reading development as the ability to hold information in memory supports phoneme-grapheme associations. The statistically significant correlation between PA and word reading was not found in other transparent orthographies. The statistically significant correlation between WM and word reading seems to be present in both transparent and opaque orthographies. The correlation between WM and reading comprehension was not statistically significant. Participants who read the comprehension test fluently scored higher on the questions than those who did not read fluently. Word reading skills developed rapidly and exceeded the expectations in the first two quarters of the year. Results: Phonetic decoding was employed more than eidetic decoding. Method: A descriptive research design with correlational components was applied. Setting: The research study was conducted in private schools with Afrikaans as the language of learning and teaching (LoLT) in Grade 2. Research on the role of PA and WM in Afrikaans with its transparent orthography is limited.Īim: The study investigated and described the role of WM in the acquisition of PA and ultimately reading in Afrikaans. Research has been undertaken on reading in languages with an opaque orthography. The orthography of the language being read influences the ease with which a child learns to read. Age differences were also investigated, demonstrating larger span impairment in older children with SLD than in younger.īackground: Phonological awareness (PA) skills and working memory (WM) are universally regarded as crucial precursors to skilled reading. This pattern was similar for different SLD profiles with clinical diagnoses of dyslexia and mixed disorder, but the impairments were more severe in the latter. Despite a GAI within normal range, children with SLD had difficulty with both digit span tasks, but more so for forward span. The correlation of the two spans with a General Ability Index (GAI) was similar in SLD, and smaller in magnitude than in typically developing children. Our results further support the hypothesis that the intellectual difficulties of children with SLD involve working memory in the forward digit span task to a greater extent than in the backward digit span task. This study examined performance in the forward and backward digit span task of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fourth Edition (WISC-IV) in a large group of children with specific learning disorder (SLD) as compared with a group of typically developing children matched for age and sex.

Backward digit span e prime