Browsing by Author "Jansson, Linda"

Language impairments affect the development of children’s communication skills. Early identification of children that may later face a diagnosis of language disorder is challenging, but early language development is a good indicator of later language skills. The fundamental structures of language are typically mastered by the age of five. Memory skills, which are essential for language development, are also well developed in five-year-old children. Pre-reading skills, such as rapid automatized naming and letter knowledge, develop throughout childhood and have been linked to concurrent language skills. There is, however, little knowledge regarding early development of pre-reading skills in children under the age of five. In this longitudinal study, the relationship between early pre-reading skills at ages 3;6 and 5;0 and language and memory skills at age 5;0 is studied. By increasing the knowledge regarding the development of and the relationship between early pre-reading and language skills more sensitive methods to identify children at risk for language impairment may be developed. In this study, the LUKIVA-test, a method for assessing early pre-reading skills in preschool children, was used. In addition, the language and memory domains of the Five to Fifteen-questionnaire, a parental questionnaire evaluating the development and behavior of 5–15-year-old children, was used. The LUKIVA-test was administered at ages 3;6 and 5;0, the Five to Fifteen-questionnaire filled out when the children were 5;0-years old. The study sample included 40 Finnish-speaking children. This study showed, that age 3;6 and 5;0 LUKIVA-test variables correlated significantly with each other and with age 5;0 language skills. It was also shown, that pre-reading skills at age 3;6, together with gender and maternal education, explain 17% of the variability in language skills at age 5;0. Pre-reading skills in 3;6-year-old children may thus yield important information regarding future language development. In addition, memory skills (sri2 = 43%) markedly added to the explanation of age 5;0 language skills by concurrent pre-reading skills (sri2 = 28%). Pre-reading skills may possibly be used to identify children with weak language skills, whose language development may benefit from additional support.