Investigation of Reading, Phonological Awareness, Rapid Naming and Working Memory Skills in Children with Low Reading Success

Reading skills form the basis of academic achievement. Therefore, it is important to identify the factors that cause children s difficulties in reading. Although there are many skills that are effective in the development of reading skills, phonological awareness, rapid naming, and working memory skills are reported to be more effective in reading achievement than others. Studies on the causes of reading problems are considered important for the planning of early intervention programs. In the present study, first grade children with low reading achievement were compared with their peers with average reading achievement, and it was examined that the relationship between reading, phonological awareness, rapid naming and working memory skills and these skills were examined. The study included 35 children with low reading achievement and 35 children with average reading achievement who attended first grade. Participating children were evaluated using Word Reading Test, Early Literacy Test, Rapid Naming Test, and Working Memory Scale. In the analysis of the data, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Mann-Whitney U test were used to compare the performance of the groups in related skills, Spearman Brown Sequence Correlation Coefficient was used to examine the relationships between the variables. Results showed that children with low reading achievement had significantly underperformed than their peers with average reading achievement and there are medium and high level relationships between the variables. The results were discussed in terms of future research and practice.