Relations between reading, vocabulary and phonological awareness in low-income children

Abstract

Phonological awareness, intelligence, vocabulary and socioeconomic status (SES) have been considered important variables in the acquisition of reading. Nevertheless, attention deficit is associated to low reading performance. The purpose of this work was to investigate correlations among phonological awareness, vocabulary, intelligence, focused attention and reading skills in children with low SES exposed to a non-effective teaching environment. This study included 111 children belonging to socioeconomic classes D and E who were enrolled at a state school. Results pointed to a positive correlation among vocabulary, intelligence, phonological awareness and reading scores. There was no significant correlation between attention measures and reading ability. The relations among the variables continued, even in a population with low SES, although bad teaching environment acts as a limiting factor for the students’ development of their reading ability.