Abstract
Research on phonological awareness (PA) suggested that early development of this skill is supported by vocabulary growth (Metsala 1999, Walley et al. 2009). The paper aims to describe the developmental relationship between vocabulary and PA well before formal schooling, and test Metsala's/Walley's claims in a different language.
Participants were 126 Czech children, aged 46(3.3) months in the first round, who were tested in 2 rounds 6 months apart and assessed for receptive vocabulary, syllable blending, and syllable and phoneme categorization. The relationship between vocabulary and phonological measures was analyzed using cross-lagged path models.
Predictive relationship between vocabulary and two of the three phonological measures was found. Time-2 vocabulary was predicted by T1 syllable blending (β=0.31, p<0.01), but syllable blending was not predicted by vocabulary.
Time-2 phoneme categorization was predicted by vocabulary β=0.19, p<0.05), but not the other way around. No predictive relationship was found between syllable categorization and vocabulary.
Vocabulary is not a general predecessor of PA of Czech preschool children; it only predicts PA at the level of phonemes. The ability to operate with larger phonological units seems to be a prerequisite, rather than a consequence of vocabulary growth, but only in certain tasks.