Subvocal phonological decoding: A key component in diagnosing
reading disabilities
The Educational and Developmental Psychologist, 19 (2):
109--123 (2004)Abstract
A key aspect of the work of many educational and developmental
psychologists is the diagnosis of literacy learning disability.
One component of this disability is learning to read words
automatically. This difficulty is attributed to the gradual
development of phonological decoding and the related acquisition
of orthographic knowledge. Unfamiliar letter strings can be
decoding either overtly, by saying aloud systematically parts of
a written word and then blending the parts, or subvocally.
Subvocal decoding is assumed to be more mature develapmentally
and to be a key acquisition. The present study examines aspects
of the acquisition of subvocal decoding by monitoring the
reading of pseudowords by average and low achieving third to
fifth graders. Subvocal phonological decoding ability was
correlated with the accuracy, comprehension, and rate components
of prose reading for both categories of reading ability and was
higher for the average readers. Its accuracy was influenced by
the number of letters in a pseudoword and its sound structure.
Low achieving reoders showed a greater sensitivity to subvocal
phonological decoding than average reoders. The implications for
the diagnosis of reading disabilities by educational and
developmental psychologists are discussed.