Rapid automatized naming, phonological awareness, and reading comprehension: Implications for the double-deficit hypothesis of reading disability

This investigation examined relations between rapid automatized naming (RAN) and phonological awareness in predicting reading achievement in a sample of seventy, 8 to 10 year old, low average readers. Results showed that RAN-Letters contributed unique variance to Word Attack, Word Identification, Reading Fluency, and Passage Comprehension after age, Vocabulary and Elision (phonological awareness) were taken into account. Further analyses showed that RAN'S contribution to reading comprehension is through its shared association with accuracy and speed of word recognition. Results suggest that rapid automatized naming and phonological awareness reflect unique processing deficits for some poor readers.