The influence of neighborhood density and word frequency on phoneme awareness in 2nd and 4th grades.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that two lexical characteristics - neighborhood density and word frequency - interact to influence performance on phoneme awareness tasks.


METHODS
Phoneme awareness was examined in a large, longitudinal dataset of 2nd and 4th grade children. Using linear logistic test model, the relation between words' neighborhood density, word frequency, and phoneme awareness performance was examined across grades while co-varying type and place of deletion.


RESULTS
A predicted interaction was revealed: words from dense neighborhoods or those with high frequency were more likely to yield correct phoneme awareness responses across grades.


CONCLUSIONS
Findings support an expansion of the lexical restructuring model to include interactions between neighborhood density and word frequency to account for phoneme awareness.


OBJECTIVE
The reader will be able to (1) describe the lexical restructuring model; (2) define neighborhood density; (3) define word frequency; (4) identify how these variables interact to impact phoneme awareness performance; (5) identify ways in which future clinical practice may be impacted by the study's findings.
Hogan
Tiffany P
TP
Barkley Memorial Center, University of Nebraska - Lincoln, NE 68583, United States. thogan2@unl.edu
Bowles
Ryan P
RP
Catts
Hugh W
HW
Storkel
Holly L
HL
D001364:Awareness; D002663:Child Language; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007484:Iowa; D007804:Language Development; D007807:Language Tests; D016015:Logistic Models; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D010700:Phonetics; D011156:Population Density; D012111:Residence Characteristics