title: Tracking development from early speech-language acquisition to reading skills at age 13.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Previous studies have indicated a link between speech-language and literacy development. To add to this body of knowledge, we investigated whether lexical and grammatical skills from toddler to early school age are related to reading competence in adolescence.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-three typically developing children were followed from age 1;6 to 13;6 (years;months). Parental checklists and standardized tests were used to assess the development of mental lexicon, grammatical and reading capacities of the children.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Direct assessment of early speech-language functions positively correlated with later reading competence, whereas lexical skills reported by parents were not associated with this capacity. At (pre-) school age, larger vocabulary and better grammatical abilities predicted advanced reading abilities in adolescence.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study contributes to the understanding of typical speech-language development and its relation to later reading outcome, extending the body of knowledge on these developmental domains for future early identification of children at risk for reading difficulties.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Physiology (IN:spired; Developmental Physiology & Developmental Neuroscience), Center for Physiological Medicine, Medical University of Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: Katrin D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Bartl-Pokorny
authors.forename: Peter B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Marschik
authors.forename: Steffi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sachse
authors.forename: Vanessa A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Green
authors.forename: Dajie
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Larah
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Van Der Meer
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wolin
authors.forename: Christa
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Einspieler
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D002663:Child Language; D002675:Child, Preschool; D032882:Comprehension / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007804:Language Development; D007807:Language Tests; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D011932:Reading; D013060:Speech / Q000502:physiology*; D014825:Vocabulary