Investigation of cognitive factors related to Filipino and English reading literacy of third-grade Filipino children
Lhannie Estrera1 and Akira Uno1
1 University of Tsukuba
Abstract
This study investigated the cognitive factors relating to the reading of a relatively transparent and an opaque script: Filipino and English. The characteristics of cognitive skills of good and poor readers of Filipino and English were also examined. A total of 98 Filipino third-grade children studying in Manila were assessed for their phonological skills, visual processing skills, receptive vocabulary, nonverbal intelligence and reading literacy skills in Filipino and English. Results of multiple regression analyses revealed that phonological awareness and naming speed were significant predictors for both Filipino and English reading. However, receptive vocabulary significantly predicted English reading, but not Filipino reading. Comparison of readers showed similar results in which poor readers showed significantly poor performance in phonological processes and naming speed in both Filipino and English. A significant difference was also found for receptive vocabulary between poor and good readers in English, but not in Filipino. It is likely that the difference in orthographic depth affected the degree of contribution of vocabulary towards reading in Filipino and English. Current findings have implications on assessing children with reading difficulties. Further research is recommended to have more in-depth understanding of reading for Filipino children.
Keywords: cognitive skills, Filipino reading, English reading
