Double deficit hypothesis: The relationship between phonological awareness and rapid automatized naming in adolescents with and without dyslexia

Abstract

Over the past decade, a large amount of evidence has accumulated indicating that deficits in phonological awareness are closely associated with difficulties in learning to read. It is thought that deficits in phonological awareness and deficits in naming speed are additive and will produce more severe reading difficulties in the same child (Wolf & Bowers, 2001); this has been termed as “Double Deficit”. The present study aimed to find out the relationship between phonological awareness and naming speed in adolescents with & without dyslexia. A total of 50 participants, of these, 20 adolescents with dyslexia and 30 normal readers, of chronological age 12 to 15 years were considered. The tests such as phonological awareness test and Rapid Automatized Naming Speed test were administered with verbal and tangible reinforcements. The obtained data was analyzed using SPSS, an Independent„t‟ test and correlation analysis was administered to investigate the relationship between phonological awareness and rapid naming in adolescents with dyslexics and typical group. Results of the present study showed that there is no relation between naming speed and phonological awareness, which suggests poor reading performance in adolescents with dyslexics may be due to dominant deficits in either Phonological awareness or Rapid Naming speed measure. The future implication includes-(a) there is a greater need to explore the other subtypes of LD and (b) The test batteries need to be developed in Indian languages and therapy activities on both PA and RAN should be attempted.