Reading and spelling acquisition in Polish: Educational and linguistic determinants

Abstract

Abstract. The process of reading and spelling acquisition, especially at the initial stage, is determined by the linguistic features of a given language and differs in various orthographic systems. However, the fundamental stages are assumed to be the same in all languages. Linguistic awareness plays a crucial role in the early stage of this process. The aim of this paper is to propose a model of acquiring reading and spelling skills in Polish children. The model shows the course of the process and takes into account essential elements of language awareness. The basis for this model are the authors' research results concerning reading and spelling acquisition by Polish children aged 5-8. In the discussion, the authors try to find out if the model of reading and spelling acquisition in Polish is different than in others languages, and if this is the case, what determines it. The comparison studies on the acquisition of both skills in European languages, especially in English and Polish, prove that there are some differences conditioned mainly by the way in which script is introduced to Polish children, as well as the features of the Polish language system. The specificity of reading acquisition in Polish language consists in omitting the logographic phase, distinguished in Englishlanguage models (e.g. Frith 1985), and the specificity of spelling acquisition -in exceptions from the standard spelling which are generally similar, but differently conditioned. The research of linguistic conditions of reading in the early stage of life also shows interesting dependencies, slightly different than in English-speaking children, concerning cognitive predictors and reading correlates, as well as reading strategies used by children.

Working memory and reading ability in children - a psycholinguistic perspective

“…They showed that children in the RC group used different strategies during reading-more global and effective or analytical and less effective. These data reflect that the assessed RC children represented two different stages according to the theoretical model of acquisition of reading in Polish: initial phase and first substage of key phase, including dominance of analytical and phonological strategies (Awramiuk & Krasowicz-Kupis, 2014). In any case, efficient reading requires the participation of phonemic awareness combined with the letter knowledge and print awareness.…”

“…The main purpose of the current study was to examine the relationship of EFs' measures based on the three-function model of working memory devised by Oberauer et al (2000Oberauer et al ( , 2003 with reading ability on preliminary and key stages of its development, according to the model of Awramiuk and Krasowicz-Kupis (2014).…”

“…In this model reading and spelling abilities go through three main stages: the preliminary stage (before formal instruction of learning to read and write), the key stage which includes the mastery of reading and writing, and the proficiency stage which includes the automation of the use of reading and writing (Awramiuk & Krasowicz-Kupis, 2014).…”

Phonological processing and reading in a semi-transparent orthography (Polish)

“…Krasowicz-Kupis (Awramiuk & Krasowicz-Kupis, 2014) identified the following key stages in reading acquisition in Polish: 1. Dominance of Analytical-Phonological (sound blending) Strategy, 2.…”

“…Thus, they achieve a consolidated alphabetic stage of reading, where they automatically recognise the pronunciations and meanings of written words upon seeing them as whole units (Ehri, 2011). The logographic (Frith, 1985) or pre-alphabetic (Ehri, 2011) stage, initial in English-language reading acquisition models, might appear in the pre-literacy stage, prior to formal instruction (Awramiuk & Krasowicz-Kupis, 2014), as Polish children begin reading instruction later than English children do.…”