Phonological Skills and Their Role in Learning to Read: A Meta-Analytic Review
Melby-Lervag, M., Lyster, S.-A. H., & Hulme, C. · 2012
grade Dmeta-analysisindependentunreplicated
Sample
235 studies / 995 effect sizes
Population
Children learning alphabetic orthographies; unselected + dyslexic groups.
Design
CORRELATIONAL/extreme-group meta (NOT a training meta): phonemic awareness vs rime vs verbal short-term memory as predictors of word reading.
Key findings
Establishes phoneme awareness (not rime, not verbal STM) as the strongest phonological correlate of word reading, with a residual deficit in dyslexics even vs reading-level-matched peers (suggestive of partial causation). But it is correlational - grade D - and cannot carry a causal claim on its own.
Genetic confound
Severe: correlational; presumptively confounded by heritable phonological/g variance and passive rGE. Grade D for causal claims.
Replication notes
Motivates but cannot demonstrate a causal PA->reading pathway; the causal test is Hulme 2012.
DOI / URL
10.1037/a0026744
Effects
| Outcome | Metric | Value | Measure | Timing | Vs | Horizon | Class |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phoneme awareness as correlate of word reading | rank | strongest phonological correlate across orthographies | standardized | cross-sectional | none | not-applicable | domain-skill |
| Dyslexics vs reading-level-matched controls (PA deficit persists) | g | -0.57 (PA); -0.09 (verbal STM) | standardized | cross-sectional | none | not-applicable | domain-skill |
Cited by
- Phonemic awareness training (and whether it needs letters)moderate supportconf: mediumgc: low