Early akshara knowledge in beginner readers in Sinhala: a cross-sectional study

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Educational Psychology
• Linguistics

Background:

• Emerging reading skills in Sinhala are influenced by akshara graphical features.
• Understanding these features is crucial for early literacy development in Sri Lanka.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine how akshara graphical features influence emerging reading skills in Sinhala-speaking students.
• To explore the correlation between graphic complexity, visual perceptual skills, and akshara knowledge.
• To examine the independent contribution of visual perceptual skills and akshara knowledge to reading abilities.

Main Methods:

• A descriptive cross-sectional study involving 4847 Sinhala-speaking students from grades 1 and 2 in Sri Lanka.
• Assessment of akshara knowledge (recognition and production), word reading (accuracy and fluency), sentence reading, and visual perceptual skills.
• Analysis of akshara graphic complexity using measures like disconnected components (DC) and connected points (CP).

Main Results:

• Graphic complexity of base akshara and diacritics, along with akshara production with long vowels, posed the greatest challenges.
• Akshara recognition and production without diacritics correlated with connected points (CP), simple features (SF), and visual perceptual skills.
• Visual perceptual skills (matching and sequencing) were significantly associated with akshara recognition and production, with and without diacritics.

Conclusions:

• Visual perceptual skills and akshara knowledge are independent predictors of accurate word and sentence reading abilities.
• Early educators should consider the role of visual perceptual skills in teaching akshara to beginner Sinhala readers.
• Further research is needed to understand factors contributing to akshara with diacritic knowledge in beginner readers.