Modeling the early language trajectory of language development and its relation to poor reading comprehension

This study examined change in early language comprehension from 15 to 54 months for fifth grade typical readers (n = 35), poor decoders (n = 11), or poor comprehenders (n = 16) who were ascertained at birth in 1991 in a nationally representative study of early child-care experiences. Measures of language comprehension were captured across early childhood for the 72 children, and these measures changed at each measurement time-point; therefore, data were transformed to ranks. Multiple group quasi-simplex and latent growth models were used to examine children’s relative rank change. Results showed that future poor comprehenders significantly declined in language comprehension over time relative to future poor decoders and typical readers, who gradually improved. Findings suggest that deficits in early language contribute to reading difficulties. Efforts to improve language skills as a means to improve reading comprehension, particularly for poor comprehenders, hinge upon the perspective that language weaknesses are a causal contributor to reading difficulties.