Musical aptitude, phonological awareness, and reading fluency: the reading process in migrant adults learning Spanish

Previous studies on the reading process in additional languages (AL) have provided interesting data on the relationship between musical aptitude and reading skills, with phonological awareness being a predictor of fluency and comprehension. Most research has focused on literate readers learning an AL, while knowledge about the reading process in adults with low literacy levels in a migration context remains scarce. This study, in which 74 adult migrants participated, aims to explore the interaction between musical aptitude, phonological awareness, and oral reading fluency. To this end, linguistic and non-linguistic tests were administered to obtain data that would allow a relationship to be established between musical aptitude, operationalized as the ability to perceive non-linguistic rhythm, phonological awareness, and oral reading fluency. The results indicated a significant correlation between musical rhythm perception and phonological awareness, but not between rhythm and reading fluency in adults with low literacy levels, as reported in previous literature on literate reader profiles. However, further studies are needed on how these variables behave in order to propose a valid model for understanding the reading process in adults with low literacy levels who are learning Spanish as an additional language.