Are early readers sensitive to the patterns in bisyllabic english words?

Elementary students develop sensitivity to English sound-spelling patterns through instruction and practice. However, it is unclear whether this extends to subtle patterns and whether sensitivity varies by age or reading skill. One such pattern involves the pronunciation of a single-letter vowel (V) in the first syllable of bisyllabic words. A vowel letter is more likely to have a long (tense) sound when followed by a single consonant letter (C) and vowel letter (VCV, e.g., labor) than a short (lax) one (Kearns, 2020). However, short-vowel pronunciations (e.g., habit) are common). This study examines whether early readers exhibit sensitivity to this long-vowel tendency and whether this varies by grade or reading skill. Grade 2 (n = 18), Grade 3 (n = 28), and Grade 4 (n = 29) students with and without reading difficulties (RD) read 48 five-letter bisyllabic CVCVC pseudowords (e.g., losal). First-vowel pronunciations were recorded. Long-vowel pronunciation frequencies were compared across grades and with long-vowel frequencies in a lexical database (Zeno et al., 1995). Students used long vowel pronunciations less frequently than expected based on the frequency of polysyllabic words in the database, pronouncing them at a rate closer to that found in monosyllabic words. Grade 3 and 4 students used long vowel pronunciations more often than younger students and those with RD. Long vowel usage was notably higher for the letter O than other vowels, consistent with the more frequent occurrence of long pronunciations for that letter. Students show limited sensitivity to the subtle VCV long-vowel pattern, indicating that while acquiring this knowledge, it is not quickly consolidated, possibly due to variability in the pattern or differing learning rates.