Prosodic Sensitivity and Phonemic Awareness in Spanish-Language Reading Development: A Cross-Sectional Study

In this study, we examine the relationships between prosodic sensitivity, phonological awareness and reading development. Specifically, among a sample of 132 Spanish schoolchildren (71 in preschool and 61, second grade), we explore the mediating role of phonological awareness in the relation between their prosody (lexical-level and phrase-level) and reading competence. Correlational analyses indicated distinct patterns according to the educational level considered: in the preschoolers, reading was significantly associated with phonological awareness and lexical prosody, whereas in the older children, it was related to phonological awareness and phrase-level prosody. Mediation analyses revealed that lexical prosody influenced word and nonword reading through full mediation by phonological awareness, with no significant direct effects. In contrast, phrase-level prosody showed both direct and indirect effects on reading outcomes, indicating partial mediation. The results show that the relationships between different aspects of prosody and reading may change before and after systematic teaching of the written code.