Validity of a Nonspeech, Dynamic Assessment of the Alphabetic Principle (DAAP)

Decoding, the reading of novel words that have not been taught, is a pivotal skill in the path towards reading. In turn, a major component of decoding is understanding the alphabetic principle: knowing that, regardless of the word in which a phoneme occurs, the phoneme can be represented by the same letter (Byrne & Fielding-Barnsley, 1989). For example, regardless of whether the phoneme /t/ occurs in the word cat, tan, not, or toe, the phoneme /t/ is represented by the letter t. Children who have mastered the alphabetic principle understand how the co-articulated phonemes embedded in whole spoken words relate to the letters embedded in the corresponding printed words. Although there are widely available and established tests for decoding, at present there are no instruments by which to assess the alphabetic principle as a skill in and of itself. The goal of this proposal is to remedy that gap: to further develop and validate a measure of the alphabetic principle for children with speech impairments and intellectual disabilities that may compromise their progress in learning to read. The research will further develop and validate a measure of the alphabetic principle for children with speech impairments and intellectual disabilities that may compromise their progress in learning to read.