Rapid naming speed and reading across languages that vary in orthographic consistency

The objective of this study was to examine how rapid naming speed is related to reading ability across languages that vary in orthographic consistency. Forty English-speaking Canadian children, 40 Greek-speaking Cypriot children, and 40 Chinese-speaking Taiwanese children were administered RAN, reading accuracy, and reading fluency tasks in grade 4. The results revealed that across languages there were no statistically significant differences in the correlations between RAN and reading. However, a subsequent analysis of the RAN components—articulation and pause time—revealed that different RAN components may be responsible for the RAN-reading relationship across languages. Implications for existing theories relating RAN to reading are discussed.