Reading Acquisition and Phonological Awareness: Beyond the Segmental Level

Problem statement: Phonological awareness is a major contributor to reading development. While the literature has primarily focused on the segmental aspect of phonology, suprasegmental information, namely prosody, has been largely underexplored in comparison. Approach: This review focuses on recent behavioral and neuroimaging studies on the development of prosody sensitivity during early childhood and the influence of prosody on reading processes. Results: Overall, the literature highlights the importance of prosodic information, not only during reading acquisition in children, but also during silent reading in skilled readers. This contribution is independent of segmental phonology, but may influence the development of phonological awareness. Conclusion: The current findings open the door to the development of new reading assessment tools that can allow determining whether pre-literacy students are at risk for reading development difficulties.