The Contribution of Rapid Automatized Naming Skills and Phonological Awareness to Arabic Language Reading Fluency: A Path Analysis

Abstract

Purpose. The aim of this study was to investigate the contribution of rapid automatized naming skills (RAN) and phonological awareness (PA) to Arabic language reading fluency(RF). Methods. A quantitative, cross-sectional and descriptive method was employed, with the main focus on the contribution of rapid automatized naming skills and phonological awareness to Arabic language reading fluency. A cross-sectional study was performed for all children in six prim art schools located in Makka. A convenience sampling method was used to recruit children. For children to be included in this study, there were some criteria: (a) to have no academic or developmental disabilities; (b) Both gender (males and females). Questionnaires were distributed to the children with the help of classroom teachers. All questions must be answered and responded to. A total of 360 participants aged 6–10 years took part in this study: 280 males (77.7%, age mean = 8.9, SD = 3.27), and 80 females (22.3%, age mean = 9.2, SD = 2.44). Results. The first main finding of the current research is that the correlations between RAN, PA and reading fluency were significant. In the final model, PA was directly and positively predictive of RAN (β = 0.664, p = 0.000) and RAN was directly and strongly related to RF (β = 0.623, p = 0.000). PA explained 52.3% of variance of RF. RAN explained 51.8% of variance of RF. PA and RAN together explained 69.9% of variance of RF. Conclusions. The findings of this study add to our knowledge of the contribution of PA and RAN to RF, as well as the complex intralingual relationship between PA and RAN.