Language and literacy in very preterm children

Language and literacy in very preterm children. Annalisa Guarini & Alessandra Sansavini Department of Psychology, University of Bologna Some previous studies have shown that very preterm birth may affect language at preschool and school age with lower scores in preterm children in comparison to full-term children, different strategies and some specific relationships among competencies. Moreover, a very preterm birth may also affects the acquisition and consolidation of literacy, involving both reading and writing processes. Despite the theoretical and clinical relevance of these findings, very few longitudinal studies have been carried out in order to describe the relationship between language and literacy in very preterm children. The present study aimed at investigating among very preterm children the predictive role of language, executive functions and verbal short term memory at the end of preschool age on the consolidation of literacy. We choose to include, besides oral linguistic skills, verbal fluency as executive function and verbal short-term memory, since these abilities involve linguistic requirements. Forty-two monolingual Italian very preterm children (mean gestational age 29.7 weeks), with no history of major cerebral damage, were followed longitudinally at 6 years by investigating language (vocabulary, grammar, and phonological awareness), executive functions (syllabic and phonemic fluency) and verbal short-term memory (vowel span, non-word repetition) and again at 8 years on literacy (word and non-words reading and spelling). Two cross-sectional groups of full term children were recruited (34 children at 6 years and 26 at 8 years). Preterms showed lower abilities in language at 6 years and in literacy at 8 years. Linear regression analyses revealed that in the preterm sample both language and verbal short-term memory had a predictive role on literacy with some differences in function of word versus non-word reading and writing. These findings revealed the importance to analyse both language and short-term memory in preterms at the end of preschool age, with relevant implications for interventions to improve literacy at school age.