Influence of Cognitive Linguistic Factors on the Development of Emergent Literacy Skill (Letter Identification): Evidence from Children with Intellectual Disability

Abstract

Emergent literacy includes the early skills and knowledge children develop before they begin formal reading and writing. These foundational abilities typically develop through a mix of cognitive and language growth. Children with Intellectual Disabilities (ID) often struggle with both cognitive and language skills, making it vital to identify key predictors of early reading especially in under-researched contexts like India, for effective support.This study explored the role of cognitive and linguistic skills in letter identification, a key emergent literacy skill. It compared the performance of 30 typically developing children (TDC) aged 4–6 years with 10 children with ID aged 4–10 years (matched for language age). All participants completed tasks assessing attention, memory, processing speed, vocabulary, grammar (morpho-syntax), story comprehension, and repetition, along with a letter identification task in Malayalam.The findings showed that typically developing children performed better across all areas. In the TDC group, letter identification was closely linked to visual attention, both auditory and visual memory, processing speed, and grammar skills like pronoun use and tense marking. In contrast, among children with ID, only tense usage showed a significant link to letter identification; other factors like memory, attention, and vocabulary did not show a strong connection.Regression analysis showed that pronoun use and processing speed together explained over 76% of the differences in letter identification. These results point to important differences in how emergent literacy develops in each group. This reinforces the understanding that emergent literacy is not driven by cognitive or linguistic skills alone,rather, it relies on the combined development of both. Supporting early literacy, therefore, requires a balanced approach that strengthens grammar, vocabulary, and comprehension alongside memory, attention, and processing speed.