The mediating role of executive functions in reading fluency among 8-10 year old children: Evidence from a transparent orthography

Abstract

The authors investigated the contribution of executive functions (EFs) in mediating the relation between age and reading fluency (RF) in school children. A total of 168 typically developing 8-year-old children (M age = 8 years, 4 months) and 10-year-old children (M age = 10 years, 3 months) were assessed with an RF task, isolated measures of EFs, a collective measure of EFs, and a non-verbal intelligence test. The results showed that during both age periods, inhibition, updating and cognitive flexibility were significant predictors of RF, explaining 23% of its variance. The results also revealed a significant partial indirect effect of age on reading fluency through all three hypothesized mediators supporting the mediating hypothesis. These findings further support the differentiation of EFs into distinct components for these particular age groups. A novelty of this study was that it provided evidence of this mediating relationship from a highly transparent orthography, that of the Albanian language. Neither gender nor non-verbal intelligence made any difference. However, two demographic variables, namely Socio-economic status (SES) and the mother education level, significantly moderated the relationship between age and RF.