Children’s knowledge of single- and multiple-letter grapheme-phoneme correspondences: An exploratory study

In this study, we examined Australian children’s knowledge of single- and multiple-letter grapheme-phoneme correspondences (GPCs), and the influence of five different factors – GPC complexity, phoneme status, the child’s name, GPC entropy, and GPC frequency – on GPC knowledge. Data from 337 Australian children enrolled in Kindergarten to Grade 3 were included in the study and analyses were performed using mixed effects models. Results indicate that GPC knowledge varied across children and GPCs, children were almost twice as likely to accurately pronounce single-letter graphemes compared to multiple-letter graphemes, and performance was better for GPCs which occur more frequently in text. GPCs with higher entropy values (less consistent) had close to 40% lower odds of being known by children. The study has practical implications by providing an evidence-based guide for the order in which GPCs should be introduced to children in schools.