RAN reading relationship in spanish

PUJALS, MARÍA; CORRADO, IVANA; FONSECA, LILIANA; LAGOMARSINO, INÉS; BLANCO, LAURA; MERETTA, GRACIELA; MENDIVELZUA, ALEJANDRA; SANCHEZ, MANUELA; BARREYRO, JUAN PABLO; SIMIAN, MARINA

Belo Horizonte

Congreso; II World Dyslexia Forum; 2014

Purpose: RAN/ RAS (Rapid Automatized Naming and Rapid Alternating Stimulus) measures the ability to name as quickly as possible, visually presented familiar symbols such as objects, colours, letters and digits. These tasks indicate how fast the brain can integrate visual and language processes. This project aimed to adapt the traditional Ran Ras (Wolf and Denkla 2005) to Spanish and investigate how it correlates to other known indicators of reading fluency and comprehension. Methods: The RAN/RAS was adapted to Spanish by changing some of the tokens that caused confusion in a pre-pilot study. Symbols were presented in a linear sequence, analogous to how we read words. All symbols represented bi-syllabic words. RAN/RAS, phonological awareness, letter naming, word and pseudoword reading efficiency and fluency (LEE Lectura y Escritura en Español, Defior, 2006), were individually assessed in 134, 5/8-year old kids. Results: in 5 year olds RAN/RAS measures correlated to letter naming and phonological awareness; in six year olds to word and pseudoword fluency and accuracy and phonemic segmentation. In seven year olds to word and pseudoword fluency and efficiency, but not to measures of reading comprehension. In 8 year olds to reading fluency and accuracy and reading comprehension. Conclusions: the development of normative data for a RAN/RAS test in Spanish may provide a useful tool for the early detection of children who may require early intervention to successfully develop their reading and writing skills.