Reading alphasyllabic hindi: contributions from phonological and orthographic domains

Phonological and orthographic processing are important cognitive skills required in reading. The present study attempts to investigate the role of phonological processing and orthographic knowledge, in reading alphasyllabic Hindi orthography. The sample constituted 65 children from Grade 4. The result of hierarchical multiple regression indicated that the variance in reading fluency was significantly explained by phonological processing and orthographic knowledge measured through the tasks of rapid automatized naming, syllable deletion and dictation. The variance in reading accuracy was significantly explained only by orthographic knowledge measured through a dictation task. Phonological short-term memory showed significant correlations with all the reading measures but was non-significant in explaining the unique variance in reading. The limitation of the study and suggestions for future research is discussed.