Cross-lagged relations between word reading accuracy and fluency: evidence from languages varying in orthographic consistency

We examined the cross-lagged relations between word reading accuracy and fluency in three languages varying in orthographic consistency (English, Dutch and Greek). Five hundred and twenty-one children (172 from Canada, 115 from the Netherlands and 234 from Greece) were followed from the beginning of Grade 1 until the end of Grade 2 and were tested four times (beginning and end of each grade level) on measures of word reading accuracy and fluency. Results of cross-lagged analysis showed that reading accuracy and fluency were reciprocally related within Grade 1 across languages. In Grade 2, they continued to be reciprocally related in English and reading fluency predicted reading accuracy in Dutch and Greek. These findings suggest that in the early phases of learning to read not only accuracy is needed for children to become fluent but fluency can also play an important role in the development of later reading accuracy.