PURPOSE: To check if the phonological awareness, mostly the skills of syllabic and phonetic awareness, has influence on reading speed and level. METHODS: sixty children took part in this study, between 5 and 8-year old, first grade students at private schools of Salvador, Bahia. We applied the Phonological Awareness Test (PAT), developed by Capovilla and Capovilla (1998) in order to assess the phonological awareness, and also texts in order to assess reading level and speed, which was based on Capellini and Cavalheiro000). We compared and correlated statistically the performance of the students in the Phonological Awareness Test as for reading level and reading speed. RESULTS: We observed that the reading level is following the development of phonological awareness and that the highest score in the PAT provides for a greater speed reading. CONCLUSION: the results indi (2cate that there is a weak positive correlation among the phonological awareness and reading level and speed.
Reading; Education; Language Development
