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Speech Categorization Consistency Predicts Language and Reading Abilities in Korean School-Age Children.

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Title: Speech Categorization Consistency Predicts Language and Reading Abilities in Korean School-Age Children.
Authors: Kim, Hyoju1 hyoju-kim@uiowa.edu, Kim, Wi-Jiwoon2, McMurray, Bob1,3, Yim, Dongsun2
Source: Journal of Speech, Language & Hearing Research. May2026, Vol. 69 Issue 5, p2046-2066. 21p.
Subject Terms: *Reading, *Statistical correlation, *Data analysis, *School children, *Child development, *Research, *Speech perception, *Language acquisition, Vowels, Cross-sectional method, Task performance, Research funding, Visual analog scale, Descriptive statistics, Linguistics, Statistics, Regression analysis
Geographic Terms: South Korea
Abstract: Purpose: Speech perception continues to develop throughout school age and plays a fundamental role in language and reading development. Recent findings in English-speaking children suggest that speech categorization consistency—the stability of a listener’s percept across multiple encounters with a speech sound— predicts both language and reading abilities, with a particularly strong link between reading skills and vowel perception. One hypothesis is that this is due to complex grapheme–phoneme correspondences (GPCs) in English vowels. The present study tested (a) whether the relationship between categorization consistency and language/ reading abilities extends to typologically different languages and (b) whether the vowel-specific link observed in English is shaped by GPC complexity, using data from Korean, a language with relatively transparent GPCs. Method: Forty-four first-grade Korean-speaking children completed a visual analog scale task, in which they heard tokens from a speech continuum and rated the correspondence between the stimulus and each word on a continuous scale. Standardized assessments of language and word reading were also conducted. Results: Children with poorer language/reading abilities exhibited lower categorization consistency, which is consistent with the findings from English-speaking children. In contrast to prior findings, however, this relationship was not specific to vowel perception but was held across all contrast types tested. Categorization gradiency (slope of the categorization function) was not significantly associated with any outcome. Conclusions: These findings extend prior work by demonstrating that categorization consistency predicts language and reading abilities, even in a language with transparent GPCs. Importantly, this association was observed across all phonemic contrasts, not just vowels—suggesting that the previously observed vowel-specific link in English may stem from the greater GPC complexity of English vowels. Together, while categorization consistency appears to be a critical predictor of linguistic outcome, the specific pattern may vary across languages depending on the structure of their GPCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Journal of Speech, Language & Hearing Research is the property of American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Education Research Complete
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  Data: Speech Categorization Consistency Predicts Language and Reading Abilities in Korean School-Age Children.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Kim%2C+Hyoju%22">Kim, Hyoju</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo><i> hyoju-kim@uiowa.edu</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Kim%2C+Wi-Jiwoon%22">Kim, Wi-Jiwoon</searchLink><relatesTo>2</relatesTo><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22McMurray%2C+Bob%22">McMurray, Bob</searchLink><relatesTo>1,3</relatesTo><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Yim%2C+Dongsun%22">Yim, Dongsun</searchLink><relatesTo>2</relatesTo>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Journal+of+Speech%2C+Language+%26+Hearing+Research%22">Journal of Speech, Language & Hearing Research</searchLink>. May2026, Vol. 69 Issue 5, p2046-2066. 21p.
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  Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Reading%22">Reading</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Statistical+correlation%22">Statistical correlation</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Data+analysis%22">Data analysis</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22School+children%22">School children</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Child+development%22">Child development</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Research%22">Research</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Speech+perception%22">Speech perception</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Language+acquisition%22">Language acquisition</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Vowels%22">Vowels</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Cross-sectional+method%22">Cross-sectional method</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Task+performance%22">Task performance</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Research+funding%22">Research funding</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Visual+analog+scale%22">Visual analog scale</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Descriptive+statistics%22">Descriptive statistics</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Linguistics%22">Linguistics</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Statistics%22">Statistics</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Regression+analysis%22">Regression analysis</searchLink>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22South+Korea%22">South Korea</searchLink>
– Name: Abstract
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  Data: Purpose: Speech perception continues to develop throughout school age and plays a fundamental role in language and reading development. Recent findings in English-speaking children suggest that speech categorization consistency—the stability of a listener’s percept across multiple encounters with a speech sound— predicts both language and reading abilities, with a particularly strong link between reading skills and vowel perception. One hypothesis is that this is due to complex grapheme–phoneme correspondences (GPCs) in English vowels. The present study tested (a) whether the relationship between categorization consistency and language/ reading abilities extends to typologically different languages and (b) whether the vowel-specific link observed in English is shaped by GPC complexity, using data from Korean, a language with relatively transparent GPCs. Method: Forty-four first-grade Korean-speaking children completed a visual analog scale task, in which they heard tokens from a speech continuum and rated the correspondence between the stimulus and each word on a continuous scale. Standardized assessments of language and word reading were also conducted. Results: Children with poorer language/reading abilities exhibited lower categorization consistency, which is consistent with the findings from English-speaking children. In contrast to prior findings, however, this relationship was not specific to vowel perception but was held across all contrast types tested. Categorization gradiency (slope of the categorization function) was not significantly associated with any outcome. Conclusions: These findings extend prior work by demonstrating that categorization consistency predicts language and reading abilities, even in a language with transparent GPCs. Importantly, this association was observed across all phonemic contrasts, not just vowels—suggesting that the previously observed vowel-specific link in English may stem from the greater GPC complexity of English vowels. Together, while categorization consistency appears to be a critical predictor of linguistic outcome, the specific pattern may vary across languages depending on the structure of their GPCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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  Data: <i>Copyright of Journal of Speech, Language & Hearing Research is the property of American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1044/2026_JSLHR-25-00770
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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      Pagination:
        PageCount: 21
        StartPage: 2046
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Reading
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Statistical correlation
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Data analysis
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: School children
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      – SubjectFull: Child development
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      – SubjectFull: Research
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      – SubjectFull: Speech perception
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Language acquisition
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Vowels
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      – SubjectFull: Cross-sectional method
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      – SubjectFull: Task performance
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      – SubjectFull: Research funding
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      – SubjectFull: Visual analog scale
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      – SubjectFull: Descriptive statistics
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      – SubjectFull: Linguistics
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      – SubjectFull: Statistics
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      – SubjectFull: Regression analysis
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      – SubjectFull: South Korea
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: Speech Categorization Consistency Predicts Language and Reading Abilities in Korean School-Age Children.
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            NameFull: Kim, Hyoju
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              Text: May2026
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              Y: 2026
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