Phonological Awareness and Executive Functions: associations with schooling and age

Both phonological awareness and executive functions develop gradually and progress with the advance of schooling. Such specificities encourage us to investigate them in children at the beginning of schooling. The aim of this study was to explore the associations between the two skill groups, taking age and schooling as covariant. A total of 152 children of both sexes participated, they are from public nursery and pre-school. The following instruments were applied: Columbia Mental Maturity Scale (CMMS), Predictive Reading Skills Test (THPL), Pre-School Track Test (TT-P) and the Day and Night Stroop Task. The results pointed from weak to moderate correlations between age group and the components of executive functions. Regarding phonological awareness, we found correlations of weak magnitude, but statistically significant. We conclude in favor of the influence of age and schooling upon phonological awareness and executive functions.