An Exploration of the Rapid Automatic Naming Test as Administered to Brazilian Children

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this research was to conduct an exploratory study of the performance of Brazilian children on the Rapid Automatic Naming (RAN) test, examining schooling effects of schooling and associations with reading speed, comprehension, and reading level for each of the RAN subtests of colour, numbers, letters, and objects. METHODS: Participants were 97 children, aged 7-11 years, enrolled in the first to fifth grade of elementary public education. RESULTS: The findings indicated a school-year effect on RAN performance, with recurrent differences in grades 1-4 and no effect in RAN Numbers. Correlations ranged from moderate to high for reading level, speed, and comprehension. In addition, multiple linear regression analysis indicated that RAN Letters could significantly predict performance in the three reading abilities studied. CONCLUSION: Thus, the study provided initial evidence of RAN's performance in testing Brazilian children's phonological processing as a form of predictive monitoring of reading development in school-age children as it relates to scholastic progress and reading speed, comprehension, and level.