Abstract This study examined the co-development of efficiency in word- and sentence-level semantic processing during spoken language comprehension throughout elementary school. A longitudinal study with five time points between Grades 1–4 included 1,120 German elementary school children (MageT1 = 6.82, 513 girls, 254 L2 children). Word meaning retrieval efficiency was measured with a semantic categorization task, sentence comprehension efficiency was measured with a sentence verification task. An extended cross-lagged panel model revealed consistent but delayed word-to-sentence-effects, whereas only Grade 1 sentence comprehension predicted later retrieval of word meanings. These findings suggest a reciprocal, but asymmetric developmental relation, as efficient retrieval of word meanings increasingly supports efficient sentence comprehension, while only earlier efficient sentence comprehension facilitates subsequent retrieval of word meanings during elementary school.
Dahdah et al. (Thu,) studied this question.