Relationship between the verbal fluency and academic achievement in second and third grade students: the effects of gender and parents' educational level

Abstract

Background: Verbal fluency is an important skill related to academic success. Many studies have indicated a strong link between verbal fluency and cognitive processes. The exact nature and size of the relationship between verbal fluency and academic success has not been extensively explored. Thus, the goal of the present study was to examine the relationship between verbal fluency, including its components clustering and switching, with academic success in a sample of second and third grade elementary school students. In addition to this, we examined the effects of gender and the parents' level of education on verbal fluency. Material/Methods: The sample for this study consisted of 61 second and third grade students (39 boys and 22 girls) attending two regular schools in the Mostar region, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Children were given tests of both semantic fluency and phonetic fluency. Teachers' ratings were used as a measure of the children's academic success. Results: The results of this study indicated the strong link between verbal fluency and academic success. Components of verbal fluency, clustering and switching had a small effect on academic achievement. There was no effect of gender on verbal fluency and academic success. On the other hand, the parents' level of education had a strong effect on both, verbal fluency and academic success. Conclusions: Verbal fluency, defined as the total number of words retrieved, is strongly related to academic success. Clustering and switching, as two components of verbal fluency, have a limited value in predicting academic achievement. However, the parents' educational level is strongly related to academic success.