The specific relation of visual attention span with reading and spelling in Dutch

•We studied visual attention span as a predictor of reading in a transparent orthography.•This relation was significant and independent of phonological awareness skills.•We showed that the relation was also independent of rapid naming.•Visual attention span had a similar unique contribution to spelling performance.•Based on the results we discuss a new interpretation of visual attention span.

Visual attention span, the number of orthographic units that can be processed at a glance, has been shown to predict reading performance in orthographically opaque languages (i.e., French and English), independent from phonological awareness. Whether this relation is also found in Dutch, a more transparent orthography, was examined in two studies. Two unresolved issues are addressed. First, whether the contribution of visual attention span to reading was independent of rapid naming. Participants were 117 second graders and 111 fifth graders. Visual attention span was a significant predictor of both beginning and advanced word reading fluency, after controlling for rapid naming. Second, we examined the relation of visual attention span with spelling performance in a sample of 255 fourth graders. Visual attention span was a unique predictor of both orthographic knowledge and spelling performance. Based on the results we discuss the possibility of a slightly different interpretation of visual attention span.