為瞭解低識字能力學生識字量發展的特性，本研究以小一至國中三年級學生共2,840 人為母群，依據學生在「識字量評估測驗」之Z 分數在正一個標準差以下者，分成一般識字能力組（1,927 人）與低識字能力組（456 人），比較不同識字能力的兩組學生在識字量的年級發展情形，另以三因子變異數分析進行兩組學生年級、性別、識字能力組別間的差異比較。研究結果顯示：兩組學生的識字量發展型態雖然大體上是隨年級增加而增加，但一般識字能力組學生年級間的識字差異量比較明顯，而低識字能力組學生年級間識字量變化則較小，低識字能力組學生小五至國三階段也未超過一般小三學生的平均識字量，且未達課程綱要標準或脫離文盲標準者尚有半數或三分之一。此結果不僅呼應了閱讀的馬太效應（Matthew effects）的可能性，也發現低識字量組學生在閱讀學習上可能的困難。

The “Matthew effects” refer to the “rich-get-richer” phenomenon, that is, children who already have good vocabularies will read more, learn more words and hence read even better. Children with inadequate vocabularies tend to read less and therefore expand their vocabulary more slowly, which in turn inhabits further growth in reading ability. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the development of Chinese vocabulary, in terms of the number of familiar characters, on the part of students with low decoding abilities. What were the growth rates of students with low decoding abilities, and did their performances and grades compare with those of students with average decoding abilities? There were a total of 2,383 students from G1 to G9 in this study. Students were given a character list and asked to write down the pronunciations and the meanings of particular characters. The estimate of a student's character size was calculated by weighting the percentage of correct pronunciations and correct definitions, and scoring was discontinued when a prescribed number of reading errors had been made. Results indicated that the gap between the two groups in character size increased after the third grade, and that the growth rate of character size for students with low decoding abilities was also slow as compared with that of the average group. The difference between two groups was found to be biggest in the 9th grade.