An evaluation of systematized phonics on reading proficiency in Swedish second grade poor readers: Effects on pseudoword and sight word reading skills.

Maria Levlin,Cecilia Nakeva Von Mentzer

doi:10.1002/dys.1669

Maria Levlin, Cecilia Nakeva Von Mentzer

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1002/dys.1669

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Abstract

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of systematized phonics on word reading in Swedish second grade poor readers. Forty‐nine children who performed at or below the 25th percentile on pseudoword reading and/or sight word reading at the beginning of second grade participated in the study. The study had a cross‐over design exploring within‐and between‐group effects of two different conditions: systematized phonics and classroom instruction. Overall, systematized phonics proved more effective than classroom instruction. At pre‐intervention, no child performed above the 30th percentile in pseudoword reading or sight word reading. At post‐intervention, corresponding numbers were 69% for pseudoword reading and 35% for sight word reading. Implications for a policy change in Sweden towards mandatory systematized phonics in primary school are discussed.

Highlights

In Sweden, formal reading tuition begins when the child starts school at 7 years of age
The present study aimed to explore whether systematized phonics improved word reading skills in 49 Swedish second grade children identified as poor readers at the beginning of Grade 2, and to what extent age-typical reading was reached at post intervention
Analysis of change in raw scores showed that both groups increased their word reading skills from T1 to T2, but Group 1 outperformed Group 2 with large effect sizes in both pseudoword reading and sight word reading, confirming a positive effect of systematized phonics

Summary

Introduction

In Sweden, formal reading tuition begins when the child starts school at 7 years of age. According to the Swedish National Agency of Education (2019), for the first three school years, reading tuition should mainly focus on the alphabet, phoneme–grapheme correspondence and reading strategies for comprehension and decoding. For struggling readers, orthographic reading is challenging (Van der Kleij, Segers, Groen, & Verhoeven, 2019), which leads to long-term negative personal and societal effects (Hakkarainen, Holopainen, & Savolainen, 2013; Kiuru et al, 2011; Smart et al, 2017).

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