Directional Awareness Training

Abstract

Letter reversal errors, both expressive (written) and receptive (read), are common among children and adults with reading problems. Educators have long wrestled with the problem of eliminating letter reversal errors. This investigation examined whether a program which trains directional awareness can reduce the letter reversal discrimination errors of deficient readers. We chose to examine receptive letter reversal errors for two reasons: first, because they represent a significant reading problem; and second, because a standardized measure of these errors exists in the form of the Jordan Left/Right Reversal Test. Ten deficient readers, ranging from 6 to 19 years of age, were selected to participate in the study. Although the older students exceeded the norms range of the Jordan Test, they were included in order to examine the viability of maturational and critical period hypotheses which might have some bearing upon skill gains among learners of different ages. Eight of the ten had achieved scores within the normal range on standardized