The effects of a teaching program targeting decoding and spelling with 7-8-year-old International School students

Abstract

Aim: The present study investigated the effects and temporal sustainability of the gains of skill-based decoding and spelling instruction (n = 33) with 7-8-year-old students in an International School. Materials and Methods: The 12-week long program with 2 × 40 min sessions per week was repeated twice within one academic year. G1 (n = 11) received training in the first, G2 (n = 11) in the second semester. G3 (n = 11), who did not receive any additional training to their mainstream curriculum, served as a second control group. Results: The findings suggest that direct instruction of decoding appears to be efficient, moreover, appears to have an indirect effect on sentence comprehension. Some independence was observed between decoding and spelling skills in the students' response to training. Second posttests 4 months after the training stopped revealed stable gain on all three variables of decoding, spelling, and sentence comprehension with G1. Conclusion: The study concludes that explicit, focused instruction of decoding and spelling in a small group setting has undeniable benefits.