Phonological Awareness Program Research Articles

From spelling to reading: An intervention program with children at risk of reading failure

This study aimed to assess the impact of an interactive spelling program on reading acquisition of children at risk of developing reading difficulties as well as to assess its effect on spelling and phonemic awareness. From an initial pool of 144 first-grade children attending four Portuguese primary schools, 53 children with low performances in letter knowledge and phonemic awareness tasks, and considered by their teachers to be at risk of developing reading difficulties, were selected. These children were randomly assigned to three groups: an experimental group that underwent an interactive spelling program, a comparison group that underwent a phonological awareness program, and a control group that underwent a copying program. The programs, conducted in pairs, comprised 12 sessions lasting 20 to 30 min twice a week. The pretest and posttest included word reading, word spelling, and phonemic awareness assessments. Data analysis showed that the spelling group significantly outperformed the other groups across all measures except in the phonemic awareness task, where there were no differences with the phonological group. The word copying group consistently yielded the lowest results. Unlike the other two groups, the posttest results of the experimental group also reached the class average in word reading. For ethical reasons, after the final assessments the control group underwent a version of the interactive spelling program. This study suggests that spelling activities can contribute significantly to reading acquisition and can serve as a valuable pedagogical tool to proactively address challenges in learning to read.

Effect of music integrated phonological awareness program on preschool cochlear implant users

ObjectivesChildren with cochlear implants exhibit lower phonological awareness and sound discrimination skills compared to their normal-hearing peers. However, music training has been shown to have a positive effect on speech discrimination and awareness skills. MethodsOur study included 23 cochlear implant users and 23 normal hearing participants aged 5–6 years with language skills. The aim was to observe the effect of a music-integrated phonological awareness program on cochlear implant users and to compare the phonological awareness skills of children with cochlear implants before and after online training with their normal hearing peers. ResultsResults showed that the trained study group scored higher on the Scale of Early Childhood Phonological Awareness (PASECP) after training than the control group (p < 0.05). In addition, SMRT scores increased between before and after training in the study group, and Mismatch Negativity (MMN) amplitudes increased and latencies decreased as a result of training (p < 0.05). ConclusionsThe study suggests that phonological awareness training integrated with music can effectively improve the phonological awareness skills of children with cochlear implants and has the potential to enable them to achieve phonological awareness levels similar to or even better than their normal hearing peers.

SIPPS Impact on English Language Learners Reading Success

This mixed-methodology study explores the impact of the Systematic Instruction in Phonological Awareness, Phonics, and Sight Words (SIPPS) program on the reading success of English Language Learners (ELL) at a Title 1 public school in the Southeastern United States. The literature review emphasizes the importance of educator training and professional development, understanding the foundational reading skills needed for ELL students, and the positive impacts of small group instruction on reading success. The paper concludes that early literacy experiences are critical for language development in children and that the ability to read can provide a multitude of opportunities for ELL students.

Escribo play learning games can foster early reading and writing for low-income kindergarten children

Can mobile games foster the early literacy skills of children in poverty? This pioneering study examines the barriers faced to implement an evidence-based, game-enhanced educational phonological and phonemic awareness program in 12 public schools serving students in poverty in a developing country. The deployment team adequately mitigated barriers such as the lack of proper information and communication technologies and school staff shortages. School interruptions due to sports events, three strikes, and rain that flooded the streets where children in poverty lived challenged the implementation of the intervention. In addition to discussing barriers we faced in the implementation, we also examined the mobile-based intervention's efficacy on 351 kindergarten students' word reading and writing skills. The experimental group children grew 3.63 times more than the control group in reading (d = 0.67) and 2.78 times more in writing (d = 0.36). Compared to 495 high-quality interventions, the Escribo Play effect size ranked above 90% of them. Its per-pupil cost is equivalent to one percent of the average educational intervention cost. Compared with 104 reading interventions conducted in kindergarten, the Escribo Play effect size was 3.35 times stronger than the reading intervention benchmark.

Phonological awareness intervention using a standard treatment protocol for individuals with Down syndrome

This multiple baseline across-participants single case desgin study examined the effect of small group, phonological awareness intervention on the phonological awareness skills of three school-age children with Down syndrome. Each child with Down syndrome was paired with a typical peer to participate in small group intervention, three sessions per week for seven weeks. Lessons from a single unit in the Intensive Phonological Awareness Program were adapted to incorporate repeated exposure to the curriculum and increased opportunities for practice. A functional relation between the intervention and improved phonological awareness skills was not established based on visual analysis of the probe data across the three participants. However, an increasing therapeutic trend following delayed treatment effects as well as an increase in phase means from baseline to intervention was observed for each participant. This investigation provides preliminary guidance for adapting phonological awareness standard treatment protocols for children with Down syndrome by providing repeated opportunities for practice and including peers in small group intervention.

보편적 학습설계 기반 음운인식 프로그램이 다문화 읽기곤란학생의 음운인식능력에 미치는 효과

보편적 학습설계 기반 음운인식 프로그램이 다문화 읽기곤란학생의 음운인식능력에 미치는 효과

보편적 학습설계에 기반 한 음운인식 및 단어재인 교수 프로그램 개발을 위한 기초연구

보편적 학습설계에 기반 한 음운인식 및 단어재인 교수 프로그램 개발을 위한 기초연구

The effectiveness of a classroom-based phonological awareness program for 4–5-year-olds

Purpose: Numerous studies have reported a robust relationship between early phonological awareness (PA) and subsequent reading achievement, in addition to the critical role of the alphabetic principle in predicting and supporting later reading and spelling development. Given this association, there has been an increasing push to teach these skills to young children prior to word level reading and spelling instruction. This study evaluated the effectiveness of the Cracking the Code (CtC) program with students aged 3;8–5;4. CtC is a teacher-implemented program, designed to explicitly target PA skills and alphabet knowledge.Method: A pre-test post-test group design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the program. Four schools in metropolitan Western Australia were randomly assigned to either the control or experimental condition within a parallel groups design. The control group participated in an alternative program matched for duration and frequency, targeting semantics and grammar.Result: The children in the experimental condition improved significantly more in PA, alphabet knowledge and non-word reading, and spelling after intervention than the control group.Conclusion: These findings demonstrate that classroom-based, teacher-delivered PA and alphabet knowledge instruction can be effective for 3;8–5;4 year-olds.

The Effectiveness of Phonemic and Phonological Awareness Program To Improve Reading Performance of First Grade Basic Education Students in Oman

The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of a phonemic and phonological awareness program, on the Arabic reading performance of first grade basic education students in Oman. To achieve this aim, a quasi-experimental research design was adopted. An Arabic phonemic and phonological awareness test was designed together with training program for Arabic teachers. A sample of 205 students was selected from 4 schools and divided into two groups. The experiment was conducted in 10 weeks during which teachers taught using the program. A post-test was administered after the intervention and then the students were tested for the third time after six months to determine the delayed effect. Results showed that there were significant differences in the mean of the test scores between the control and the experimental groups in favor of the experimental group. Similarly, significant differences were indicated in the mean of the test scores among the experimental group between the pre and the post-test. On the other hand, no significant differences were noted between male and female students. Results also showed significant differences in the mean of the test scores among the experimental group in the third testing which was intended to measure the delayed effect.

The Effectiveness of Phonemic and Phonological Awareness Program To Improve Reading Performance of First Grade Basic Education Students in Oman

The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of a phonemic and phonological awareness program, on the Arabic reading performance of first grade basic education students in Oman. To achieve this aim, a quasi-experimental research design was adopted. An Arabic phonemic and phonological awareness test was designed together with training program for Arabic teachers. A sample of 205 students was selected from 4 schools and divided into two groups. The experiment was conducted in 10 weeks during which teachers taught using the program. A post-test was administered after the intervention and then the students were tested for the third time after six months to determine the delayed effect. Results showed that there were significant differences in the mean of the test scores between the control and the experimental groups in favor of the experimental group. Similarly, significant differences were indicated in the mean of the test scores among the experimental group between the pre and the post-test. On the other hand, no significant differences were noted between male and female students. Results also showed significant differences in the mean of the test scores among the experimental group in the third testing which was intended to measure the delayed effect.

낱자-소리 대응관계를 결합한 조기 음운인식 프로그램이 난독증 위험군 아동의 읽기 능력에 미치는 효과 : 만 6세 유아를 대상으로

낱자-소리 대응관계를 결합한 조기 음운인식 프로그램이 난독증 위험군 아동의 읽기 능력에 미치는 효과 : 만 6세 유아를 대상으로

Adapting Phonological Awareness Interventions for Children With Down Syndrome Based on the Behavioral Phenotype: A Promising Approach?

Many children with Down syndrome demonstrate deficits in phonological awareness, a prerequisite to learning to read in an alphabetic language. The purpose of this study was to determine whether adapting a commercially available phonological awareness program to better align with characteristics associated with the behavioral phenotype of Down syndrome would increase children's learning of phonological awareness, letter sounds, and words. Five children with Down syndrome, ages 6 to 8 years, participated in a multiple baseline across participants single case design experiment in which response to an adapted phonological awareness intervention was compared with response to the nonadapted program. Results indicate a functional relation between the adapted program and phonological awareness. Suggestions for future research and implications for practice are provided.

Phonological Awareness Program: A longitudinal study from Preschool to 4thGrade

This study aims to evaluate the effect of phonological awareness training program in preschool performance of 256 children in Funchal, Portugal. This is a longitudinal study from preschool (2005) to 4th grade (2011). It has an experimental design. The sample includes an Experimental Group (132 children) and a Control group (124 children). We pretend to answer the following research question: To what degree does training children in phonological awareness as early as preschool have short-term and long-term effects on the evolution of students' competencies and disciplinary knowledge? A first evaluation done in 2006 on the effects of this program at the end of preschool education revealed that the Experimental Group presented significant improvements when compared to the Control Group on the considered dimensions. In 2011, the Experimental Group presented Math National Test higher significant results when compared to the Control Group. The Experimental Group's Portuguese National Test presented better results than the Control Group one, but not significantly. This seems to indicate that Phonological Awareness Program can bring benefits and prevent long-term math school failure.

Taking a Different Route: Contribution of Articulation and Metacognition to Intervention With At-Risk Third-Grade Readers

This study compared the impact of 2 types of small-group interventions targeting below-level 3rd-grade students. The study compared WordWork decoding and spelling instruction (Calfee, Miller, Norman, Wilson, & Trainin, 2006; Calfee & Patrick, 1995), which includes attention to articulation and metacognition, with a more traditional phonological awareness program (Torgesen & Bryant, 1993). University education students delivered the interventions with equal instructional time and fidelity, to both groups. Students in both intervention groups engaged in repeated readings of connected text to promote transfer. The impact of training was assessed through decoding, spelling, and oral reading fluency measures. Results indicated that WordWork produced more positive results in decoding, spelling, and fluency, and had significantly fewer treatment resisters.

The Synergistic Effect of Teaching a Combined Explicit Movement and Phonological Awareness Program to Preschool Aged Students

While movement is critical to young children’s development, there is an ongoing debate about the time devoted to teaching movement in early childhood classrooms. Nevertheless, research has established a link between specific precursor motor skills and early literacy development. This study investigated the synergistic effect of practising specific movements through daily actions and songs alongside the explicit teaching of phonological awareness and phonics in 400 preschool children (aged between four and five). Results indicate that students who received the combined intervention of explicit phonological awareness and movement were the only group to perform significantly better than the control group on measures of phonological awareness, invented spelling and spelling. An interesting outcome was that the literacy/movement group and not the movement group made significantly larger gains for the movement measure. These findings suggest that teaching pre-primary aged children early literacy and movement in tandem is more beneficial than teaching either in isolation.

Exploring the benefits of integrating sound-field amplification and phonological awareness intervention for young school-aged children

This study examined the effectiveness of an enhanced classroom listening environment through a sound field amplification (SFA) system combined with phonological awareness (PA) intervention to improve children's PA and early word reading ability. Participants were 38 New Zealand children from two primary school Year 2 classes in a low socioeconomic area. PA and word reading were measured three times over 10 weeks (term 1) prior to SFA installation in both classrooms, as well as pre- and post-intervention. In term 2, children in class 1 were randomly assigned to receive SFA and an 8-week class-based PA program. Class 2 received SFA only. A learning effect for all children occurred during the first phase of the baseline period under normal classroom listening conditions. However, a plateau was reached for most children between assessment times 2 and 3 prior to intervention. Following intervention, class 1 demonstrated a significant difference compared to class 2 in PA performance. Visual data analyses revealed particular improvements for poor readers in class 1. These children outperformed poor readers in class 2 on all measures. The results suggest that explicit PA intervention has additional benefits in enhancing children's PA development compared to improved classroom listening environment alone. The results of this study have implications for optimal intervention for early PA development designed to enhance the early reading abilities of children from low socioeconomic backgrounds.

A Comparison Between Students Who Receive and Who Do Not Receive a Writing Readiness Interventions on Handwriting Quality, Speed and Positive Reactions

Proper acquisition of handwriting is required for success in school. This study compared the effects of two writing readiness interventions, “Traffic Light” and “Word and Sound” on kindergartners’ handwriting quality, speed and positive reactions to writing. Handwriting readiness training for kindergarten children is controversial. Whereas some have questioned whether such a program would result in frustration, others believe it is crucial to prepare children for the writing demands of school. Research shows that the period from kindergarten to school plays a vital role in determining future academic success. Thus, it is important to examine the efficacy of programs that can help children acquire good handwriting. Participants included typical kindergarten children from four kindergartens in Israel. The “Malki” test, designed to assess writing quality, speed and positive reactions to writing, was administered to all participants. A handwriting readiness program (“Traffic Light”), designed to teach letter formation by using the image of traffic light was provided to 55 children from two kindergartens. A phonological awareness program (“Word and Sound”) was administered to a second group of 46 kindergartners. Both programs were administered to groups of five children each, in 12 weekly 20-min sessions. The handwriting readiness group demonstrated significantly greater improvement than the control group in writing quality and positive reactions to writing, but not in writing speed. These findings support the efficacy of a handwriting readiness training program among kindergartners.

Effects of a phonological awareness program on English reading and spelling among Hong Kong Chinese ESL children.

This study investigated the effects of a 12-week language-enriched phonological awareness instruction on 76 Hong Kong young children who were learning English as a second language. The children were assigned randomly to receive the instruction on phonological awareness skills embedded in vocabulary learning activities or comparison instruction which consisted of vocabulary learning and writing tasks but no direct instruction in phonological awareness skills. They were tested on receptive and expressive vocabulary, phonological awareness at the syllable, rhyme and phoneme levels, reading, and spelling in English before and after the program implementation. The results indicated that children who received the phonological awareness instruction performed significantly better than the comparison group on English word reading, spelling, phonological awareness at all levels and expressive vocabulary on the posttest when age, general intelligence and the pretest scores were controlled statistically. The findings suggest that phonological awareness instruction embedded in vocabulary learning activities might be beneficial to kindergarteners learning English as a second language.

A longitudinal case study of the effects of an integrated phonological awareness program for identical twin boys with childhood apraxia of speech (CAS)

A longitudinal case study of the effects of an integrated phonological awareness program for identical twin boys with childhood apraxia of speech (CAS)

A longitudinal case study of the effects of an integrated phonological awareness program for identical twin boys with childhood apraxia of speech (CAS)

This study is an examination of the longitudinal effects of an integrated phonological awareness approach for identical twin boys with childhood apraxia of speech (CAS). Genetic and environmental factors in the boys' responses to the intervention were also examined. Theo and Jamie (aged 4;5) each participated in 18 hours of intervention prior to school entry and were re-assessed at age 4;9, 5;3, and 5;9 respectively. Their speech, expressive morpho-syntactic, phonological awareness, reading, and spelling development were evaluated over their first year of schooling. Theo and Jamie experienced continued growth in speech and phonological awareness skills following participation in the intervention. They exhibited age-appropriate reading and spelling development during their first year of formal literacy instruction. They had persistent deficits in expressive morpho-syntactic skills despite speech production gains over the study. The results pointed to the benefit of integrating speech and phonological awareness goals within a preventative framework to ensure successful early literacy development for children with CAS. Findings suggested that language difficulties in children with CAS should be targeted during intervention as they do not resolve as the children's speech production difficulties minimize.