Improving Reading Skills Using a Computerized Phonological Training Program in Early Readers with Reading Difficulties

Susanna Forné, Anna López-Sala, Roger Mateu-Estivill, Ana Adan, Xavier Caldú, Xavier Rifà-Ros and Josep M. Serra-Grabulosa ()
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Susanna Forné: Department of Psychiatry and Legal Medicine, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Spain
Anna López-Sala: Department of Neurology, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, 08950 Esplugues de Llobregat, Spain
Roger Mateu-Estivill: Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, University of Barcelona, 08035 Barcelona, Spain
Ana Adan: Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, University of Barcelona, 08035 Barcelona, Spain
Xavier Caldú: Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, University of Barcelona, 08035 Barcelona, Spain
Xavier Rifà-Ros: Department of Cognition, Development and Educational Psychology, University of Barcelona, 08035 Barcelona, Spain
Josep M. Serra-Grabulosa: Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, University of Barcelona, 08035 Barcelona, Spain

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 18, 1-12

Abstract: In the last years, there has been a big effort to identify risk factors for reading difficulties and to develop new methodologies to help struggling readers. It has been shown that early intervention is more successful than late intervention, and that intensive training programs can benefit children with reading difficulties. The aim of our study is to investigate the effectiveness of an intensive computerized phonological training program designed to improve reading performance in a sample of children with reading difficulties at the early stages of their reading learning process. Thirty-two children with reading difficulties were randomly assigned to one of the two intervention groups: RDIR (children with reading difficulties following a computerized intensive remediation strategy) ( n = 20) (7.01 ± 0.69 years), focused on training phonemic awareness, decoding and reading fluency through the computational training; and RDOR (children with reading difficulties following an ordinary remediation strategy) ( n = 12) (6.92 ± 0.82 years), which consisted of a reinforcement of reading with a traditional training approach at school. Normal readers (NR) were assigned to the control group ( n = 24) (7.32 ± 0.66 years). Our results indicate that both the RDIR and RDOR groups showed an increased reading performance after the intervention. However, children in the RDIR group showed a stronger benefit than the children in the RDOR group, whose improvement was weaker. The control group did not show significant changes in reading performance during the same period. In conclusion, results suggest that intensive early intervention based on phonics training is an effective strategy to remediate reading difficulties, and that it can be used at school as the first approach to tackle such difficulties.

Keywords: reading difficulties; remediation; dyslexia; computerized intervention; phonological training; early readers (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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