EFFECT OF PHONOLOGICAL TRAINING ON READING AND WRITING ACQUISITION

The aim of our study was to determine the effect of training of phonol ogical abilities upon the acquisition of reading and writing during th e first year of primary school. An experimental design, with five grou ps of subjects matched by age, sex, IQ, phonological abilities and rea ding and writing level was used. Every group received twenty training sessions, over a period of six months. Four groups had different train ing procedures depending upon the type of task used (phoneme versus co ncept discrimination) and the way that the task was carried out (using or not using manipulative materials). The fifth group served as contr ol. Post training measures were taken in reading, writing, and mathema tics, besides the teacher's estimated scores, twice: immediately after the end of training sessions and two months later. Significant effect s on both reading and writing measures were obtained for the groups tr ained on phonological activities using manipulative materials. The eff ects were reliable for the two tests. The theoretical implications of the results are discussed and their implications for educational pract ice are indicated.