TRAINING IN PHONEMIC SEGMENTATION - THE EFFECTS OF VISUAL SUPPORT

Two experimental studies examined the effects of different types of ph onemic segmentation training on phonemic segmentation, reading and spe lling. Children with learning disabilities, who were weak in phonemic segmentation, were trained with the use of diagrams and alphabet lette rs, with alphabet letters only, or with no visual support at all (the control condition). For this purpose three computer-assisted training programs were developed. In the first experiment, 48 children were ass igned to one of the three programs. The training period lasted five we eks. Although in each training program the children improved their pho nemic segmentation skill, there were no significant differences among the three training programs. This result may have been influenced by t he different types of feedback that were provided in the three trainin g programs. In a second experiment, therefore, these differences in fe edback were eliminated and 49 different children were trained with the same three programs. The results of this experiment, however, were th e same as those of the first experiment. The finding that visual suppo rt had no beneficial effects could therefore not be attributed to diff erences in explicit feedback. It was concluded that with these childre n, in contrast to preschoolers, phonemic segmentation training using v isual support does not have any advantage over auditory training alone . The results of this study indicate that preschoolers and children wi th reading and spelling problems cannot be treated in the same way. It underlines the importance of further examination of the problems that poor readers and poor spellers encounter in grasping the structure of spoken language.