The Effects of a Phonological Awareness Training Program on Attention Efficiency in Children Growing Up in At-Risk Conditions of Social Vulnerability

PORTA, MARÍA ELSA; CARRADA, MARIANA; ISON, MIRTA SUSANA

Buenos Aires - Argentina

Congreso; Internacional Neuropsychological Society and the VIII SONEPSA Meeting; 2008

Internacional Neuropsychological Society and Sociedad de Neuropsicología Argentina

Using a pretest-posttest comparison-group design, this 20-week study investigated the effects of a phonological awareness training program (PATP) on attention efficiency (AE) performance in 57 first-grade children (Age=5-to-6 years), who develop in at-risk conditions of social vulnerability. The PATP was administered to the experimental group (n=28). The control group (n=29) received a shorter alternative program focused on grammar development. Using the Magallanes Scales for Visual Attention (García Pérez & Magaz Lago, 2000), we obtained pretest and posttest measures of children’s AE. The ANOVA showed significant effects of the PATP and of the time on AE. For both groups, the posttest AE score means were higher than the pretest score means. Pretest measures showed that the AE score mean for the EG was lower than that for the CG.  However, the posttest data showed no between-group differences with respect to AE, thus indicating that the EG had matched the CG on AE. Then, we contrasted the differences between the pre- and post- AE score means for the 2 groups: We found that the EG gained a greater amount of AE than the CG. The children’s AE not only improves as they develop, but also increases by means of a structured PATP. The findings verify the effect of our PATP on AE and are relevant to studies on beginning reading and attention-intervention programs.