The effects of a phonemic awareness/letter training program on visual selective and sustained attention in Spanish-speaking children. An exploratory study.[en referato, segunda revisión]

PORTA MARÍA ELSA; CARRADA MARIANA; ISON MIRTA

Scandinavian Journal of Psychology. Impact Factor 1.148

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Año: 2010

1467-9450

Using a pretest-posttest comparison-group design, this 20-week study investigated the effects of a phonemic awareness/letter training program (PALTP) on word reading and Visual Attention Efficiency in 51 at-risk children (Age=5-to-6 years). We obtained pretest and posttest measures of phonemic awareness, word reading, and Visual Attention Efficiency. The experimental group (n=24) received the PALTP. Training comprised 34 thrice-weekly sessions of 30 minutes each, over the course of twelve weeks. Significant interaction effects of the PALTP and of the timing of the program’s administration on measures of phonemic awareness and Visual Attention Efficiency were found. For both groups, mean posttest Visual Attention Efficiency scores were higher than mean pretest scores. Differences in score means (pretest-posttest) were greater for the trained group than for those of the control group (n=27) on measures of phonemic awareness, word reading, and Visual Attention Efficiency indicating that pretest-posttest change on each measured variable was superior for the group that received the PALTP. Our results indicate that children’s Visual Attention Efficiency not only improves as they develop, but also increases when exposed to a PALTP.