COMPUTERIZED PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS TRAINING

THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEMONSTRATE THE FEASIBILITY OF USING MICROCOMPUTERS TO ASSESS AND TRAIN PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS SKILLS IN KINDERGARTEN-AGED CHILDREN. BECAUSE INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS AMONG STUDENTS ENTERING FIRST GRADE APPEAR TO CONTRIBUTE STRONGLY TO DIFFERENCES IN THE RATE OF ACQUISITION OF BEGINNING READING SKILLS, BOTH OF THESE PRODUCTS HAVE DIRECT APPLICATION IN REDUCING THE INCIDENCE OF READING FAILURE IN THE ELEMENTARY GRADES. THE SPECIFIC AIMS OF PHASE I ARE TO: (1) DEVELOP A COMPUTERIZED ADAPTIVE TEST OF PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS AND PROVIDE INITIAL VALIDATION EVIDENCE FOR SUCH A TEST, AND (2) PREPARE PROTOTYPIC TRAINING MODULES FOR COMPUTER-BASED TRAINING IN PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS AND PROVIDE FORMATIVE EVALUATION DATA ON THESE MODULES. THIS PROJECT IS BASED ON A SOLID RESEARCH CONSENSUS CONCERNING THE IMPORTANCE OF PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS IN ATTAINMENT OF EARLY READING SKILLS.