Training in Phonological Awareness Generalizes to Phonological Working Memory: A Preliminary Investigation
Document Type
Article
Journal/Book Title/Conference
Journal ofSpeech-Language Pathology – Applied Behavior Analysis
Volume
1
Publication Date
2006
First Page
228
Last Page
243
Abstract
Early reading achievement relies on phonological awareness (PA) and phonological working memory (WM). Children with language impairment (LI) have problems with both. Three studies were conducted to determine whether treating PA would also improve phonological WM in preschoolers with LI. Study 1 confirmed that children with specific LI perform more poorly than age-matched peers on both PA and WM tasks. Study 2 showed that when children with and without LI are matched on a nonword WM task, differences between the groups on PA and on a word WM task are no longer statistically significant. In Study 3, sixteen preschool children with LI received intervention targeting PA skills and improved both their PA and WM abilities. These studies support the use of PA instruction to improve basic phonological mechanisms underlying working memory.
Recommended Citation
van Kleeck, A., Gillam, R.B., & *Hoffman, L.M. (2006). Training in Phonological Awareness Generalizes to Phonological Working Memory: A Preliminary Investigation. Journal of Speech-Language Pathology – Applied Behavior Analysis, 1 (No.3), 228-243
