How to facilitate initial literacy acquisition: The role of phonological skills

The main aim of the current study was to determine the effect of phonological skills training on the initial Phases of learning to read and spell in Spanish, and to verify whether it had a lasting effect. An experimental design with five groups (N=12 per group), including control group, was used The five groups received different types of training at the beginning of their first year at primary school. The type of task and the materials to carry it out was manipulated, At the end of the programme, the group trained on phonological skills using manipulative materials showed significant effects on reading (mainly on word recognition) and spelling measures. These effects remained stable up to the end of the first year though by the end of the second year they had disappeared These results are interpreted to show that in the initial phases of learning to write phonological skills are an accelerating learning factor. However, as the trained effect is not maintained over a long period of time, the presence of a possible "hothouse" effect of phonological skills training in children with normal reading development is discussed.