Low intensity phonological awareness training in a preschool classroom for children with communication impairments

Phonological awareness is a term that refers to one's knowledge of the sound structure of spoken language. Children who understand that sounds in language represent the letters used in reading and writing typically learn to read more easily than children who do not. Children with language and/or speech impairments often demonstrate a lack of phonological awareness. Thus, it is important to identify problems in phonological awareness and to implement intervention programs early. The purpose of this study was to determine if a low intensity, classroom phonological awareness program improved phonological awareness skills for preschool children with language and/or speech impairments. Results suggested that children made significant gains in phonological awareness after participating in the intervention.

As a result of this activity, the reader will be able to: (1) identify components of phonological awareness program; (2) evaluate effectiveness of phonological awareness intervention.