From spelling to reading: An intervention program with children at risk of reading failure

This study aimed to assess the impact of an interactive spelling program on reading acquisition of children at risk of developing reading difficulties as well as to assess its effect on spelling and phonemic awareness. From an initial pool of 144 first-grade children attending four Portuguese primary schools, 53 children with low performances in letter knowledge and phonemic awareness tasks, and considered by their teachers to be at risk of developing reading difficulties, were selected. These children were randomly assigned to three groups: an experimental group that underwent an interactive spelling program, a comparison group that underwent a phonological awareness program, and a control group that underwent a copying program. The programs, conducted in pairs, comprised 12 sessions lasting 20 to 30 min twice a week. The pretest and posttest included word reading, word spelling, and phonemic awareness assessments. Data analysis showed that the spelling group significantly outperformed the other groups across all measures except in the phonemic awareness task, where there were no differences with the phonological group. The word copying group consistently yielded the lowest results. Unlike the other two groups, the posttest results of the experimental group also reached the class average in word reading. For ethical reasons, after the final assessments the control group underwent a version of the interactive spelling program. This study suggests that spelling activities can contribute significantly to reading acquisition and can serve as a valuable pedagogical tool to proactively address challenges in learning to read.