Accelerating decoding-related skills in poor readers learning a foreign language: a computer-based intervention |
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| Authors: | Piia Maria Björn Paavo HT Leppänen |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Education, University of Jyv?skyl?, Jyv?skyl?, Finland.piia.bjorn@jyu.fi;3. Psychology, University of Jyv?skyl?, Jyv?skyl?, Finland. |
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| Abstract: | The results of Fast ForWord® training on English decoding-related skills were examined. Finnish fifth-grade students were identified as having reading fluency problems and poor skills in English as a foreign language learned at school and were randomly assigned to either a training group (TRG) or a control group. The TRG (n?=?13) received 50?min of daily computer program-based training for a period of approximately 10 weeks. Students in the first control group (n?=?11) received the school’s regular instructional programme. A second control group was composed of 14 average readers. The students’ English skills were examined in pre-test, post-test and follow-up measurements. The TRG students saw an acceleration in decoding-related skills. The educational implications of the results are discussed. |
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| Keywords: | speech perception decoding decoding-related skills reading English language Finnish language computer-based intervention |
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