ABSTRACT
This study examined the impact of two different interventions: Phonological Awareness PA–only versus PA, vocabulary, and Morphological Awareness (MA) on Spanish-speaking kindergarteners’ language and literacy skills. We took measures on PA, vocabulary, letter-name and sound knowledge, and MA. Children in the comprehensive intervention condition showed significant growth from pretest to posttest on all measures and an overall vocabulary knowledge advantage over children in the PA-only intervention. Children in the PA condition showed significant growth on vocabulary out of context, letter-name sound knowledge, initial syllable identity, and rhyme identity. Results support the integration of PA, vocabulary, and MA in kindergarten interventions. The importance of including MA in kindergarten vocabulary interventions and the feasibility of classroom interventions by trained teachers are discussed.
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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
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Notes on contributors
María Elsa Porta
María Elsa Porta is a researcher at the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET) and a professor at the Universidad Nacional de Cuyo (Argentina). She carried out four projects assessing the effects of linguistic intervention programs on reading achievement among Spanish-speaking children from low-income homes. She is the main author of numerous articles.
Gloria Ramirez
Gloria Ramirez is an associate professor at Thompson Rivers University, Toronto, Canadá. Her research interests are understanding children´s biliteracy and bilingual development and the mechanisms that facilitate the transfer of skills across languages. She is the author of numerous articles and coauthor of a book.