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. 2020 Nov;26(4):427-441.
doi: 10.1002/dys.1669. Epub 2020 Sep 28.

An evaluation of systematized phonics on reading proficiency in Swedish second grade poor readers: Effects on pseudoword and sight word reading skills

Maria Levlin  1 , Cecilia Nakeva von Mentzer  2
Affiliations

An evaluation of systematized phonics on reading proficiency in Swedish second grade poor readers: Effects on pseudoword and sight word reading skills

Maria Levlin et al. Dyslexia. 2020 Nov.

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of systematized phonics on word reading in Swedish second grade poor readers. Forty-nine children who performed at or below the 25th percentile on pseudoword reading and/or sight word reading at the beginning of second grade participated in the study. The study had a cross-over design exploring within-and between-group effects of two different conditions: systematized phonics and classroom instruction. Overall, systematized phonics proved more effective than classroom instruction. At pre-intervention, no child performed above the 30th percentile in pseudoword reading or sight word reading. At post-intervention, corresponding numbers were 69% for pseudoword reading and 35% for sight word reading. Implications for a policy change in Sweden towards mandatory systematized phonics in primary school are discussed.

Keywords: policy change; reading difficulties; response to intervention; systematized phonics.

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Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Pseudoword reading mean raw scores at test point 1, 2 and 3 after phonics training (solid line) and classroom instruction (dashed line). Note. Group 1 started with phonics training followed by classroom instruction, Group 2 started with classroom instruction followed by phonics training
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Sight word reading mean raw scores at test point 1, 2 and 3 after phonics training (solid line) and classroom instruction (dashed line). Note. Group 1 started with phonics training followed by classroom instruction, Group 2 started with classroom instruction followed by phonics training [Correction added on 07 October 2020, after online publication: The duplicate image of figure 2 has been removed in this version.]
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Percentage of children (n = 49) performing under and above percentile 15 in pseudoword reading at pre‐intervention (T1) and post‐intervention (T3)
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Percentage of children (n = 49) performing below and above percentile 15 in sight word reading at pre‐intervention (T1) and post‐intervention (T3)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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