Early reading intervention by means of a multicomponent reading game

• Published in: Journal of computer assisted learning 2017-08, Vol.33 (4), p.320-333
• Main Authors: Ven, M., Leeuw, L., Weerdenburg, M., Steenbeek‐Planting, E.G.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Children; Children & youth; Computer & video games; Decoding; Early Intervention; Early Reading; educational game; Educational Games; Educational Needs; Elementary School Students; Emergent Literacy; Foreign Countries; Intervention; Motivation; Phonology; Primary Education; Reading comprehension; reading development; Reading Fluency; Reading Improvement; Reading Instruction; Reading Motivation; Reading Programs; Reading Readiness Tests; Reading Skills; Semantics; Skills; Special Education; Special Needs Students
• ISSN: 0266-4909; 1365-2729
• DOI: 10.1111/jcal.12181

This study examined the effects of an intervention with a multicomponent reading game on the development of reading skills in 60 Dutch primary school children with special educational needs. The game contains evidence‐based reading exercises and is based on principles of applied gaming. Using a multiple baseline approach, we tested children's word, pseudoword and text reading fluency, as well as their reading motivation, at three test occasions. The results indicated that the short intervention (9 × 15 min) enhanced children's pseudoword reading fluency as well as their text reading fluency. Interestingly, the early intervention group showed a sustained intervention effect (i.e., also during retention), which shows that using this reading game has a long‐term effect on early text reading development. Intervention did not affect reading motivation, which suggests that the multicomponent reading game can be used to facilitate early reading development without compromising reading motivation. Lay Description What is already known about this topic? Seventy‐three per cent of students in Dutch special primary education lag behind in reading skills. Early reading interventions may improve reading ability. But interventions tend to be stigmatizing and may decrease reading motivation. What this paper adds: Children's ability to pronounce Dutch nonwords improved after the intervention. Children's ability to fluently and accurately read texts also improved. This was true at both short and long terms. The reading game did not negatively influence children's reading motivation. Implications for practice and/?or policy: A short multicomponent computer game can improve decoding. It can also result in a sustained improvement of text reading fluency. It does not jeopardize children's reading motivation.