Effectiveness of early reading intervention on the literacy development of Hong Kong preschoolers with at-risk for reading difficulties

Abstract

Prior research has shown the importance of early intervention to improve the literacy development of preschool children at risk for reading difficulties. The “Pathways Preschool Chinese Program”, as an early reading intervention program, was designed to support at-risk young children through systematic integration of dialogic reading and literacy activities, with the aim of enhancing critical foundations of word decoding and reading-related abilities. The goal of the present study was to investigate whether the early literacy skills of preschoolers at risk for dyslexia could be improved through the 12-week intervention program of dialogic reading and extended literacy activities. Three groups of children were recruited for the study: typically developing children (Typical control group: N=34, ages: 5-6), children at risk for reading difficulties without intervention (Atrisk control group: N=29, ages: 5-6), and at-risk children receiving the 12-week intervention (Training group: N=29, ages: 5-6). All children were assessed at two time points (pre-and postintervention) on the batteries, including word reading, reading fluency, morphological awareness, print awareness, and reading interest. Two-way mixed ANCOVA was used to perform a group comparison analysis. The result revealed that the training group performed significantly better in word reading and reading fluency than their at-risk control peers after the intervention. The present findings provided both educational and clinical implications supporting early reading intervention programs for preschool children at risk for reading difficulties.