The development of phonological skills in pupils with difficulties in phonological awareness

Reading is a skill that aside from writing develops a successful written communication. It is based upon the development of speech and is present on all levels of a person’s life, from pre-school to adulthood. Important skills of speech assimilation are phonological awareness and processing, developed vocabulary, reading comprehension and fluent reading. Problems can arise during learning to read. It is important that the source of the troubles is discovered soon so we can offer the student needed help and support. If the problems with reading are a consequence in the field of phonological awareness, we can overcome them with practice for developing phonological awareness. Development of reading, skills needed to assimilate reading and the problems that can arise in gaining speech in the field of learning to read are described in the theoretical part of Master’s thesis. International diagnostic tools used for detecting trouble in the field of phonological awareness, and phonological training used in English and German speaking countries as well as in Slovenia are also described. Presented is also the meaning of practice for development of phonological awareness in individuals with reading difficulties. The empirical part presents the practice of phonological awareness and its results. The purpose of Master’s thesis is to examine the efficiency of the practice for perfection of phonological awareness. The practice, which was formed as a motion game, with various words encourages recognition of sounds and parts of a word. 10 pupils were included in the research, averagely 6 years old. 5 of them were in an experimental group, the other half in a control group. Pupils of the experimental group (EG) that were involved in the practice were chosen based on a teacher’s estimation whether they have difficulties with phonological awareness. In the control group (CG) were 5 children without phonological difficulties and they were not included in the practice. Practice consisted of 22 meetings. With the research I wished to determine if the EG children have improved their phonological skills and if the results of the second testing matched the results of CG children. The results showed that the practice of phonological awareness affects greatly the improvement of these abilities