Phonological Awareness, The Best Tool To Correct Dyslexia
Have you ever heard of the benefits of phonological awareness training? According to various studies, it is the best method for correcting dyslexia. It is implemented at an early age and prevents this disorder from becoming a major problem for students, parents and educators.
Let’s see in detail what it is and why it is so effective against a very widespread disorder, that of dyslexia.
Phonological awareness, what exactly is it?
Phonological awareness consists in developing the ability to mentally manipulate the sounds of language. Its peculiarity lies in the total absence of written language, and on the contrary it is used to reinforce the spoken word without rushing into the field of reading and writing in advance.
That is why there is a great variety of activities to stimulate it. For example, the child may be asked to decide whether a certain sound is present in a word, to separate the word into syllables or to replace one phoneme with another. It is also possible to approach this method through playful tools that are as effective and useful as they are fun.
A series of studies and surveys have confirmed a truly astounding conclusion. A phonological deficit was identified in the vast majority of dyslexic students.
This non-secondary detail goes hand in hand with a certainty from the world of science and education. The ability to identify phonemes is essential to then develop reading. This is also supported by various studies on the early diagnosis of dyslexia.
The key to its success and effectiveness
The question is simple. For a child to learn how to perform mathematical operations, it is essential that he first learn the value of numbers. Likewise, in order for the student to learn to read, he should have some pre-reading skills developed in advance.
In general, most dyslexics have not developed these pre-reading skills correctly. It is for this reason that they often go through learning to read without being prepared for it. Hence the so-called “school failure” and the frustration of children.
These children are unable to progress in acquiring the basic and elementary knowledge of their stage. The symbols and sounds they encounter at school make no sense to them, and they feel overwhelmed.
True knowledge is not absorbed until it is possessed. This necessarily implies that the student integrates it with his own previous knowledge, being able to understand, analyze and relate it. Obviously, all this without the need to resort to external stimuli.
The training in phonological awareness allows the student to understand the structure by segments of language. This develops his ability to distinguish, categorize, associate and synthesize the linguistic information received.
Phonological awareness: recommendations
Of course, when referring to a pre-reading skill, you need to develop it – as the name suggests – before you start reading and writing. As learning to read begins and as you age, phonological awareness training will lose its effectiveness.
However, generally, students who have problems in this area are taken care of when it is too late. That is, parents and educators tend to wait to treat the child when the delay in relation to his peers is already very important.
In summary, specialists argue that phonological awareness training should be practiced on children between 4 and 7 years old. It is also recommended to adopt an increasing difficulty progression procedure to obtain results in learning to read and write.
