Phonological awareness in preschool: the effectiveness of an intervention programme and the predictive power of phonological awareness in preschool on reading skills in the 2 nd grade

The goal of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention programme and test the predictive power of phonological awareness on the reading comprehension skills of 2nd grade school children in European Portuguese. Eighty 5-year-old children were divided into an intervention group (IG; n = 41) and a comparison group (CG; n = 39). A phonological awareness stimulation programme was implemented. Results showed a significantly larger improvement in all dimensions of phonological awareness in the children in the IG, when compared to those in the CG. Furthermore, the phonological awareness at the end of preschool significantly predicted the reading comprehension skills in the 2nd grade. These findings reinforce the importance of phonological awareness and the need to promote the development of this skill at preschool.