How can low-skilled 5-year-old children benefit from multisensory training on the acquisition of the alphabetic principle?

Hélène Labat (1, 2) , Jean Ecalle (2) , René Baldy (3) , Annie Magnan (2)

1 PARAGRAPHE - Laboratoire Paragraphe
2 EMC - Laboratoire d'Etude des Mécanismes Cognitifs
3 EPSYLON - Dynamique des capacités humaines et des conduites de santé

This study aimed at evaluating the effect on letter knowledge andwriting of a multisensory exploration of letters as a function of the child's skill level (low vs high-skilled). Five-year-old children were tested on letter–sound knowledge and on letter writing before and after training. Four matched groups were formed: A Control group (C, no contact with letters), a Visual group (V, the child watched the letter), a Visuo Haptic group (VH, the child touched the letter with the forefinger) and a Visuo Graphomotor group (VG, highlighting). Results indicated a significant gain percentage in trained letter sounds in the V, VH and VG groups compared to the C group. With regard to letter writing, the pattern of results suggests that highlighting the letter shape could constitute a good classroom teaching method, particularly in the case of low-skilled children. These results are discussed in the light of the different modes of letter exploration.

Mots clés: Multisensory; Highlighting; Training; Alphabetic principle; Low-skilled children

Domaines: Psychologie; Education

Hélène Labat, Jean Ecalle, René Baldy, Annie Magnan. How can low-skilled 5-year-old children benefit from multisensory training on the acquisition of the alphabetic principle?. Learning and Individual Differences, 2014, 29, pp.106-113. ⟨10.1016/j.lindif.2013.09.016⟩. ⟨hal-02979667⟩