| Abstract: | A computer system which gives prerecorded speech prompts on request was developed and a study was carried out to evaluate its effectiveness in enhancing the reading attainment of young children. Sixty children aged 61 to 84 months were tested on three measures of sight vocabulary (BAS Word Recognition, Frequently Occurring Words, words from the books read) before and after the intervention period of one month, during which 30 of the children had access to the system. The intervention group made significantly higher gains on the tests than the control group. The amount of practice undertaken by subjects was highly positively correlated with their gains. The amount of help which they requested showed no relationship to the gains. These results suggest that some effective practice in reading can be given by a computer. |
