Phonemic awareness in students before and after language workshops.

PURPOSE: To verify the phonemic awareness performance of students before and after language workshops.

METHODS

Phonemic awareness abilities of 49 students in the fourth year of Elementary School were assessed using the second part of the test "Phonological Awareness - Sequential Assessment Instrument" (CONFIAS). The exclusion criteria in the study were: presence of complaints or indicators of hearing and/or vision deficits; presence of neurological, behavioral and/or cognitive impairments. Subjects included in the study participated in both initial and final assessments and in at least 75% of the workshop meetings. According to their performance on the test, children were divided into three groups: initial, intermediate and advanced. Each group attended separate weekly workshops for stimulation of phonological and phonemic abilities. After five language workshops the students were reassessed.

RESULTS

The phonemic awareness performance of students in all groups significantly improved after the workshops. The intermediate group presented the greater improvement in the mean number of correct answers.

CONCLUSION

The phonemic awareness performance of students improves after language workshops.