Developing a programme for training phonological awareness and assessment of its effectiveness on reading skills of elementary first graders with cochlear implant

Background: The current study aimed to develop a comprehensive phonological awareness intervention to train all levels of phonological awareness skills and to investigate its effect on the reading abilities of cochlear implanted children. Materials and Methods: This study was the single-subject intervention. Phonological awareness intervention programme was developed and validated by experts' opinions. Six elementary first graders with cochlear implants and weak or delayed reading development, in 5-7-year-old range, were trained in phonological awareness skills. 'Auditory test of phonological awareness skills' was used to evaluate the subjects' phonological awareness skills. Nama reading test was also used to determine the level of reading performance. Results: The results showed that all six subjects with cochlear implants had improvements of both phonological awareness skills and reading skills after participating in the phonological awareness intervention programme. This improvement was not only observed immediately after intervention but was also preserved in follow-up. Conclusion: The findings of this study demonstrated the importance of planning an intervention programme about phonological awareness skills for elementary first graders with cochlear implant, and the important role of such an intervention programme in improving their performance in phonological awareness tasks, and then in reading tasks consequently. The importance of improvement in these skills could considerably affect these children's linguistic and psychological abilities, which may facilitate their education at higher grades.