Teacher candidates’ mastery of phoneme-grapheme correspondence: massed versus distributed practice in teacher education
Abstract
Matching phonemes (speech sounds) to graphemes (letters and letter combinations) is an important aspect of decoding (translating print to speech) and encoding (translating speech to print). Yet, many teacher candidates do not receive explicit training in phonemegrapheme correspondence. Difficulty with accurate phoneme production and/or lack of understanding of sound-symbol correspondence can make it challenging for teachers to (a) identify student errors on common assessments and (b) serve as a model for students when teaching beginning reading or providing remedial reading instruction. For students with dyslexia, lack of teacher proficiency in this area is particularly problematic. This study examined differences between two learning conditions (massed and distributed practice) on teacher candidates’ development of phoneme-grapheme correspondence knowledge and skills. An experimental, pretest-posttest-delayed test design was employed with teacher candidates (n = 52) to compare a massed practice condition (one, 60-min session) to a distributed practice condition (four, 15-min sessions distributed over 4 weeks) for learning phonemes associated with letters and letter combinations. Participants in the distributed practice condition significantly outperformed participants in the massed practice condition on their ability to correctly
Reference
Sayeski, K. L., Earle, G. A., Eslinger, R. P., & Whitenton, J. N. (2017). Teacher candidates’ mastery of phoneme-grapheme correspondence: massed versus distributed practice in teacher education. Annals of Dyslexia, 67(1), 26-41.
Journal
Annals of Dyslexia
Analysis
Is this article part of a larger project or series of studies?
no
Does this study draw on a large, preexisting data set?
no
Research Approach
Geographic Setting
- Southeastern United States
Institutional Context
Certification Level
Programatic Focus
Research Location Context
Preservice Participants
- Graduate and undergraduate
Preservice Sample Size
52
Duration of Data Collection
Data Sources
Data Analysis Tools
- Quantitative analysis
- Repeated Measures ANOVA
Researcher Positionality
Research Questions
Do conditions for learning (distributed versus massed practice) result in differences in the
acquisition of phoneme-grapheme knowledge and skills? (p. 31)
Is this research question explicit from the manuscript? Yes
Do conditions for learning (distributed versus massed practice) result in differences in
retention of phoneme-grapheme knowledge and skills? (p. 31)
Is this research question explicit from the manuscript? Yes