Neurocognitive pathways to literacy: investigating GraphoGame Brazil in early childhood education

Abstract

From the standpoint of cognitive science, reading and writing are not natural human capacities but cultural inventions that require explicit and systematic instruction (Dehaene, 2012; Perfetti, Landi; Oakhill, 2005). Whereas oral language emerges spontaneously from universal neurobiological predispositions, literacy acquisition entails the functional reorganization of neural circuits originally dedicated to other cognitive functions (Rueckl et al., 2015). Prior research highlights the centrality of phonological awareness and the mastery of grapheme–phoneme correspondences as prerequisites for reading proficiency in alphabetic systems (Snowling; Hulme, 2013; Morais, 2013). In this context, gamified digital tools such as GraphoGame have been validated internationally as effective resources for supporting the early stages of literacy (Kamykowska et al., 2014; Morken et al., 2014). This study investigates the implementation of GraphoGame Brazil with 40 five-year-old children enrolled in a low socioeconomic status public school in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The specific objectives are twofold: The specific objectives are: (1) to assess the level of early literacy skills through pre- and post-testing; and (2) to examine the effectiveness of the intervention with GraphoGame Brazil in children in the early stages of literacy acquisition. Preliminary analyses suggest that the intervention may support improvements in phonological awareness, decoding skills, and emerging orthographic knowledge. Children in the experimental group appeared to demonstrate greater gains than their peers in the control group, which may indicate the potential of GraphoGame as a complementary tool for classroom instruction. These findings tentatively point to the possibility that integrating digital resources with evidence-based pedagogical approaches can facilitate early reading acquisition, particularly in socioeconomically vulnerable contexts. By bridging cognitive science, educational technology, and classroom practice, the study contributes to advancing evidence-based strategies for literacy instruction and provides relevant insights for both researchers and educators.