The use of educational technologies for the development of phonological awareness in Brazilian Portuguese: an experiment with GraphoGame Brasil

Abstract

This research investigated the development of phonological awareness during the initial stage of learning to read in Brazilian Portuguese by 51 children (41 speakers of Brazilian Portuguese (BP) and 10 native speakers of Spanish) attending the 1st and 2nd grades of elementary school in the public school system of Florianópolis/SC. The study comprised three stages: (1) Pre-tests, (2) Intervention with educational applications, and (3) Posttests. The pre-tests and posttests consisted of the application of the following instruments: (I) Rapid Automatized Naming task – RAN; (II) test for the Assessment of Phonological Knowledge – PECO, in Spanish ; (III) Phonological Awareness: Sequential Assessment Instrument  – CONFIAS, in BP; and (IV) School Performance Test for Reading – TDE II, also in BP. The results of this study indicate that the children who played the educational app GraphoGame Brasil (GG) had a positive impact on capital letter naming task. These results are discussed in light of the theory of reading science.