Acquisition and Generalization of Word Decoding in Students with Reading Disabilities by Integrating Vowel Pattern Analysis and Children's Literature‪.‬

Abstract This study investigated the effects of a reading intervention that integrated vowel pattern analysis and children's literature on the word decoding performance of second graders with reading disabilities. The intervention evaluated students' abilities to decode a set of training words using 3 common vowel patterns (syllable types), in isolation and in context. Additional sets of novel words and nonsense words using the same vowel patterns were presented to evaluate generalization of the reading intervention. A multiple-baseline design across vowel patterns was used to analyze the experimental effects of the decoding performance of 5 students. All 5 second graders demonstrated substantial gains in their ability to decode words with the 3 vowel patterns. The students increased their accuracy reading words in isolation, as well as in context. In addition, all students increased their decoding accuracy of both novel a nd nonsense generalization words. These increases in decoding accuracy were maintained during follow-up observations. The effects suggest the value of integrating code-based and meaning-based teaching strategies when designing interventions for students with reading disabilities.