Labat, H. , Ecalle, J. & Magnan, A.
Laboratory of study cognitive mechanisms, EA 3082, University Lyon (2), 5 avenue Pierre Mendès France 69676 Bron, France, Tél. +33(0)4 78 77 24 52.
This study investigated the effect of five trainings on the acquisition of alphabetic principle with 5-year-old children. Children were evaluated before and after training in letter-sound knowledge, in sound-to-letter correspondences task and in reading. Children were assigned in five matching training groups which differed on the number and the nature of letter exploration. Phonological exercises were the same for each group. The three trainings on letter knowledge involved two sensory explorations: Auditory and visual, haptic or graphomotor groups. The other two trainings on letter knowledge involved three sensory explorations: Auditory-visual-haptic group or auditory-visual-graphomotor group. In all tasks, trained and untrained letters scores improved between pre and post-tests. Moreover, in the sound-to-letter correspondences and reading tasks, scores of three-modes groups increased more than scores of two-modes groups. Results were interpreted as supporting the influence of multimodal letter representation (Longcamp, et al., 2010) on knowledge development in grounded cognition area (Barsalou, 2008). References
Barsalou, L.W. (2008). Grounded cognition. Annual Review of Psychology, 59, 617-645. Longcamp, M., Lagarrigue, A., & Velay, J.-L. (2010). Contribution de la motricité graphique à la reconnaissance visuelle des lettres [Contribution of writing movements to visual recognition of letters]. Psychologie Française, 55, 181-194.