Design of the rhythmic tasks of a computer-assisted phonological training to improve reading abilities in first-graders

There is growing evidence that reading disorders (e.g. dyslexia) are likely to be due to impairments in the phonological processing. Possible causes are associated with a complex interaction of genetic factors (50-80%) and environmental risk factors (20-50%). According to the “rise-time theory”, impairments in phonological processes across languages are due to difficulties in processing the speech sound structure, specifically its amplitude modulation. This is related to a deficit in discriminating the speech amplitude envelope rise-time (i.e. the time required to reach a speech peak), which affects the detection of speech rhythm and prosody. In this context, it is argued that rhythmic interventions may improve rhythmic entrainment and consequently improve reading and phonological skills, as found in literature on primary and high-school poor readers. In particular, since the neuroplasticity of the auditory cortex is still high before 7 years, trainings administered in the early childhood can produce more positive effects. In this work, the design of the rhythmic tasks, which are part of a more extended computer-assisted phonological training, is shown. The section designated to enhance the rhythmic abilities resulted in a 5-hours rhythmic training overall. 97 first-graders from six classes of three different primary schools located in Torino (Italy) were involved in the trial. The rhythmic tasks, based on recent scientific outcomes, were individually and simultaneously administered to all children in their classrooms via tablet and headphones in 15 weekly sessions of 20-min. Improvements after the intervention period were compared with those of a matched control group of 82 first-graders from other three primary schools. Preliminary results indicate that the administration of the phonological training enhanced with the rhythmic tasks had a positive effect on the rhythmic perception and discrimination.