Introductory information:

• Letter knowledge has shown to be one of the best predictors of future literacy development
• Previous scholars have suggested that mnemonics are effective because they employ the psychological principles of learning and memory, such as organization, meaningfulness, and visual imagery
• Integrated mnemonics is when a letter helps the student retrieve the picture object’s name, which then retrieves the corresponding letter sound.
• Stimulus fading, in the case of this study, is the fading out of the pictorial elements of the letter-picture combination.

What is the purpose of this study?

• Determine if a training program that uses integrated-picture mnemonics combined with a fading procedure is effective in teaching letter sounds
• Determine if pre-existing letter-sound knowledge and/or age influences letter training

How was this study conducted?

• 39 kindergartners in the Netherlands (5-6 years old) learned letters under all three conditions (4 letters in each condition):

1. Letters were taught with pictures under a fading procedure (the picture would fade out each time the student got the letter correct)
2. Letters were taught with pictures without a fading procedure
3. Letters were taught without pictures

• All children were trained through a computer program.
• At the end of each training session, students were assessed on their ability to identify letters, letter names, and their sounds.

What were the results?

• The kindergartners performed better letter-sound knowledge in the picture with fading condition than in the other two conditions.
• Kindergartners with good and those with poor first-sound isolation ability performed equally well in the picture with fading condition.
• In the other two conditions, the kindergartners with good first-sound isolation ability performed better than those with poor first-sound isolation ability.

What are the implications of this research for the classroom?

• Teachers should implement an integrated-picture mnemonics procedure with fading in their letter and letter sound instruction.

For more detailed information about this study, visit the original source listed below.

Original Source:

Saskia de Graaff, Ludo Verhoeven, Anna M. T. Bosman, and Fred Hasselman, The British Psychological Society, "Integrated pictorial mnemonics and stimulus fading: Teaching kindergartners letter sounds": https://doi.org/10.1348/000709906X160011