The Effectiveness of Phoneme-Based Working Memory Education on Improving the Ability of Reading in Dyslexic Students

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of phoneme-based working memory educational program on enhancing reading ability of dyslexic students. The research method was Quasi-experimental with control group and random assignments, using pre-test, post-test, and fallow-up stages. The statistical population of the study consists of all the students with reading disability in primary schools in Tehran. Among them, 30 students with dyslexia were selected by available sampling method from leading disorders centers and randomly assigned in experimental and control groups. The experimental group participated in 24 educational sessions of working memory on phonological stimuli in auditory and visual dimensions. Reading and Dyslexia Test (Kormi-Nouri and Moradi, 2008) were used for data collection. The data were analyzed using the multi-variable variance analysis with repeated measures. Findings showed that the phoneme based working memory educational program significantly improved the reading ability of dyslexic students in all three components of reading accuracy, reading fluency and reading comprehension. These findings were also stable in a two-month follow-up. Therefore, it can be concluded that phoneme based working memory education, can improve the reading ability of dyslexic children.