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conferenceseries.com
May 22-23, 2017 Las Vegas, USA
International Conference on
Speech Language Pathology
Volume 2, Issue 3 (Suppl) J Speech Pathol Ther
ISSN: 2472-5005, an open access journal ISLPC 2017
May 22-23, 2017
Speech and language program for the development of literacy: Reading comprehension efficacy in
school children
Ainoa Athaide Macedo Silva
Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil
Background: The expected end product as formal elementary education completed is primarily a satisfactory level of reading
comprehension skills, which is required to mediate text-based learning in other school subjects. However, statistics show that
a large number of students finish elementary school with substantial deficits in reading comprehension.
Objective: To investigate the effectiveness of a Speech and Language Program for the Development of Literacy (PFPL) in
improving the reading comprehension skills of schoolchildren in the fourth grade of elementary school in a Belo Horizonte
Municipal School.
Methods: A convenience sample of two classes of fourth grade elementary school students was selected. The students in the
class that participated in the PFPL constituted the case group while the students in the non-PFPL class comprised the control
group. The PFPL included activities of shared reading, scaffolding strategies and collective discursive construction, in addition
to phonological and spelling processing tasks. The reading comprehension skills of the schoolchildren in both groups was
assessed using PROLEC subtest 10 (Reading Comprehension) before and after the program.
Results: The performance of the groups was comparable on initial assessment, with high prevalence of children with reading
comprehension difficulties. Following the PFPL, the reading comprehension performance of the case group children improved
significantly whereas the performance of the control group was unchanged.
Conclusion: The PFPL was effective in improving the schoolchildren’s reading comprehension skills.
J Speech Pathol Ther 2017, 2:3,(Suppl)