The Effect of Auditory Perception Training on the Reading Ability of Adult Poor Readers.

A study examined the reading profiles of adult poor readers at a community college and investigated the effectiveness of auditory perception training in the reading ability of these adults. Subjects, 30 students from varied ethnic backgrounds attending the Community College of Rhode Island who were registered for a reading and study skills course, were placed into two equal sized groups based on the confines of the students' schedules and randomly assigned to one of two instructional conditions: a control group using a traditional metacognitive approach and an experimental group using a phonological skills approach based on the "Auditory Discrimination in Depth Program. " Preand posttest results from a variety of measures were compared. The final subject group used for analysis consisted of 21 students. Results indicated that (1) subjects continued to be plagued by deficiencies in phonological processing and word attack skills; (2) knowledge of vocabulary was low; (3) subjects' reading comprehension scores were below the tenth percentile for students at the end of twelfth grade; (4) spelling was poor; however, (5) the experimental group made significant improvement on phonological tasks. Findings suggest that phonological skills do appear to be important to the reading process and that it is possible to teach adults phonological skills. Follow-up research is called for, and a longitudinal study would be helpful. Three tables and one figure are included. (Contains 21 references.) (RS) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** c. ) THE EFFECT OF AUDITORY PERCEPTION TRAINING ON THE READING ABILITY OF ADULT POOR READERS Jean A. Dietrich University of Rhode Island Psychology Department 301 Chafee Kingston, Rhode Island 02881 Internet: jmiller@URIACC.URI. EDU Bitnet: jmiller@URIACC U I. DEPARTMENT or coucArtoto Office ol Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) document has Caren reproduced as . *C1 Peed from the person Or organization originating it 0 Alm*, chanctis hay* Wen mid* 10 improve reproduction purify Poiros of vNivf 0. Co mon t stated in this docu ment do NA noicessanIy rOfftOht ofkial OEMI position or onficy 2 "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC1" Open door policies in community colleges have become revolving doors for underprepared students in recent years. As a response remedial programs in basic skills have been established (Boylan & White, 1987), although much variability exists in their content and philosophy. In addition, a wide range of reading abilities are found in these programs, making the task of determining effective teaching strategies difficult. Students who are enrolled in post-secondary programs present with a number of problems. They complain of: slow reading rate "It takes me so much longer than anyone else to read my assignments and I am only taking one course! I don't know what I will do when I start full-time. " poor comprehension "I can read fine, but when I am done I can't remember a single thing! " poor vocabulary knowledge "There are so many words I don't know that by the time I look them all up I can't remember what the sentence was about. " poor spelling "I have always been a poor speller. I never let anyone read my notes. Sometimes I can't even read them later. " Texts for post-secondary reading programs only address some of these complaints. Primarily they concentrate on the development of metacognitive skills. For example, they focus on getting meaning from reading the text through a five step strategy called SQ3R (survey, question, read, recite, and review) or a myriad of lookalike strategies. Fewer texts include vocabulary development, generally with a focus on developing an understanding through the use of context. Rarely, if ever, is