The major goal of this study was to develop a game-like software application for phonological awareness training and to evaluate its role in improving phonological awareness skills at the kindergarten level, with the intention to eventually help reading acquisition in Turkish. The participants of the study came from two kindergarten classrooms in a public elementary school in Istanbul that served socioeconomically disadvantaged families. The experimental group used the software three times a week for nine weeks, while the control played unrelated math games. At posttest, the children in the experimental group scored significantly higher in phoneme segmentation, letter-name, and letter-sound knowledge than those in the control group. The experimental group also showed significant gains for six other subskills when their pre- and posttest scores were compared. Classroom observations and teacher interviews provided insight for interface design for young learners, as well as computer use in early literacy instruction.
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