Effectiveness of phonological awareness skills test in Indian population

Abstract

Introduction: Phonological awareness is one of the pre literacy skills which is a key element for learning to read a language. The development of phonological awareness progresses from kindergarten to second grade, as the child understands orthographic differences. The research shows that difficulty with phonemic awareness and phonological skills is a predictor of poor reading and writing development. Objective: To find out effectiveness of Phonological Awareness Skills Test in typically developing Indian population. Methodology: This study included 102 school children with the age range between 4 – 6 yrs currently studying in English medium school and following Matriculation syllabus pattern. PAST was initially assessed in 102 school children and after one week to find out test- retest reliability in 23 children. Results and discussion: Chi square test was performed to check the effectiveness of PAST across age range 4- 6 yrs in 103 children which reveals (P < 0.05). Test-Retest reliability was performed using Bivariate correlation which reveals there is no correlation. Conclusion: Phonological awareness is a broad skill that includes identifying and manipulating oral language. The results of the study showed poor benefit on assessing PAST to the Indian scenario. Hence the need arises for developing a test tool to assess phonological awareness skills in Indian population.