Similar Sound Separation and Cumulative Introduction in Learning Letter-Sound Correspondences

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Abstract
The instructional procedure of separating the similar sounds e and i from each other during instruction was evaluated in two experiments. In Experiment 1,42 first graders were assigned to a group in which e and i were introduced together or were separated by four other letters. Children in the similar-separated group made more correct responses to the two target letters during training, but the posttest scores were low and did not differ for the two groups. By measuring trials to criterion, Experiment II investigated the efficiency of separating similar sounds and of cumulatively introducing each sound. In the cumulative introduction procedure, children were brought to criterion on each group of sounds before a new sound was introduced. Thirty-five pre-schoolers completed training in one of three groups: similar-separated with cumulative introduction, similar-together with cumulative introduction, and similar-separated with simultaneous introduction. Children from the similar-separated group with cumulatively introduced sounds reached criterion significantly more quickly than the similar-together group and the simultaneous group. Posttest scores for all the children were substantially higher than in Experiment I and were significantly higher for the two cumulative introduction groups than for the simultaneous group.