The Effects of Integrating Encoding and Decoding Instruction on the Word Attack Skills of Second Grade Students Reading Below Grade Level

Author/Creator

Author/Creator ORCID

Date

2015-07

Department

Program

Citation of Original Publication

Rights

Collection may be protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. To obtain information or permission to publish or reproduce, please contact the Goucher Special Collections & Archives at 410-337-6347 or email archives@goucher.edu.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of teaching encoding instruction during spelling lessons in comparison to also integrating decoding instruction in order to strengthen the word attack skills of second grade students reading below grade level. The measurement tool for this study was a Phonological Awareness Assessment of Nonsense Words developed by the researcher. The study employed a pre-experimental design with a convenience sample of a group of fifteen second-grade students from February 2015 to April 2015. The result of the post assessment showed the students scored significantly higher on the word list which was taught with combined encoding and decoding strategies (Word List 2; Mean = 16.40, SD = 2.41) than on the word list taught with just encoding strategies (Word List 1; Mean = 14.40, SD = 3.11 [ t(14) = 3.20, p = .006]. Implications and recommendations for future research are discussed and include continuing to examine these instructional methods, both in isolation and combined.