Phonological awareness is the ability to manipulate the individual speech sounds that make up connected speech. Little information is reported on the acquisition of phonological awareness in special populations. The purpose of this study was to explore the effectiveness of a phonological awareness training intervention on pre- reading skills of mentally retarded children. A total of 47 children mental retardation participated in this study. The sample was randomly divided into two groups; experimental (n= 24, 19 boys, 5 girls)and control (n= 23 , 20 boys and 3 girls ). ANCOVA and Repeated Measures Analyses were employed for data analysis. Findings from this study indicated the effectiveness of the program employed in improving pre- reading skills in the target children.
Keywords. Phonological awareness, pre-reading skills, mentally retarded children