Identification of Children at Risk for Reading Disabilities in Elementary Schools in Oman: The Role of Phoneme Segmentation and Phoneme Blending in Learning Arabic

Abstract

Abstract-Reading skills have begun to be strongly considered by researchers and practitioners for the identification of students who have or at risk for reading disabilities (RDs). The current study investigated role of phoneme segmentation and phoneme blending in identifying children at risk for RDs. 240 students from the second and fourth grade and who were either referred for the learning disabilities unit or who were normally achieving responded to tests on phoneme segmentation (PS) and phoneme blending (PB). A three way MANOVA showed that female students attained higher scores on PS and PB than did female students; fourth grade students attained higher scores on PS but not on PB than did second grade students; and finally normally achieving students attained higher scores on PS and PB than did students referred for RDs. No interaction effects of the three variables were significant. Results are discussed in relation to the component model of reading.Index Terms-Reading disabilities, component model of reading, phonological awareness.