Using Assistive Technology to Improve Decoding Skills in Special Educational Needs (SEN) Students

Abstract

While text-to-speech and other related read-aloud tools have been used before to foster reading comprehension skills in Special Educational Needs (SEN) students, they have been mainly used to translate written text into spoken text, thus enabling poor readers to follow along. This study examines the impact of using such tools to design an adaptive learning curriculum that aims to improve decoding skills by integrating high-frequency words into technology-enhanced phonics lessons. Results suggest this technique is effective in facilitating a better understanding of high-frequency word structure in students with learning disabilities, but less so in strengthening their ability to decode nonsense words.