PURPOSE: To investigate whether the software called Peter in the Amusement Park is effective in both developing phonological awareness and building alphabetical writing. METHODS: Twelve children, aged 4-5 years, from a nursery school in Porto Alegre, participated in this study. Each child was individually assessed in terms of phonological awareness and had his/her writing hypothesis analyzed. Children whose writing hypothesis was considered pre-syllabic were randomly assigned to two groups: study group (SG) and control group (CG). Children belonging to SG were stimulated through the use of the software, while those from CG were given only standardized school stimulation. At the end of 10 stimulation meetings, children were reassessed. RESULTS: The results have shown a statistically significant difference in phonological awareness at the level of syllable and phonemes, as well as change in the writing hypothesis among SG children in comparison to the CG participants' performance. CONCLUSION: The study evidenced that the software, by having a speech and language pathologist as a mediator, was effective to develop phonological awareness and facilitated the change in the spelling hypothesis from pre-syllabic writing to syllabic writing. Therefore, stimulation programs used in children education should be carefully selected in order to guarantee better results.
Child Language; Learning; Handwriting; Auditory Stimulation; Software validation; Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences