Digital game-based spelling intervention for children with spelling deficits: A randomized controlled trial

Background: Digital game-based intervention programs represent a powerful tool for improving reading, whereas evidence for using digital tools to improve spelling is scarce. To fill this gap, we developed an adaptive digital game-based intervention that combines teaching phonological processing, graphene-phoneme-correspondence, and orthographic and morphological rules.Aims: Evaluation of the efficacy of a novel digital spelling intervention tool.Sample: Participants were 65 German speaking second-and third-graders with spelling disorder.Methods: A randomized controlled trial was conducted using a pre-test intervention post-test design. After pretest children were randomly assigned to the experimental group or an active control group, receiving digitalized games for a period of 12 weeks.Results: Data were analyzed using linear mixed effects models. Results showed intervention effects for precursor skills (i.e., phoneme-graphene mapping and phoneme awareness) and for trained and untrained words including trained spelling phenomena (generalization effect). Training effects were specific for spelling and did not transfer to reading. Participants and their parents also reported high levels of satisfaction with and usability of the intervention.Conclusions: Findings suggest that the training can be easily integrated into daily routine and that the intervention can supplement standard spelling instruction or can be used when learning therapy is not available. Results also support the idea that effective literacy intervention should be symptom-specific and adapted to the performance level of the child.