Sight Word Recognition among Young Children At-Risk: Picture-Supported vs. Word-Only

A quasi-experimental design was used to investigate the impact of Picture Communication Symbols (PCS) on sight word recognition by young children identified as "at risk" for academic and social-behavior difficulties. Ten pre-primer and 10 primer Dolch words were presented to 23 students in the intervention group and 8 students in the control group during interactive games. Assessments occurred at four points and results indicated that children in the control group learned sight words faster under similar conditions of activities and time. These findings are consistent with previous literature and offer further insight into the learning of sight words by this population. Interactive games proved effective with children; they learned quickly over a relatively short time exposure. In the last assessment (word and picture) the intervention group performed better than the control group, indicating that pictures assisted young children to identify and learn new words in a relatively short period of time. (Contains 2 tables and 1 figure.)