Investigation of the effectiveness of web-based phonological awareness education program (FONFAR) in children at risk of learning disability

The aim of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a web-based phonological awareness education program (FONFAR) in children at risk for learning disabilities (LD). This study employed a single-subject research design with an asynchronous multiple baseline design between participants. The participants were three students at risk for LD aged between 60 and 72 months. The dependent variable of the study was the number of correct responses in the subskills of word awareness, rhyme awareness, syllable awareness, and phoneme awareness. After the participants met the prerequisite skills of FONFAR, baseline probe sessions were conducted with the participants until stable data were obtained in three consecutive sessions on the first module, word awareness. The intervention phase then began with the first module of FONFAR, word awareness. After the implementation of the word awareness module, word awareness probe sessions were conducted with each student. Subsequently, baseline probe sessions were conducted on rhyme awareness in three consecutive sessions until stable data were obtained. The intervention phase then began with the second module of FONFAR, rhyme awareness. After completing the rhyme awareness module, rhyme awareness probe sessions were conducted with each student. The same process was followed for the syllable and phoneme awareness modules. Findings demonstrated that FONFAR is effective, enduring, and generalizable for children at risk for learning disabilities. Furthermore, the collected social validity data yielded highly positive findings.