The Use of the Audio Pen in Enhancing Reading Skills among Preschool Children

Abstract

Having good reading skills has many advantages to the individual in both educational and wider social contexts throughout life. To be a proficient reader, one needs to master phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension skills. The study aims to investigate the effectiveness of the use of the audio pen as an assistive technology in reading to develop reading fluency, comprehension and vocabulary skills among preschool children in a selected semi-urban preschool. Data was collected from the reading skills tests, and interviews. A total of 10 preschool children between five to six years of age were selected to use the audio pen as an intervention for a duration of eight weeks. The results from the tests showed that the majority of the children improved their reading fluency, comprehension and vocabulary skills. The results of the interviews showed that most of the participants had a positive perception and positive engagement in the use of the audio pen. These positive results suggest that an audio pen is a feasible and good intervention to be used along with traditional texts to enhance reading skills among preschool children.