Cued Articulation in Developing Kindergarteners' Reading and Writing Skills

Abstract

This study determined the effectiveness of Cued Articulation in developing the reading and writing skills of Kindergarten 2 learners at Prep Montessori International Kindergarten during School Year 2023-2024. The study used a one-group pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design with 15 kindergarteners. Learner profiles were limited to age and sex in consideration of Thailand’s Personal Data Protection Act. A researcher-made 22-item reading and writing skills assessment measured letter/phoneme recognition, basic sight words using the CVC-SATPIN word group, and basic CVC-SATPIN word spelling. The assessment instrument was validated by eight evaluators and obtained an average validity rating of 3.00, interpreted as highly valid. During a three-week intervention, learners were taught sound-symbol relationships using Cued Articulation hand cues through systematic, explicit, and multisensory instruction. Results showed that the overall mean percentage score increased from 65.2% in the pretest to 90.9% in the posttest. Major gains were observed in letter/phoneme recognition, basic sight words, and especially CVC-SATPIN spelling. Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test results confirmed significant improvements across all literacy components, including the overall score (Z = -3.299, p = 0.001). Sex was not significantly related to post-intervention performance, while age showed significant negative correlations with selected outcomes; however, the age distribution was highly uneven. The findings indicate that Cued Articulation can strengthen early reading and writing development by providing visual, kinesthetic, and auditory support for phonics instruction. The study recommends teacher and parent training, broader implementation, and replication with larger samples. Results support careful integration into developmentally appropriate early literacy instruction.