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GraphoGame was developed through the GraphoLearn initiative, a global academic initiative dedicated to creating evidence-based literacy solutions. GraphoLearn continues to develop and study GraphoGame-based language versions to this day, while Grapho Group Ltd. distributes apps to families and schools around the world.
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Chapter 1: Initial Research in Transparent Languages (2005 - 2010)In the beginning, GraphoGame research focused on Finnish and other languages with transparent writing systems, in which each letter corresponds to a single sound and vice versa. In languages with opaque writing systems such as English and French, however, the connections between letters and sounds are less straightforward (think of the letter 'O' in 'one', 'love', 'home'; or the /k/ sound in cake or snack).
This early research pinpointed which groups of children benefit most from playing GraphoGame: those at risk of reading failure and non-readers that haven’t yet started learning. Further research showed that playing GraphoGame makes the brain of a non-reader more sensitive to letters and speech sounds, preparing them for further reading acquisition. |
Image credit: GraphoLearn Jyväskylä University, Prof. Ulla Richardson
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Image credit: GraphoLearn Jyväskylä University, Niilo Mäki Institute
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Chapter 2: Evidence of Effectiveness with Transparent Orthographies & Adapting to Opaque Orthographies (2010 - 2014)The GraphoGame Method used with transparent languages started showing convincing results. Children at risk of reading failure significantly improved their spelling, letter knowledge and reading fluency when playing GraphoGame. These promising findings prompted further adaptation of GraphoGame into different languages, from English to Spanish and even African languages such as Cinyanja. However, directly translating the game into less transparent languages proved not to be feasible: teams of local researchers must carefully consider the characteristics of the language in order to maintain the same positive effects.
For example, instead of teaching English-speaking children how individual letters correspond to sounds, it’s more useful to show them that syllable beginnings (onsets) and endings (rimes) are often spelled consistently with regards to their pronunciation. Think of how difficult it would be to learn the letters K, N, I, G, H, T separately and then try to read the word 'knight' aloud. Instead, if you first learned how to read words with the same rime (right, fight, light) and words with the same onset (knee, know), you could guess how to properly read the word. |