How can low-skilled 5-year-old children benefit from multisensory training on the acquisition of the alphabetic principle?

• Positive effect of a multisensory training in promoting letter–sound knowledge
• Highlighting the shape of letter helps low-skilled 5-year-old children.
• Emphasis on multimodal letter knowledge in acquisition of the alphabetic principle

This study aimed at evaluating the effect on letter knowledge and writing of a multisensory exploration of letters as a function of the child's skill level (low vs high-skilled). Five-year-old children were tested on letter–sound knowledge and on letter writing before and after training. Four matched groups were formed: A Control group (C, no contact with letters), a Visual group (V, the child watched the letter), a Visuo-Haptic group (VH, the child touched the letter with the forefinger) and a Visuo-Graphomotor group (VG, highlighting). Results indicated a significant gain percentage in trained letter sounds in the V, VH and VG groups compared to the C group. With regard to letter writing, the pattern of results suggests that highlighting the letter shape could constitute a good classroom teaching method, particularly in the case of low-skilled children. These results are discussed in the light of the different modes of letter exploration.