An EF-Based Multi-Component Word Reading Intervention for Students with Reading Difficulties: Effects on Literacy, Metalinguistic Awareness, Cognitive and EF Skills

Word reading involves activating phonological, morphological, and semantic knowledge associated with word form and meaning, thus facilitating more efficient word processing and ultimately, reading comprehension. Recent research has shown that students who struggle with word reading also present deficits in executive function skills, often leading to persistent reading difficulties. This study assessed the effect of combining a multi-component word reading instruction with EF skills on the literacy, metalinguistic awareness, cognitive and EF skills of students with reading difficulties. Seventy-two 3 graders were assigned to a multi-component word processing combined with EF strategies (MCWPþEF), MCWP, or control group. The intervention included 48 lessons delivered in small groups. The MCWPþEF group outperformed both MCWP and BAU in literacy skills (vowelized and unvowelized word reading fluency, unvowelized reading comprehension), metalinguistic skills (phonological and morphological awareness), cognitive tasks (phonemic and semantic fluency, RAN), and EF skills (working memory, cognitive flexibility, and inhibition), while MCWP surpassed BAU in vowelized fluency, phonemic fluency, metalinguistic awareness, and inhibition. These findings suggest that integrating EF training with a multi-component metalinguistic- based instruction enhances literacy, metalinguistic, cognitive, and EF skills more effectively than metalinguistic training alone, highlighting the added value of EF support in reading interventions.