The Contribution of the Story-Enriched Cognitive Enhancement Training (SE-COGENT) to Early Literacy Skills

Although early literacy interventions have been widely implemented in preschool education, many existing programs primarily focus on isolated language skills or cognitive processes and are often designed for atypically developing children or older age groups. Consequently, few comprehensive interventions integrate cognitive enhancement with story-based, dialogic practices for typically developing preschool children. The present study aimed to examine the effects of the Story-Enriched Cognitive Enhancement Training (SE-COGENT), a program that integrates PASS theory–based cognitive modules with Dialogic Reading applications, on preschool children’s early literacy skills. A quasi-experimental research design was employed with 44 children attending a kindergarten in Mardin, Türkiye. The intervention lasted 12 weeks. Data were collected using the Test of Early Literacy, the Print Awareness Test, the Pre-Writing Skills Assessment Test, and parent and teacher information forms. Non-parametric statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS 26. The findings indicated that children who participated in the SE-COGENT program demonstrated statistically significant improvements in vocabulary, phonological awareness, letter knowledge, listening comprehension, writing awareness, and pre-writing skills compared to the control group. Taken together, the results suggest that SE-COGENT addresses an important gap in the literature by offering a holistic, story-enriched cognitive intervention and provides empirical evidence for its effectiveness among typically developing preschool children.