ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Educational Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1602966
Enhancing Reading Skills in At-Risk Students: The Combined Effects of Smartphone Format, Cardiac Coherence, Positive Feedback, and Interest-Based Personalization
Provisionally accepted
- Université des Antilles, Pointe à Pitre, Guadeloupe
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Introduction: Illiteracy remains a persistent challenge in disadvantaged educational contexts, particularly within Priority Education Network (REP+) schools in Martinique (French West Indies)-a classiOication in the French educational system that designates schools located in highly underserved socio-economic areas requiring additional pedagogical support. This study explores the effects of four pedagogical strategiessmartphone-like formatting, cardiac coherence breathing (an emotional regulation technique), positive feedback, and interest-based text personalization-on reading Oluency, comprehension, motivation, and self-esteem in at-risk students.Methods: 120 students from CM1 to 3e participated in four intervention conditions. Data on reading Oluency, comprehension, motivation, and self-esteem were collected and analyzed using paired-sample t-tests and repeated-measures ANOVA.Results: Each intervention produced signiOicant improvements in one or more outcomes (all improvements were statistically signiOicant, p < .05). Smartphone-like layout improved Oluency by 18.5%, comprehension by 38%, and reduced errors by 48%. Cardiac coherence enhanced comprehension by 35%, reduced errors by 45%, and reading time by 19%. Positive feedback improved self-esteem by 61% and reduced errors by 42%. Personalized texts yielded the strongest effects, improving motivation (+56%), self-esteem (+70%), and comprehension (+54%).Discussion: The Oindings highlight the independent value of cognitive, emotional, and motivational levers in literacy interventions for vulnerable learners.
Keywords: reading fluency, cardiac coherence, positive feedback, interest-based learning, at-risk students
Received: 30 Mar 2025; Accepted: 10 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Caliari. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Peddy Caliari, Université des Antilles, Pointe à Pitre, Guadeloupe
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