Specific Language Impairment (SLI) is a primary language disorder that persists into adolescence and adulthood. Adolescent outcomes related to SLI have been mainly investigated from the point of view of psychopathology. This study aimed to provide a holistic view of the educational and socio-emotional competence for a group of young people with a history of SLI who have been participating in a longitudinal study from the age of 8 (Dockrell, Lindsay, Palikara, & Cullen, 2007) to the end of formal education. This was achieved by using a range of standardised and self-report assessments and interview schedules. Assessment related to educational competence revealed that adolescents with a history of SLI were at risk of experiencing continuing difficulties in the area of language and literacy at 16. However, their educational achievements as depicted by the GCSE scores provided a more positive picture when compared to the findings of earlier studies. Writing skills at 16 were found to be an important protective factor in relation to academic attainment. In respect of socioemotional competence, a picture of strengths and weaknesses concerning behavioural difficulties, self-esteem and coping skills was revealed. However, no relationship was found between language skills and socio-emotional outcomes. Additionally, these results highlighted the importance of contextual factors including family involvement and social support as for young people's emotional well-being. These findings have both educational and clinical implications. A systemic developmental approach considering individual and contextual factors but also strengths and weaknesses is put forward. Finally, the thesis provides useful directions for the development and implementation of multi-dimensional and appropriate intervention studies.

This thesis explores the role of dialogue in the process of learning. Specifically it examines the impact of a series of Communities of Enquiry (enquiry) on a group of mature undergraduate students through tracing their development of critical literacy and in demonstrating the fluid nature of identity. The research participants are tutors or trainers in the lifelong learning sector. The research methods are qualitative and data collection includes written learner reflections, transcripts of a recorded discussion and the series of enquiries. Data analysis uses a rhizomatic framework developed from Deleuze and Guattari’s (1980) image of the rhizome, combined with Holquists description of Bahktins theoretical framework as ‘dialogism.’ (Holquist 1990) I refer to the analysis as ‘rhizodialogism’. The approach had enabled me to detect the dynamic movement of ideas within effective enquiry and the fluid nature of identity formation. Findings suggest that the process of enquiry is influential in developing critical literacy amongst participants and this extends outside of the learning context and becomes ‘lifewide’ influencing aspects of self identity and resulting in increasing levels of self confidence in interactions with others. The rhizomatic format indicates that whilst there evidence of ‘long conversations’ (Mercer 2000) the process of development is not linear but illustrates a rhizomatic emergence and re-emergence of themes.

Learning to read is a fundamental, social and interactive process, which begins at home (Al-Momani, Ihmeideh, & Naba'h, 2010). Research generally supports the role of parents and the home literacy environment for children’s reading gains (Foy & Mann, 2003; Loera, Rueda, & Nakamoto, 2011; Sénéchal, 2006), and it is recognised that parents are influential in fostering their children’s early reading skills (Ladd, Martin-Chang, & Levesque, 2011). The aim of this paper is to further explore the role of parents in children’s reading, whilst considering the implications for Educational Psychologists. It consists of three main parts: 1. A systematic literature review (SLR) investigating the effects of parent-delivered interventions for improving a specific area of children’s reading: their knowledge of letter names and sounds. 2. A bridging document linking the SLR and empirical research, providing justification for, and reflection on, key methodological issues. 3. A piece of empirical research exploring parent and teacher views of home-reading more broadly, with a resulting framework for Educational Psychology practice. The SLR includes 6 parent-delivered intervention studies measuring outcomes of children’s letter name and letter sound knowledge, with a total of 163 participants. The empirical research includes 33 participants, 17 teachers and 16 parents, from 3 schools located in the North East of England. Findings from the SLR suggest that there is limited evidence to support the role of parents in delivering interventions for children’s letter name and letter sound knowledge. Whilst the empirical research highlights three areas pertinent to parents and teachers with regard to home-reading: (1) promoting positive experiences (2) promoting home-school links (3) reducing barriers. The implications for Educational Psychologists are discussed in light of the findings.

Research shows that the transfer of pupils between the primary and secondary tiers of schooling is a key point in their lives, causing them anxiety and impacting on their ability to engage with learning. Yet despite this, research also concludes that this area is not given the attention it deserves. From a literature review of available research into pupil concerns prior to and following the transfer to secondary school, it is argued that quantitative and qualitative studies in this area can be combined in order to increase understanding of the concerns reported by pupils at this time. In order to show how specific concerns change across the transfer process, a Waterfall Model of Transfer is offered as a representation of the findings from the literature. In order to test the Waterfall Model of Transfer and explore pupil concerns further during the transfer process, a mixed methods study was conducted, focusing around a sorting task completed by 28 pupils in Year 6 and 6 pupils in Year 7. Additional qualitative and quantitative aspects were incorporated to support the findings of the sorting task. The results obtained show that overall levels of concern decrease following transition, but individual analysis highlights that for some pupils, specific concerns remain or increase in severity following transfer. The findings also support a revised Waterfall Model of Transfer as a tool to show how pupil concerns change at this key point in pupils’ lives. Theoretical and practical applications, as well as further research opportunities are also discussed.

It is widely believed that positive parent-child interaction fosters child development. Interventions involving participants viewing videos of their own interactions (self- video interventions) can support the development of interaction skills. The systematic literature review focused on the effectiveness of self-video interventions on parent- child interaction and the verbal communication skills of children. The study focused on nine published, empirical studies. Findings suggested some positive outcomes relating to parents‘ interaction skills and aspects of children‘s expressive and receptive language skills. Whilst there is some evidence that self-video interventions can have a positive effect on parent-child interactions and children‘s verbal communication skills, less is known about the parental experience of self-video interventions (Lomas, 2011). One specific self-video intervention, video interaction guidance (VIG) was then investigated in a practitioner research project. The project aimed to uncover the parental experience of VIG. Three participants took part in one cycle of VIG and one interview with the researcher who was a trainee VIG guider. Interview data were analysed using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). The findings indicated parents valued the opportunity for reflection using video and they felt empowered to make positive changes in their relationships with their children through one cycle of VIG. The findings also raised questions about parents‘ experiences of control and feelings of being judged during VIG. Participants felt the VIG experience involved a degree of professional judgement of their parenting skills and their children‘s verbal communication skills. This is discussed within the wider socio-cultural context of practitioner-client relationships. Understanding of the function of the relationship between the guider and the VIG client was identified as a key area for future research.

Background : Research on the use of dynamic assessment (DA) of different aspects of expressive language has yielded promising results in terms of its use in distinguishing between language difference and language disorder and in informing language intervention. Aims: The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate a DA of receptive vocabulary which could be adopted with preschool children when a concern was raised about their language. Methods: In this study, two DA procedures were developed for use with children who had been referred to speech and language therapy (SLT). Both procedures incorporated static measures of receptive vocabulary (the BPVS) and of non-verbal cognitive ability (the BAS) as well as dynamic measures of children’s ability to establish new word-referent matches. The first procedure was used with 40 pre-school children who had been referred to SLT services. Thirty seven of these children were followed up and re-assessed using the BPVS after a six months waiting period, in order to monitor their progress in receptive vocabulary. The second procedure was adopted with 15 pre-school children within two nurseries. Ten of the children had been referred to SLT. The qualitative and quantitative information obtained using this second procedure was fed back to the speech and language therapists and school staff who worked with the referred children. All of the children were re-assessed using the DA procedure after a six month waiting period. Learning support assistants (LSAs) also rated children’s progress at this time. Results: Both procedures were found to add quantitative and qualitative information which was not available through static assessments. With the first procedure a combination of static and dynamic measures at Time 1 was found to possess greater predictive validity than the static (BPVS) measure of receptive vocabulary alone. This was particularly the case with children achieving low scores (below the 25th percentile) on the BPVS at Time 1. The second procedure provided greater qualitative information regarding children’s word learning potential in naturalistic settings. A wider range of quantitative and psychometric measures were also derived from the second DA procedure and DA ratings were also found to correlate with measures of children’s progress at time 2 (BPVS and LSA’s ratings). Discussion: The quantitative and qualitative results are combined in order to discuss implications for assessment, clinical decision-making and intervention with pre-school children referred to SLT

This research took a qualitative approach, focusing on the perceptions and experience of consultants and consultees. The rationale is explored in the light of previous research, which concentrates on a quantitative approach and does not explore consultation from the participants' perspective. This research adds to the research base because it investigates the experience of participants in consultations from a number of perspectives. 46 questionnaires were sent to educational psychologists to gain their understanding of the pertinent elements of consultations and to aid reflection on the language of consultation. The return rate was 40%. The resultant data was used to formulate a semi-structured questionnaire, which was used to interview eight educational psychologists about their experiences of consultation in perceived successful and unsuccessful circumstances. 16 consultees were interviewed: one from each of the perceived successful and unsuccessful situations. Finally transcriptions were made from recordings of 'live' consultations of each of the original consultants. An iterative qualitative analysis was undertaken using grounded theory and focused feedback with the participants. A critique of the methodology focused on the strengths and limitations of the design adopted. The results showed significant variation in the conceptualisation and practice between consultants, with little shared understanding of the role and practice of consultation either across consultants or between consultants and consultees. The espoused practice of consultants differed from their actual practice and from the experience of consultees. Differences were found in the use of theoretical principles, power stances, the process of problem analysis and intervention strategy development. Although most participants acknowledged the importance of evaluation, in practice no time was allocated to this activity. This research considered a small sample of consultants and consultees, all of whom worked in the same county. Any generalisations drawn must be tentative. Nonetheless, the variance found within the relative homogeneity of the group of psychologists does suggest the variance would only increase within a larger sample with less homogeneity. The discussion and summary considers the implications for educational psychology practice of consultation and future research.

Bullying affects a large minority of school-age children. It can also lead to short and long-term poor psychosocial functioning, extending into adult life. Now that the prevalence and consequences of childhood bullying have been well-documented, many researchers are interested in its causes. Environmental, social and personal variables have all been implicated in the onset and maintenance of bullying. Aspects of the school environment affect the prevalence of bullying. Parenting styles are associated with being both a bully and bullied. Bullies and victims have also been shown to have distinct psychological profiles, including differences in cognitions, affect and behaviour. As more research has been carried out, it has become evident that there may be complex relationships between these variables that cannot be described using simple cause-effect explanations. A unifying model of bullying is now needed to draw research findings together and guide the development of effective interventions in bullying.

Background: The literature has identified that children's performance can be impaired by anxiety. Anxiety can lead to tension, stress, avoidance behaviour, and inhibit performance. Progressive muscular relaxation (PMR) and self-hypnosis (SH) have been identified in the literature as approaches to address anxiety.;Aims: This study questions whether anxiety in students can be successfully reduced by teaching students to apply two particular self help approaches PMR or SH and whether SH is more effective than PMR. The study examines changes in hopelessness, self-esteem, locus of control, strengths and difficulties, personal targets, effect on home life, the part played by commitment, expectancy and effort and whether changes achieved are maintained over time.;Sample: 20 secondary school students, all referred for anxiety related difficulties, were randomly assigned to either of the two treatment approaches with similar numbers of male and female students in each group. Method Each student attended four sessions with a parent to receive instruction in how to apply the treatment approach. Three follow up sessions took place over the following six months to check for maintenance of changes.;Results: Both approaches enabled participants to reduce their anxiety. There was a non significant, persuasively consistent trend in measures completed by participants and by parents for the effectiveness of self-hypnosis compared with progressive muscular relaxation for anxiety reduction and on the other measures except for SDQ (parent-rated). SDQ improvement noted in the SH group by participants and their parents contrasted with teachers who noted most change in the PMR group. Student and parent changes achieved on all measures were maintained over the following six months for the SH group except for effort and parent-rated SDQ. For the PMR group changes reported on all measures were maintained over six months except for self-esteem, SDQ (self-rated) and effort.;Conclusion: Students can be empowered to help themselves manage and reduce anxiety by using either PMR or SH, the latter appearing to show a consistent persuasive trend in effectiveness. Improvements in self-esteem, locus of control, personal targets, home life, and a reduction in hopelessness were also recorded. Parents and participants reported positive changes in home life. Anxiety reduction appeared correlated with high commitment to improve.

A systematic literature review carried out to update previous reviews found a positive relationship between self reported efficacy beliefs of teachers and their inclusive views. Results also reported the orientation of the perceived disability (e.g. whether behavioural or physical) to correlate with teachers’ self efficacy beliefs A middle chapter bridges the systematic literature review and the empirical research. This bridging document provides a political context for the thesis and explores the researcher’s interest in the research area The document explains that the researcher’s ontological and epistemological constructivist stance influenced the design of the study and the research questions asked. The influence of certain psychological theories is acknowledged and detailed. Other considerations discussed include ethics and reasons for rejecting alternative data analysis methods. The empirical study aimed to explore the correlation identified in the systematic literature review between self-efficacy beliefs of teachers and their inclusive views. The study also aimed to identify what teachers say about how their efficacy beliefs might be developed or what prevents such development. The study utilised 7 staff members from provision that supports Key Stage 3 and 4 pupils identified with social, emotional and behavioural needs (EBD). Staff were interviewed using a semi structured guide and data was analysed using data driven thematic analysis. Results indicated a complex causal relationship between teacher efficacy and inclusive views. A number of discourses relevant to enhancing and diminishing teacher self efficacy beliefs, such as relationships and the EBD label, were identified. The study illuminated the possible benefit of revisiting social cognitive theory to update its relevance to the role of teaching in today’s world.