A predictable alphabet book was proposed as a natural way to observe emergent readers’ attempts to integrate their developing literacy skills and knowledge base, despite not yet having achieved conventional levels of reading. Study 1 examined how accuracy in identifying words in an alphabet book in kindergarten related with emergent skills measured in kindergarten and with subsequent reading ability. One hundred and three children completed tests of phonemic awareness, letter knowledge, vocabulary, and rapid naming in kindergarten and were audiotaped reading an alphabet book with their parent. Reading ability was assessed one year later. Correlations were consistent with previous research identifying phonemic awareness, letter knowledge, vocabulary and rapid naming as significant correlates of emergent reading. Alphabet book accuracy correlated with subsequent reading, and the relative indirect effects of kindergarten phonemic awareness and letter sound knowledge on Grade 1 reading through kindergarten alphabet book reading were significant. Findings supported the conceptualization of how well a child identifies words in an alphabet book as a representation of early skill integration. Study 2 built upon these findings by examining self-reported reading strategies. Siegler’s (1996) overlapping waves model was used as a framework, which emphasizes variability, adaptive choice, and gradual change in children’s problem solving. Ninety-one kindergarteners completed tests of phonemic awareness, letter knowledge, and vocabulary, and read an experimentally designed alphabet book having pages of varying difficulty with a researcher twice over several months. Findings supported the three main features of the overlapping waves model. Children reported a variety of strategies across the book and on individual pages within it. They worked most quickly on the easiest pages, reported more strategies on the most difficult pages, and chose adaptively among their strategy repertoire. The number of strategies reported and the number of accurately labeled pages increased over time. The relative indirect effects of phonemic awareness and letter sound knowledge on alphabet book accuracy through the use of graphophonemic strategies were significant. Findings support the application of the overlapping waves model to the domain of reading. Overall, these studies highlight the potential for using typical literacy activities to deepen our understanding of the process of learning to read.

Syftet med studien är att utifrån några utvalda lärares perspektiv undersöka vilka arbetssätt som används i den tidiga läsundervisningen i förskoleklass och årskurs 1 samt hur samarbetet mellan dessa två årskurser ser ut. Kvalitativa intervjuer genomfördes med åtta lärare som arbetar eller har arbetat i förskoleklass och/eller årskurs 1. Resultatet visar att den läsundervisning som sker i förskoleklass och årskurs 1 liknar varandra innehållsmässigt och delvis även kring val av arbetssätt. Skillnaden mellan läsundervisningen i förskoleklass och årskurs 1 är främst att förskoleklassen tydligare belyser lekens roll i undervisningen. Resultatet visar även att det inte finns något tydligt samarbete kring undervisningen. Däremot finns ett samarbete i form av överlämningsmöten vid övergången mellan årskurserna där elevernas kunskaper diskuteras för att lärarna i årskurs 1 ska kunna planera en undervisning utifrån elevens proximala utvecklingszon. / The purpose of this study is to investigate which teaching methods are used in the early reading education in preschool class and first grade and how the teachers experience the collaboration between these two grades. Qualitative interviews were conducted with eight teachers who work, or have worked, in preschool class and/or year 1. The result from the study shows that the reading education that takes place in preschool class and first grade has similar content and is also partly similar in terms of choice of working methods. The main difference between reading instructions in preschool class in contrast to first grade is that the preschool class teachers more clearly highlight the role of play in teaching. The results also show that there is no evident collaboration around how to organize the reading education. On the other hand, there is a collaboration in the form of handover meetings during transitioning from preschool class to first grade. In these meetings students' knowledge is discussed so that the teachers in year 1 can plan a reading education based on the student's proximal development zone.

This study examined the effects of a parent-led intervention focused on developing children's early literacy skills within the home setting. The lesson plans contain scripted steps for completing activities to teach letter names and phonological awareness skills. Archival data were analyzed from a study conducted with 26 families from three Head Start centers. Thirteen families completed the intervention and thirteen families were enrolled in a control condition which provided information on shared reading strategies. Children in the intervention group performed at statistically significant higher levels on measures of letter naming, phonological awareness, vocabulary/oral language, and comprehension. Parents rated both the intervention and control conditions as highly acceptable. Most parents (n= 10) within the intervention group completed the vast majority of the lesson plans. Changes within the home revealed that parents in both groups engaged in the same types of early learning activities, but that parents in the intervention group reported engaging in these activities more frequently than the control group. This study contributes to the literature by creating a method of parental involvement in preschool targeting phonological awareness and letter naming abilities.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:41:25Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Miriam Segin.pdf: 1050500 bytes, checksum: f2f24abe269ea19c582ff88dc172033a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-02-10 / The development of linguistic competences such as vocabulary, phonological awareness and letter knowledge are associated to the development of reading and writing skills in children with typical development. There are few studies about the development of such skills in children with development disorders associated with ID in various levels and specific linguistic profiles such as children with Down Syndrome (DS) and Williams Syndrome (WS). The objective of the present study was to develop and implement intervention procedures that involve training of phonological skills as an auxiliary strategy for the alphabetization process of 6 children, age range 9 to 11 years old, 3 of them with DS and 3 with WS, enrolled at regular education. To accomplish such objectives some tolls were selected to assess intellectual potential (WISC III, ludic observation sessions), behavioral profile (CBCL/6-18), receptive vocabulary (PPVT), understanding of verbal commands (TOKEN), phonological awareness skills (Phonological Awareness by Oral Production Test PCFO), syntactic awareness (Syntactic Awareness Test PCS), reading and writing (Reading and Writing Assessment Battery BALE). Besides the use of these tools, 32 sessions were carried out with the use of the phonic alphabetization software and ludic material (mobile alphabet, logic blocks, pencils and paper) as a complement to the intervention process. Participants were later reassessed though the Phonological Awareness by Oral Production Test (PCFO). CBCL/6-18 results for both groups indicated difficulties in accomplishing jobs and tasks, ability to play and work alone, academic performance, participation in organizations, attention problems, among others. PPVT results indicated that receptive vocabulary is significantly below the average for level of education and age. The assessment of verbal commands through TOKEN was impaired because 4 children did not have enough knowledge to take the test. Results for the Phonological Awareness by Oral Production Test (pre and post-intervention) and the Syntactic Awareness Test indicated large impairment with performances below the average for level of education and age. When taking the Reading and Writing Assessment Battery, children did not display enough skills to accomplish the tasks. It was possible to conclude that the stimulation through phonological awareness training promoted in this study with the help of Computer Phonic Alphabetization , particularly vocals and consonants subtests, lead to improvements in the recognition of the names of alphabet letters. The evolution presented by the participants considering that these children had been going to school for more than 3 or 4 years and still presented impairments in basic precursor abilities to the development of reading and writing skills, and that this was achieved in 32 sessions that took about 2 months, it is possible to consider this a significant progress. To sum up, the intervention procedure for the development of PA appears as a promising path for improving performance in these skills in children with ID. / O desenvolvimento das competências linguísticas como o vocabulário, a consciência fonológica e o conhecimento das letras são associadas ao desenvolvimento das habilidades de leitura e escrita em crianças com desenvolvimento típico. Há poucos estudos sobre o desenvolvimento dessas competências em crianças com distúrbios do desenvolvimento que exibem além de deficiência intelectual (DI) em graus variados, perfis linguísticos específicos como, por exemplo, as crianças com Síndrome de Down (SD) e Síndrome de Williams (SW). Esse estudo teve como objetivo desenvolver e implementar procedimentos de intervenção, utilizando o treino de habilidades fonológicas como auxiliar para o processo de alfabetização, para 6 crianças com idades entre 9 e 11 anos, sendo 3 com SD e 3 com SW, matriculadas no ensino regular. Para cumprir os objetivos do trabalho foram selecionados instrumentos para avaliação do potencial intelectual (WISC III, sessões lúdica de observação), do perfil comportamental (CBCL/6-18), do vocabulário receptivo (TVIP) e compreensão de comandos verbais (TOKEN), das habilidades de Consciência Fonológica (PCFO), de Consciência Sintática (PCS) e leitura e escrita (BALE). Além destes instrumentos foram realizadas 32 sessões utilizando-se o software de alfabetização fônica e materiais lúdicos (alfabeto móvel, blocos lógicos e lápis e papel) como auxiliares no procedimento de intervenção. Após isso os participantes foram reavaliados por meio da PCFO. Como resultados dos dois grupos observou-se, no CBCL/6-18, comprometimento na realização de trabalhos e tarefas, na capacidade de brincar e trabalhar sozinha, no desempenho acadêmico, na participação em organizações, problemas de atenção dentre outros. No teste TVIP foi possível observar que o vocabulário receptivo está muito abaixo do esperado para a escolaridade e para a idade. A avaliação da compreensão de comandos verbais medidas pelo TOKEN foi prejudicada porque 4 crianças não apresentaram os conhecimentos para a realização da atividade. Na PCFO (pré e pós-intervenção) e na PCS os resultados apresentados pelos dois grupos mostraram grande comprometimento com desempenho muito abaixo do esperado em função da idade e da escolaridade. Com relação a BALE, as crianças não apresentavam habilidades para a realização das atividades. Foi possível concluir que a estimulação por meio do treino de consciência fonológica promovida nesse estudo com o auxílio do programa Alfabetização Fônica Computadorizada produziu ganhos para a habilidade de reconhecimento do nome das letras do alfabeto por meio dos seguintes subtestes: vogais e consoantes. A evolução apresentada pelos participantes, se considerarmos que estas crianças já frequentaram a escola por mais de 3 a 4 anos e mesmo assim apresentavam prejuízos em habilidades precursoras básicas para o desenvolvimento de leitura e escrita, com apenas 32 sessões em um prazo de aproximadamente dois meses, houve um progresso acentuado. Em suma, o procedimento de intervenção para o desenvolvimento da CF mostra-se um caminho promissor para melhorar os desempenhos nessas habilidades para crianças com DI.

視英語為第一外語的學習，一直是學生生活中一個重要的課題。英語的使用變的更為普遍，以位於東亞國家的台灣來說，就已經開始重視英語的教學。然而，大部分的家長仍不滿意孩子們的英語能力，因此，而產生了所謂的補習班。為了增進學生的閱讀能力與態度，任何一種有效的教學策略都是值得探討的。本研究的主要目的之一，便是了解平衡閱讀教學的出現，如何增進國小學生英語學習的效能。而實施行動研究的目的，主要是為了確認平衡閱讀教學的效果。在為期五個月的前導研究完成後，其研究成果便成為正式研究的基礎架構。本研究之對象為15位台北市國小一年級參加補習班的學童。研究結果顯示，平衡閱讀教學對於增進學生字彙的認知能力、語音覺識與技巧有所幫助，同時，也能大幅增進學生學習英語的自信心。除此之外，平時就有參加補習班的學童進步的程度也明顯大於未參加的學童。然而，為了增進教學的效能，系統化的發音教學範例在幫助教師制定更為合適的教學計畫與學習內容上，是極為必要的。 關鍵字:平衡閱讀教學、字母知識、語音覺識,閱讀態度,英語初學者。 / English language learning as the first and foreign language has always been an important factor in a child’s life as a student. As the usage of the English language becomes ever more apparent, East Asian nation like Taiwan has started to place much focus on its teaching. However, many parents in Taiwan are still unsatisfied with their children’s English abilities where they gained from formal school, hence the so-called cram school. In order to improve student reading ability and attitude, any effective teaching strategies are worth exploring. The main objective of this study is to determine how balanced reading instruction will enhance English learning effectiveness among EFL beginners. An action study was done in order to identify teaching effects of a balanced reading instruction. A pilot study was first accomplished, which later served as the backbone of the formal study. Participants were fifteen first graders at an English cram school in Taipei. Data collections were gained from abecedarian reading assessment, reading attitude questionnaires, observations, interviews and recordings methods. Results showed that balanced reading instruction is helpful in enhancing students’ letter knowledge, phonological awareness and increasing the students’ reading attitude. In addition, students who attended class in the cram school regularly improved better than those who did not. However, in order to improve teaching efficiency, more systematic phonics teaching are needed in order to help teachers make appropriate teaching plans for the EFL beginners. Keywords: balanced reading instruction, letter knowledge, phonological awareness, reading attitude, EFL beginners

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