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Augmentative communicators are perceived to have difficulty with reading and writing. This research investigates the effect of increased opportunity to communicate via telecommunications on the reading and writing of adult augmentative communicators who are severely disabled. Two case studies were conducted utilizing a single subject, repeated measure design. The subject of each case study participated in on-line interactive Blissymbol telecommunications sessions with a speaking partner for nine hours per week over ten months. Reading and language tests were administered at two month intervals. Written transcripts of on-line conversations were collected and coded according to macro and micro language functions. Following the increased opportunity to communicate via telecommunications, case study two paralleled the results found in case study one displaying increased reading ability as demonstrated by the upward trends on the multiple reading measures utilized. Case study two also corroborated case study one in the written communication as demonstrated by the increased use of complex language functions, initiations, and response to statements. The findings suggest that providing augmentative communicators with meaningful and functional reading, writing, and 'speaking' opportunities, similar to those provided with the telecommunications opportunity in this research, will have a positive effect on reading and writing.

The aim of this study was to explore the reading life histories of three Intermediate Phase (IP) language educators, and how their histories influence their teaching, as part of a larger University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) reading project. Using the life history research approach, the manner in which the participants learnt to read at home before starting school, in Primary and High School and how they were trained to teach reading was examined. By observing their lessons and interviewing them, the effects that their experiences have had on their current teaching methods and their readiness to implement the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) in their phase in 2013, was explored. Research has shown that the literacy levels in South Africa (SA) are reason for great concern. There seems to be an overemphasis on decoding skills with limited exposure to all aspects of comprehension in the lower grades. Thus SA learners struggle to cope as they go on to higher grades where they are expected to read for meaning and read to learn. These problems may be associated with the inadequate training and limited knowledge of teaching reading of many SA educators. Educators who participated in this study seem to define reading as primarily decoding text to speech and view comprehension as a separate entity. In addition to this they do not have a full understanding of the complexities of the comprehension process. By exploring the participants’ experiences of learning to read, their training in teaching reading, and current classroom practices, the effects of the former two were visible on the latter. This study contributes to the larger research project as the participants’ misconceptions and preconceptions created by their own mediocre schooling, substandard and outdated training and inadequate continuous development, were analysed so these could be addressed in workshops designed by the UKZN reading project team. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2012.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of special reading upon academic performance in reading of children in grade one. For this purpose a six months experiment was conducted in three similar schools.Special reading was implemented in one of two settings; one group received special reading in the school reading clinic under the direction of the reading specialist; a second group received instruction from the classroom teacher using the reading specialist as a resource person. Designated control, one group received no aid from the reading specialist.Children in the special reading groups had ranked in the low third on a screening test. Their reading achievement was evaluated as well as that of pupils who ranked in the middle and upper thirds in classrooms where special programs were implemented for the low third in one of two settings.Instruments used in the study were the First Grade Screening Test, The Screening Test for Assigning Remedial Treatment, the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test and a scale calculated to gain information about a dimension of per-called "locus of control". This scale is the StricklandNorwicki Scale.The results of the reading achievement test served as a basis for comparison, using analysis of variance to test four null hypotheses.Data obtained from the Strickland-Norwicki Scale were not subjected to statistical analysis but were described with reference to the groups.Results from the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test revealed that there were no significant differences in reading achievement between the three groups of pupils, those enrolled in either of the two special reading groups or the control group. These groups were comprised of pupils who had scored in the low third on the screening test.Students who ranked in the upper third in classrooms where special reading was implemented for the lower third achieved significantly higher than did top third students whose low third classmates received no aid from the reading specialist. This was also true when the upper and middle thirds were combined. When scores of the middle third alone were analyzed no significant differences resulted.The Strickland-Norwicki Scale revealed that perceptions of environment were nearly equally distributed between feelings of being internally and externally controlled for the total group. When viewing the scores of the three groups individually, the special reading outside classroom group had the more positive orientation, internal control, as evaluated by this scale.It was concluded that special reading is valuable to first-grade pupils although in this study those directly participating in the experimental special reading groups did not show significantly higher achievement than did those who did not receive it. However, students who had been deemed more ready for reading instruction as evaluated by a screening test, (upper third or combined middle and upper third) whose low third classmates were enrolled in a program of special reading, gained some indirect benefits of special reading. They achieved significantly higher reading achievement test scores than did students who also ranked in the upper third, or middle and upper third combined, in classrooms which did not provide special reading for classmates ranking in the low third.

This study investigated the effects of lesson preparation and teaching of reading and the effects of reinforcement inherent in the teaching role on reading comprehension, vocabulary, and attitude toward the concept "reading." Subjects for the study were low reading sixth graders.In this study equivalent groups were used to control for the possible positive social effects inherent in the process of assuming the tutor role. Additionally, the total time involvement with the reading material was controlled to assure equal time involvement for all subjects.In order to determine the most effective use of tutoring as a means of educational intervention for tutors, it was necessary to isolate the critical factors which determine the success of the overall tutoring process. Rigorous experimental control was also necessary in order to determine whether the academic improvement of tutors was actually a function of the tutoring process and not a function of uncontrolled, unknowm factors.The subjects in this study were 71 sixth grade students from 10 classrooms located in the seven elementary schools of a rural Midwestern school system. The subjects included all sixth grade students in the entire school system who scored between one and three years below grade level in reading comprehension, and for whom written parental permission for participation in the study was obtained.A pretest-posttest control group design was used to test data relative to nine hypotheses. The Gates-MacGinitie Reading Tests were used to measure the reading comprehension and vocabulary of all sixth graders. A semantic differential was used to measure the attitudes of subjects toward the concept "reading."Analysis of covariance was the statistical treatment utilized to determine the significance of differences in data relative to the nine hypotheses.Following the pretest, subjects were randomly assigned within each school into one of three groups. Experimental group (ER) tutored fourth grade students in reading for three one-half hour periods a week for 12 weeks. These subjects tutored during part of their regular classroom reading period. Experimental group (EA) tutored fourth grade students in arithmetic for three, one-half hour periods a week for 12 weeks. These tutors remained in their regular sixth grade classroom during reading period. Control group (C) did not tutor nor interact with fourth grade children. These subjects remained in their sixth grade classroom for regular reading instruction.The conclusions of this study are as follows:1. Working as a tutor in reading plus receiving some' regularclassroom instruction was as effective as receiving regularclassroom instruction in reading alone.2. The effects of the reinforcement inherent in playing the role of teacher alone do not appear to produce improved reading achievement skills.3.Actual lesson preparation and teaching of reading plus some regular classroom reading instruction were as effective as regular classroom reading instruction alone.4. The effects of playing the role of teacher did not affect subject attitudes toward reading.

Purposes of the study were to (1) develop an instrument for evaluating teacher expectations in regard to factors influencing reading achievement; (2) administer the instrument to first grade teachers of a selected school district to ascertain range of teacher expectations regarding factors that influence reading achievement; (3) identify teachers in two groups--Those revealing the Greatest Expectation of Differences in pupil achievement (TGED) and Those revealing the Least Expectation of Differences in achievement (TIED); and (4) collect data from student records for the two groups of teachers to determine extent to which the self-fulfilling prophecy may be manifested as it relates to reading achievement. An instrument, based on factors which research has indicated influences teacher expectations concerning reading achievement, was administered to seventy-eight first grade teachers in the selected school district. Responses were analyzed by computer. Thirty-two teachers were selected for the latter part of the study and were divided into two groups: sixteen teachers who "agreed" most often that certain factors influence reading achievement (TGED) and sixteen who "disagreed" most often with statements regarding expected reading achievement (TLED). Data were recorded for 349 students from the sixteen TGED and 348 students from the sixteen TLED, a total of 697 students, which comprised the population for this phase of the study.Data for the 697 students included: (1) Metropolitan Readiness Test rating (administered at conclusion of kindergarten);(2) sex of child; (3) ethnic origin; (4) order of birth; (5) area of residence; (6) parent occupation; (7) socioeconomic level; (8) attendance in kindergarten; (9) age at entry to first grade; and (10) scores on GatesMacGinitie Reading Tests (administered at conclusion of first grade).Ratings from the Metropolitan Readiness Test were used as a constant. Students were grouped into "high," "average," and "low" categories from MRT scores. Instruction by teachers with greatest or least expectation of differences was used as the treatment (independent variable). Data from student records were used as dependent variables for ninety-six analyses of variance. Significant differences favored students taught by TGED on thirteen of forty-eight analyses. Only three significant differences favored students taught by TLED. Therefore, it appears that this student population tended to be more successful in learning to read when working with the TGED group. The three significant differences which favored the students instructed by TLED teachers appeared in the categories with "low" readiness ratings. Perhaps the TLED teachers obtain better results from pupils in these groupings because less differences in reading achievement are expected. Twenty-two differences were statistically significant in forty-eight analyses performed on groups subdivided according to sex of student, parent occupation, area of residence, ethnic origin, and socioeconomic level. It appears that certain factors analyzed exerted influences which affect a child learning to read regardless of teacher expectations. The variables of order of birth, attendance in kindergarten, and age at entry to first grade revealed no statistically significant differences.In this study, reading achievement scores were significantly higher at the end of first grade for girls compared to boys, for Caucasian students compared to students of minority groups, for children from "white collar" families compared to children from "blue collar" families, for children who live in other areas compared to children who live in the inner-city, and for children from middle and upper socioeconomic levels compared to children from lower socioeconomic level. Therefore, it would appear that these differences involved important factors operating to determine reading achievement whether instruction was provided by teachers with greater or lesser expectation of differences among students.

There is no abstract available for this dissertation.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of group sharing of books and related materials on the number of books borrowed, on the strengthening of reading interests, and on the improvement of vocabulary of second grade pupils.The study was conducted over a period of twelve weeks from the first pre test to the final post test.The subjects selected for the study were forty-two second grade pupils in two classes in Anthony Elementary School, Muncie, Indiana, 1969-70. The pupils had been assigned to the two classrooms by the administrator the previous spring at the close of school. The school is located near the Ball State University campus. The population consisted of white children from a middle class neighborhood. The children ranged in mental ability from 89 to 140 I.Q. The mean I.Q. was 109.9.Thirty-nine pupils completed the study. The experimental group, labeled as Group A, consisted of eleven boys and nine girls. The comparison group, labeled as Group B, contained fourteen boys and seven girls. Two of the boys moved away during the study. One boy was dropped from the study.The following null hypotheses were examined:(1) There will be no significant difference between the children of Group A and the children of Group B in the quantity of books borrowed; (2) There will be no significant differences in terms of broadening of reading interests of the children of Group x as compared to the children of Group B; (3) There will be no significant difference between the children of Group A and the children of Group B in the growth of vocabulary from the pre test to the post test.The instruments of measurement used were: (1) a book count of library books borrowed by the children during the study; (2) an interest inventory constructed by the writer; and (3) the Dolch list of 220 words.Two teachers participated in the study. Each had had previous experience with second grade children. The writer was the teacher of the experimental group.The experimental group differed from the comparison group in that, while both groups had free reading periods, only the experimental group participated in the sharing of books and related materials at the beginning of each free reading period.Some of the library books were selected by the teachers from a neighborhood library. These sets of books were exchanged between Group A and Group B. This afforded the opportunity for children of both groups to make contact with identical books. Other library books were selected by the children from the centrally located school library. A special library period each week was scheduled for both groups. Books were placed in a library corner of the classroom of Group A and of Group B.Free reading time consisted of three twenty minute periods each week. This was for the purpose of allowing the children to select and read library books. Records of the books read were kept by means of the cards which the children signed when they borrowed the books. The cards were collected by the writer each week.The interest inventory was devised by the writer. The selected seven book categories of possible interest to second grade children consisted of (1) humor, (2) farm, (3) make-believe, (4) pets, (5) family and friends,(6) cowboy, and (7) outer space. A book from each category was then selected from the school library. Each book was assessed for its most representative picture. Each child was given an interest inventory sheet which listed numbers corresponding to numbers on the books. Each child was instructed to place an X in the three boxes following the number if he liked the book "a lot"; two boxes were to be marked if he liked it "some"; one box was to be marked if he was indifferent to the book. No boxes were to be marked for that number if he disliked the book.The interest inventory was previously given to the third and first grades of Anthony Elementary School. The teachers of those classes evaluated the inventory. The interest inventory then was given to Groups A and B at the beginning and end of the study.The Dolch Vocabulary Test of 220 basic sight words was administered at the beginning and again at the end of the study to each group by the teacher in charge of that group. The entire list of 220 words was given to each group.The sharing activities of the experimental group consisted of free discussion of stories and pictures, illustrations of ideas and characters found in the books, tape recordings of the children's evaluation of books, and dramatization with the aid of puppets.Attempts were made to keep the formal reading programs of Group A and Group B the same. Both groups used The Ginn Basic Readers, Ginn and Company, as a basic reader series and The New Basic Readers, Scott Foresman and Company, as a supplementary reader series.The total number of books borrowed by Group A during the study was 858. The boys of Group A were found to have borrowed 348 and the girls borrowed 510.A total of 653 books were borrowed by Group B during the study. The boys of Group B borrowed 403 and the girls 250.Group A showed a mean of 47.667 books borrowed, while Group B showed a mean of 31.095. Simple analysis of variance was used to statistically test the difference in the number of books borrowed by each group. The F Ratio was 12.8702, which was significant at the one percent level, thus allowing the null hypothesis to be rejected.Subsequent t-Test was applied and the results showed that when comparing the number of books borrowed between boys and girls of Group A, there was a significant difference at the one percent level favoring the girls. There was also a significant difference at the one percent level favoring Group A girls when comparing girls of Group A with boys of Group B, and girls of Group A with girls of Group B in the number of books borrowed.In consideration of books borrowed there was no significant difference between boys of Group A and boys of Group B, boys of Group A and girls of Group B, or boys of Group B and girls of Group B.Simple analysis of variance was used to test the differences in the reading interests of Group A as compared to Group B as indicated through the interest inventory administered. No significant differences were found.There were no significant differences found between Group A and Group B in vocabulary growth as measured by the Dolch words when tested by simple analysis of variance.In conclusion, it can be stated that children of the experimental group had a tendency to be motivated to check out more books by group sharing of books, and that the experimental group borrowed more books than the comparison group. It may also be stated that boys of both groups tended to narrow their reading interests while girls had a tendency to broaden their reading interests during the study.While the measured vocabulary growth did not indicate significant differences between the comparison group and the experimental group, there was a tendency for the experimental group to show strength in vocabulary growth. Had the experiment been of longer duration, the growth in vocabulary might have been significant.It was noted that children of different mental abilities chose similar books. This was indicated by the result of the reading interest inventory and by the specific books borrowed.As a result of this study, it is recommended that more teachers use motivational techniques to encourage the borrowing of library books by young beginners in reading.It is suggested that boys especially have the advantage of a wide variety of books. The books selected for this study were limited by the neighborhood library and the Anthony School library.It is recommended that further studies such as this be made with large random sampling of groups and over a longer duration of time. It is suggested that a vocabulary test consisting of a wider range than the Dolch test be used as a measuring instrument. Since this study was conducted with children of a white population, whose mental abilities were normal and above, it is suggested that the study be repeated in a more controlled situation to see whether the results would be statistically similar. An inner city population might tend to show different results as related to their background experiences and interests. Another recommendation could be a change in the procedure in administering the interest inventory. Instead of children indicating interest in a book based upon a picture, the children could browse through the book. Several books in each category could be utilized.Further recommendation with regard to testing would be that the study be conducted over a longer period of time and achievement checked with standardized tests. Interest and achievement might be related.Ball State UniversityMuncie, IN 47306

This study investigated the relationship between instructional level scores as determined by a cloze test and instructional level scores as determined by an informal reading inventory. Subjects used in this study were selected from schools in a mid-western community. Five schools were selected from a total of twenty-two elementary schools by means of a random numbers table. Administrative officials acknowledged the fact that the schools selected were representative of the various socio-economic classes serviced by the school system. Fifty male and fifty female subjects were selected from the total fifth grade population of these five schools. This was accomplished by matching assigned pupil numbers with random numbers generated by a computer.A cloze test and an informal reading inventory (IRI) were administered to all subjects over a six-week period during the months of April and May of 1972. For purposes of this study, the IRI was accepted as the criterion with which all other variables were compared. Teachers' estimates of their pupils' instructional levels were also gathered during the testing period. Participating teachers were not able to consult previously determined estimates of their pupils' instructional levels during the data gathering process.Statistical analysis of the data was accomplished by the application of the Pearson Product Moment Correlation. A classification analysis yielded information in terms of the quantities of scores on any two variables which were in exact agreement. Also determined were the quantities of scores which ranged within plus or minus one year of each other, and the quantity of scores which ranged within plus or minus two or more years of each other.The testing of five null hypotheses resulted in significant correlation coefficients at the .01 level between:1. Instructional level scores as determined by an IRI and instructional level scores as determined by a cloze test (.78).2. Instructional level scores as determined by an IRI and teachers' estimates of their pupils' instructional levels (.82).3. Instructional level scores as determined by a cloze test and teachers' estimates of their pupils' instructional levels (.74).4. Instructional level scores as determined bya cloze test and instructional level scores as determined by the word recognition subtest of the IRI (.78).5. Instructional level scores as determined by a cloze test and instructional level scores as determined by the comprehension subtest of the IRI (.69).A classification analysis revealed that while correlations were highly significant, the percentage of pupils' scores which were in exact agreement was 26.2 per cent for all hypotheses tested. Approximately 38.2 per cent of the pupils' scores fell within a range of plus or minus one year of each other. The remaining scores which amounted to 35.6 per cent fell within a range of plus or minus two or more years of each other for all hypotheses tested.These findings seem to indicate that high correlation coefficients are an inadequate criterion on which to accept the cloze procedure as a valid technique for determining the instructional levels of pupils, since only thirty-one per cent of the population sample made identical instructional level scores on both the cloze test and the IRI.An additional finding of this study is that teachers' estimates of their pupils' instructional levels are inaccurate to the point that their continued usecannot be justified. Only twenty-two per cent of teachers' estimates are in exact agreement with the instructional level scores as determined by the IRI.In conclusion, the possibility exists that the cloze procedure may yet provide classroom teachers with a technique for assessing instructional level. However, this practice cannot be recommended based upon the findings of previously conducted correlational studies.