The intent of this thesis is to seek understanding of how word work lessons with children can transfer to their authentic reading and writing practices. Research has shown that when word work is embedded into a balanced approach to teach literacy, it works well and quickly. However, other research shows that word work did not transfer into the students’ authentic writing because the connection between word work and writing was not made explicit to the students. The gap in the literature is that far less is known about how word work transfers to authentic reading and writing. In my study, I engaged in word work lessons, guided reading lessons, and reading response lessons with four second grade students over the course of three weeks. All lessons were video recorded and became data for this study. Data were analyzed deductively by locating critical teaching moments that were taken advantage of. Findings include three different types of prompts being used by the teacher to take advantage of critical teaching moments. Results from this study have implications for educators, namely how they can be more intentional with their phonics and guided reading instruction, so that word work instruction can transfer to authentic reading and writing practices.

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Syftet med undersökningen är att söka svar på hur yrkesverksamma lärare inom skolans tidi-gare åldrar åk.1–3 arbetar med läsinlärning. Jag vill även undersöka vilka läsinlärningsme-toder lärarna använder i undervisningen samt vilka faktorer som påverkat dessa lärares val av läsinlärningsmetoder.  Min undersökning består av sex semistrukturerade kvalitativa intervjuer med lärare, all verksamma inom samma mellansvenska kommun.  Flera intressanta aspekter har framkommit genom undersökningen. Bland annat att ingen av de intervjuade lärarna använder sig av en enda renodlad metod. Istället blandar de och tar ”det bästa” från olika metoder samt anpassar sitt arbetssätt delvis efter den barngrupp de arbe-tar med. Faktorer som påverkat lärarnas val av läsinlärningsmetoder är exempelvis trender, erfarna kollegor och kommunalt inflytande. / The aim of this study has been to find answers as to how primary teachers in the early ages (grades 1–3) help children in the process of learning to read. I also wanted to investigate wich methods teachers use in teaching their students in learning to read. My interest also lies in what has affected the teachers choice of reading methods.  My study is based on six semistructured qualitative interviews with teachers, who all work in the same town, but in different schools.  Several interesting aspects emerged from the interviews. For example, none of the teachers use only one reading method. The mix and match and adapt their teaching according to their class and preconditions. Factors that have influenced their choice of method is, among other things, trends older colleges and municipal influence.

The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of an intervention that focuses on phonics, decoding, reading speed and phonological awareness for 8-9 year old children in reading difficulties. Participants were selected on the basis of screening test results in grade one (decoding and reading comprehension). The participants were divided into two groups, an intervention group (A1, n=10 children) and a control group (A2, n=10). A1 received 30 minutes of intense reading instruction every day for six weeks from special educational needs teachers on top of their usual classroom based reading instruction. The control group received only their usual classroom-based reading instruction. Both groups completed a pre-intervention test and a post-intervention test to determine the effect of the intervention. Both groups were tested for decoding, phonological awareness, letter/sound connection, RAN and reading speed. The results show that both groups increased their reading ability with A1 showing the bigger gain. The intervention had significant effect after six weeks training on decoding words and non-words, and a tendency to significance for reading speed. The findings highlight the importance of early structural phonological training to accomplish and strengthen children’s reading speed and decoding ability, especially for children in reading difficulties.

Early reading literacy is foundational to all other academic learning. It is imperative that elementary students with and without disabilities be provided with evidence-based reading instruction. Elementary students with developmental disabilities (DD) and complex communication needs (CCN) benefit from evidence-based reading instruction that incorporates individualized, explicit instruction and appropriate assistive technology. Research to identify evidence-based practices for students with DD and CCN is necessary to assist teachers to close the gap in overall achievement for this group of learners. The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of the early reading program Go Talk Phonics (Ahlgrim-Delzell, Browder, &Wood, 2014) that incorporated evidence-based systematic instruction delivered through assistive technology to teach reading to elementary students ( n = 2 ) with DD and CCN. The two participants in this single-case designed study did not make adequate progress toward the objectives of Lesson One of the intervention in order to continue on to Lessons Two and Three. Although the participants in this study were less successful in the objectives of the lesson than participants in the Ahlgrim-Delzell et al., (2014) study, there were differences in the participants, assistive technology, and design of the experiment. Important considerations were revealed when selecting academic interventions for students with CCN and DD. Assessment of broader aspects of the students' skills and literacy experience, as well as differential reinforcement procedures specific to instructional demands may be necessary to see gains from instruction.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

對以英語為外語學習的台灣學生而言，傳統的發音輔助系統在國中階段是以K.K.音標為主，而目前國小階段的發音輔助系統是藉由字母拼讀法，本研究旨在探討字母拼讀法與K.K.音標對台灣六年級學生在單字發音效益比較之研究。 研究對象為台北市一所公立小學六年級二個班共62位學生，兩班隨機分成實驗組與控制組，實驗組施予K.K.音標教學，而控制組則施以字母拼讀法教學。實驗研究共進行一學期，實驗前給予兩組學生單字發音的口試測驗，實驗後再進行同一份口試測驗，並採用三種統計方法進行資料分析:敘述性統計、獨立樣本T 檢定與卡方檢定。資料分析結果顯示K.K.音標與字母拼讀法教學在單字發音上有顯著差異，受試者對於K.K.音標教學在整體單字發音的表現較有成效；在單音節與多音節以及規則與不規則字的發音上也較字母拼讀法教學有成效。此外，二組受試者在子音、母音、重音與音節的錯誤率比較上，僅在母音上呈現顯著差異，受試者輔以字母拼讀法教學在母音的錯誤率較K.K.音標教學高，而錯誤似乎是受到字母拼讀法規則類化的影響。 最後，由此研究結果提出對國小六年級學生在單字發音教學的建議，期盼對國小六年級英語教師與學生在單字發音的教與學上有所助益。 / To facilitate word pronunciation for EFL students in Taiwan, K.K. phonetic symbols have been used in junior high schools for decades whereas phonics has been introduced in elementary schools. The purpose of the study is to examine which method, phonics or K.K. phonetic symbols, is more effective in teaching word pronunciation for sixth graders who have had three years of formal English education at public schools. The participants in this study were two classes of 62 sixth graders in Taipei city. Two classes were randomly assigned to the experimental group who received the instruction of K.K. phonetic symbols for a semester while the control group who received the instruction of phonics. The oral task of students’ production abilities on word pronunciation designed by the researcher was used as the instrument to collect the data. The data collected was analyzed by three statistical methods, including descriptive statistics, independent sample t-test and chi-square. The results showed that students receiving K.K. phonetic symbols instruction outperformed those who received phonics instruction on overall, monosyllabic, polysyllabic, regular and irregular word pronunciation. Additionally, it is found that students with the instruction of phonics made more vowel errors. The segmental errors in the phonics group may result from the effect of phonics generalization. Based on the findings, this study proposes some pedagogical implications for sixth grade English teachers to better facilitate students’ learning on English word pronunciation.