abstract: Children with hearing impairment are at risk for poor attainment in reading decoding and reading comprehension, which suggests they may have difficulty with early literacy skills prior to learning to read. The first purpose of this study was to determine if young children with hearing impairment differ from their peers with normal hearing on early literacy skills and also on three known predictors of early literacy skills – non-verbal cognition, executive functioning, and home literacy environment. A second purpose was to determine if strengths and weaknesses in early literacy skills of individual children with hearing impairment are associated with degree of hearing loss, non-verbal cognitive ability, or executive functioning. I assessed seven children with normal hearing and 10 children with hearing impairment on assessments of expressive vocabulary, expressive morphosyntax, listening comprehension, phonological awareness, alphabet knowledge, non-verbal cognition, and executive functioning. Two children had unilateral hearing loss, two had mild hearing loss and used hearing aids, two had moderate hearing loss and used hearing aids, one child had mild hearing loss and did not use hearing aids, and three children used bilateral cochlear implants. Parents completed a questionnaire about their home literacy environment. Findings showed large between-group effect sizes for phonological awareness, morphosyntax, and executive functioning, and medium between-group effect sizes for expressive vocabulary, listening comprehension, and non-verbal cognition. Visual analyses provided no clear pattern to suggest that non-verbal cognition or degree of hearing loss were associated with individual patterns of performance for children with hearing impairment; however, three children who seemed at risk for reading difficulties had executive functioning scores that were at the floor. Most prekindergarten and kindergarten children with hearing impairment in this study appeared to be at risk for future reading decoding and reading comprehension difficulties. Further, based on individual patterns of performance, risk was not restricted to one type of early literacy skill and a strength in one skill did not necessarily indicate a child would have strengths in all early literacy skills. Therefore, it is essential to evaluate all early literacy skills to pinpoint skill deficits and to prioritize intervention goals. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Speech and Hearing Science 2017

This study investigated the use of instructive feedback for modeling early literacy skills. Instructive feedback is defined as the presentation of additional information during the positive feedback phase of learner trials. Thus, it is a way of modeling additional information when students respond to a trial correctly. Previous studies have demonstrated that instructive feedback can facilitate students’ observational learning of skills, such as sight words, numerals, and vocabulary. Instructive feedback has yet to be investigated when modeling early literacy skills. A modified version of an evidence-based early literacy intervention, PAth to Literacy, was used. Studies examining the efficacy of this intervention have shown it to be effective for teaching phonological awareness (PA) skills, including blending, segmenting, word part identification, and initial phoneme identification. Alphabet instruction is included in the intervention, although effects have been minimal. Instructive feedback was investigated as a novel method of incorporating alphabet instruction within a scripted phonological awareness intervention. Instructive feedback that modeled letter names and letter-sound correspondences was included during the positive feedback in PAth to Literacy. A multiple baseline design across sets of letters was used to determine whether students acquire letter names and sounds through observational learning. Each phase of the study included instructive feedback that modeled names and sounds for a set of four letters. Upon completion of each phase, a new set of four letters was introduced. An Alphabet Mastery Monitor was used to measure student growth on alphabet skills. Student progress on PA tasks also was measured using a researcher-developed PA Fluency Measure. It was hypothesized that students would learn letters modeled through instructive feedback during each phase and would demonstrate progress on the PA skills taught through direct instruction. The six children who completed the experiment demonstrated gains in phonological awareness skills following instruction with PAth to Literacy. However, there were no consistent gains on alphabet skills following instructive feedback. A second experiment was conducted to determine whether changes in the delivery of instructive feedback resulted in gains on the Alphabet Mastery Monitor. Researchers served as interventionists and instruction was delivered one-on-one. The instructive feedback was modified to include a progressive time delay and letters were discriminated from a field of four. Eight children completed the full intervention. All children demonstrated gains on phonological awareness and alphabet knowledge following instruction, indicating that a modified version of instructive feedback can be used to teach alphabet skills. Information from this study will inform clinical practice for educators including speech-language pathologists. Instructive feedback is a useful tool for educators and speech language pathologists to use when teaching early language and literacy skills.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relation between classroom environmental quality and early literacy outcomes amongst a sample of Latino children from various Latin-American countries. Participants included 116 preschoolers that attended various childcare centers in Southeast Florida. Participant’s literacy knowledge was assessed using the Test of Preschool Early Literacy. Classrooms were assessed on environmental quality using the Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scale-Revised. A regression analysis revealed that classroom environmental quality did not account for Latino children’s early literacy outcomes. However, a multiple regression analysis was significant (R2= .15, F(5, 115) = 3.86, p< .05) indicating that quality has a varying impact on children’s early literacy skills based on children’s region of origin. Findings suggest that high classroom environmental quality does not necessarily mean better literacy development for Latino children. Additionally, Latino children should not be viewed as a homogeneous group, particularly in relation to their development of literacy skills in English.

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Magister Educationis - MEd / This study investigated the use of folktales in enhancing literacy development among Grade 3 isiXhosa-speaking learners in one Western Cape primary school. It was inspired by my quest to explain the low literacy performance levels of Foundation Phase learners, especially those taught through the medium of African languages. Although learners are taught in their mother-tongue in this phase, the reported national literacy results do not reflect this educational advantage. Education reports continually indicate low literacy levels in the Annual National Assessments (ANAs). Underdeveloped literacy skills are likely to have a negative impact on the child’s academic progress throughout and beyond the schooling years. This study focused on the use of folktales in fostering imaginative and critical thinking as folktales present language in its natural state. They are regarded as the best tool for whole language and literacy development. Folktales are central to the indigenous knowledge system (IKS) which is an educational and cultural tool that exposes children to oral literacy, even before they acquire literacy My enquiry is premised on the idea that technology should not replace the indigenous knowledge that may be acquired through folktales. Instead, deeper sustainable research into the role of folktales in children’s acquisition of indigenous knowledge is of paramount importance for generating creative and analytical responses and for understanding the role of folktales in young children’s education. For these reasons this study applied qualitative research methodology to investigate how teachers make use of folktales to enhance Grade 3 learners’ literacy skills in isiXhosa. It drew on Sociocultural Theory to explore their pedagogical strategies in this endeavour.The findings show that folktales are oral epistemic tools which may be utilised to foster a learnercentred approach that promotes learners’ ability to grasp ideas. The study concludes that folktales are instruments of pedagogical, social and cultural knowledge which may be used across the curriculum.

This scoping review examines studies on the instruction of early literacy practices to pre-service teachers in teacher education programs. The research questions for this scoping review are: a) What are the major themes in the literature surrounding instructional strategies for early literacy in Bachelor of Education programs? and b) Are there any gaps in the existing literature? Six major education databases were systematically searched, which resulted in 16 articles. After conducting a thematic analysis of these articles, three themes were identified in the literature: B.Ed. program have needs that should be addressed, there are gaps in knowledge and content, and perceptions of pre-service teachers. An unexpected theme appeared during the exclusion process, which was the lack of studies on what pre-service teachers learn in B.Ed. programs regarding early literacy practices, and the high number of articles which study pre-service teacher’s perceptions, opinions, feelings, and beliefs about what they learn in B.Ed. programs, regarding early literacy practices. This demonstrates a gap in the literature and the need for further research on early literacy instruction in B.Ed. programs.

Large numbers of children in the United States are not functioning at adequate levels of literacy. Students who have weak reading proficiency skills are identified as at-risk; failure to acquire competency early in their schooling adversely affects performance in all academic fields and limits their potential for achievement in life. There is an extensive knowledge base about the skills and strategies children must learn in order to read well. Effective fluency and comprehension strategies need to be taught to help students become powerful, active readers who are in control of their learning. This study evaluated a structured classroom model for delivery of small group reading instruction called the Intermediate Extended Literacy Routine (IELR). The IELR is a model for delivery of explicit reading instruction that incorporates fluency instruction with the intent to provide a bridge between word recognition and comprehension. This study examined the effects of the IELR on the achievement of third graders designated as struggling readers. A repeated single subject experimental design was used. Thirteen students in two classrooms at the same west-central Florida school were given the IELR 4 days a week for 8 weeks. The IELR incorporated explicit strategy instruction and was delivered in the form of focused mini-lessons that targeted specific reading strategies the researcher identified as lacking in the subjects. Assessments of performance were made with timed readings, running records, narrative retellings, and the school district's reading comprehension common assessment tool. Results are presented in tabular and graphic form for analysis. The IELR had a positive effect on reading rate (measured in words read per minute), reading accuracy and increased instructional level assessments: students who received the IELR maintained or increased their instructional level on running record assessments and showed evidence of increased reading rate on timed readings. Reading comprehension, measured by narrative retellings, did not improve for most students over the course of the study. Recommendations for future research include the use of a control group; oral (rather than written) retelling measures to assess comprehension, and a longer duration of IELR application to gauge its effectiveness.

Early identification and targeted intervention during the preschool years can help to prevent later reading difficulties among school-age children. The GRTR! was developed by the Applied Research Partners and the National Center for Learning Disabilities. It is a quick, reliable measure developed for paraprofessionals to assess deficits in pre-literacy skills among preschoolers. Most of the research on this measure has been limited to preschoolers primarily from low socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds and authored by the developers of the GRTR! The current study examined the Get Ready to Read! (GRTR!) screening tool as an assessment of emergent literacy skills of 206 preschoolers attending either a private preschool (M range = 38.04 - 71.04) or a public preschool (M range = 41.04 - 72) and relating their performance to standardized measures of language skills (vocabulary and print knowledge) and phonological awareness. The effects of SES, age, school, and gender on the performance of GRTR! were assessed. Students attending the private preschool outperformed those from the public preschool and those from the standardization GRTR! sample, although the public preschool group scored within the average range. Age was a significant predictor of GRTR! scores for participants ages three through five years. The GRTR! correlated positively and significantly with more comprehensive measures of language abilities. Results demonstrate that the GRTR! is a valid and reliable tool for screening children's emergent literacy skills in preschool centers. Results underscore the notion that SES does not necessarily dictate a child's competence in a specific area. Further research linking the GRTR! to strategic and cost-effective interventions, which include parental involvement and teacher support is needed. Studies including a wider range of SES, racial/ethnic, and linguistic groups would also improve upon the measure's validity.

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