A literature-survey indicated that there is a need for complete reading programmes that are integrated within the mainstream to meet the unique needs of learners who struggle to read in South African schools. Recent research suggests that the use of 'evidence-based', complete reading programmes are effective multi-purpose tools for reading intervention, cognitive enrichment, and identification of learners unresponsive to regular literacy instruction. The main conclusion of, this study was ,that the HlWAY READING & SPELLING PROGRAMME© is a complete reading programme, comprising of multiple components including phonemic awareness instruction, systematic phonics instruction, fluency training, vocabulary building and comprehension strategy training components. It is also a much-needed tool for in-service and pre-service teacher training and whole-school capacity building in the implementation of evidence-based reading instruction. A pre-test-post-test control group design was used. The weight of evidence obtained in this investigation indicates that the HRSP caused a statistically significant improvement in spelling and reading comprehension measures. The HRSP was successfully integrated within the mainstream, and the effect sizes obtained in this study were large Recommendations were offered with regard to the use of the complete reading programmes like the HRSP in school contexts to address the needs of learners unresponsive to literacy intervention. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

A literature-survey indicated that there is a need for complete reading programmes that are integrated within the mainstream to meet the unique needs of learners who struggle to read in South African schools. Recent research suggests that the use of 'evidence-based', complete reading programmes are effective multi-purpose tools for reading intervention, cognitive enrichment, and identification of learners unresponsive to regular literacy instruction. The main conclusion of, this study was ,that the HlWAY READING & SPELLING PROGRAMME© is a complete reading programme, comprising of multiple components including phonemic awareness instruction, systematic phonics instruction, fluency training, vocabulary building and comprehension strategy training components. It is also a much-needed tool for in-service and pre-service teacher training and whole-school capacity building in the implementation of evidence-based reading instruction. A pre-test-post-test control group design was used. The weight of evidence obtained in this investigation indicates that the HRSP caused a statistically significant improvement in spelling and reading comprehension measures. The HRSP was successfully integrated within the mainstream, and the effect sizes obtained in this study were large Recommendations were offered with regard to the use of the complete reading programmes like the HRSP in school contexts to address the needs of learners unresponsive to literacy intervention. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

The aim of the study was to explore how the decoding ability of pupils with reading difficulties was influenced by an intervention in decoding. The study was conducted with two different methods, BrAvkod and Trugs, that have been developed to train pupils reading ability. The study is based on a quantitative method of quasi-experimental design that gave the opportunity to compare the results of two groups: one intervention group and one control group, with pupils from grade three. There were ten pupils in each group. The intervention was conducted for 6 weeks, 4 days a week along with pre- and post-tests. A qualitative approach was also chosen in form of a questionnaire interview, to find out how the pupils experienced working with the methods. The results showed positive effects of intensive exercise with BrAvkod and Trugs. Hence, all pupils in the intervention group increased the test results regarding there decoding ability. As to the pupils´ evaluations about how they experienced working with the two different methods, a positive attitude emerged. Although the methods differ widely, Bravkod and Trugs were valued equally good by the pupils. In conclusions pupils´ decoding ability benefits from intensive training that is varied and combines group and individual sessions.

The analysis of time-lapse microscope images is a recent popular research topic. Processing techniques have been employed in such studies to extract important information about cells—e.g., cell number or alterations of cellular features—for various tasks. However, few studies provide acceptable results in practical applications because they cannot simultaneously solve the core challenges that are shared by most cell datasets: the image contrast is extremely low; the distribution of grey scale is non-uniform; images are noisy; the number of cells is large, etc. These factors also make manual processing an extremely laborious task. To improve the efficiency of related biological analyses and disease diagnoses. This thesis establishes a framework in these directions: a new segmentation method for cell images is designed as the foundation of an automatic approach for the measurement of cellular features. The newly proposed segmentation method achieves substantial improvements in the detection of cell filopodia. An automatic measuring mechanism for cell features is established in the designed framework. The measuring component enables the system to provide quantitative information about various cell features that are useful in biological research. A novel cell-tracking framework is constructed to monitor the alterations of cells with an accuracy of cell tracking above 90%. To address the issue of processing speed, two fast-processing techniques have been developed to complete edge detection and visual tracking. For edge detection, the new detector is a hybrid approach that is based on the Canny operator and fuzzy entropy theory. The method calculates the fuzzy entropy of gradients from an image to decide the threshold for the Canny operator. For visual tracking, a newly defined feature is employed in the fast-tracking mechanism to recognize different cell events with tracking accuracy: i.e., 97.66%, and processing speed, i.e., 0.578s/frame.

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No description available.

One population with challenges in learning to read is children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of using Systematic and Engaging Early Literacy (SEEL) intervention activities to improve phonological awareness and phonics skills with three children with ASD. Previous studies have looked at the effectiveness of using SEEL with other young children with diverse backgrounds; however, this is the first study to focus on using SEEL intervention with children with ASD. The study used a single-subject, multiple-baseline-across-behaviors design to compare performance on phonic patterns before and after intervention. Three young, male students who had a diagnosis on the autism spectrum and delays in literacy skills participated in the study. A number of different, yet comparable literacy targets were selected for each of the participants and assessment tasks were created to probe the participants’ ability to demonstrate reading and phonological awareness for these target patterns. Baseline assessment data were collected prior to participants receiving individualized intervention, and performance on each task was monitored using the same assessment each subsequent session. SEEL instruction focusing on one target at a time was used to teach participants to read or decode the target words and give appropriate responses to phonological awareness tasks. Intervention sessions were held once a week and lasted approximately 30-45 minutes. Each SEEL lesson was adapted to meet the needs of the individual child; however, all sessions contained SEEL principles of contextualized play, frequent auditory and visual exposures to the targets, explicit teaching using the target words, and engaged and reciprocal participation with opportunities to create original oral and written phrases. An analysis of the results show marked improvement in performance with the selected targets for two of the participants. This study provides further insight into the efficacy of using SEEL with different populations in need of early literacy intervention, especially those with multiple behavioral and skill-based variables to consider. It also discusses some additional factors and challenges to consider for future research in using SEEL with children with ASD.

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Abstract The present study reports the results of an intervention in year two based on proven methods to enhance students decoding and reading speed. Since a slow and uncertain decoding can affect reading comprehension. I have conducted tests in two classes in year 2, in decoding, and reading comprehension. I identified 16 students who received results stanine 1 to 3 on one or both tests. These students were given further tests in listening comprehension and in decoding. A standardized test was used both as a pretest and as a posttest, measuring literally awareness, decoding of the content, form and nonsense words and RAN. Five of the students become members in the intervention group, denoted The reading club.  Four students got constitute a control group. Another four pupils lacked sufficient prerequisites for participation, and three students received too high results of decoding test for participation in the study. Should the intervention study, which lasted for 45 minutes three times a week for five weeks, enhance the students decoding skills and reading speed? After completion of the intervention I compared the results from the intervention group with the pupils from the control group and the students who normed the test. The students who participate in The Reading club enhance the reading speed compare to the control group.

The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences and perceptions of early childhood preservice teachers in a southeastern university as they worked for mastery of phonemic awareness, phonics, and morphemic awareness. Mastery was set at 90% accuracy in a series of tests, which required them to perform different tasks related to the said concepts. One aim of the study was to investigate the preservice teachers’ description of their experiences as they worked for mastery of phonemic awareness, phonics, and morphemic awareness. Another aim was to examine how working for mastery of said concepts influenced their perceptions of preparedness to carry out literacy instruction. This research used a multiple case study method involving 8 preservice teachers who were taking their first literacy methods course. Data were gathered through an online survey, analysis of answered test papers, written responses, individual interviews, and a focus group interview. Qualitative analysis of data revealed the experience brought about awareness of insufficient knowledge, apprehension to teach, and perplexities related to phonemic awareness, phonics, and morphemic awareness among the participants. The most salient perplexities were found to be related to phonemic awareness tasks, application of phonics key terms to real words, and splitting words into morphemes. Findings also revealed that improved understanding of phonemic awareness, phonics, and morphemic awareness enhanced the participants’ perception of preparedness to teach these concepts. Engaging in reflective thinking while working for mastery of these concepts deepened their awareness of unpreparedness, reconnected them to their goal to be effective teachers, and caused them to deliberately act on their challenges in obtaining content knowledge required for quality literacy instruction. The results of this study will have relevance for teacher educators, policy makers, school administrators, and researchers as they address issues related to literacy instruction during teacher preparation, especially in terms of acquisition of strong content knowledge.