Parental Involvement in Deaf Children's Education Programs as a Predictor of Child's Language, Early Reading, and Social-Emotional Development

This study examined the impact of school-based, teacher-rated parental involvement on four child outcomes: language development, early reading skills, and positive and negative measures of social-emotional development. The 28 children were assessed for outcomes between 9 to 53 months post-graduation from a birth-to-3 early intervention (EI) program for children with hearing loss. Other factors included in the study were child's hearing loss, mother's education level, mother's current communication skills with her child, and maternal use of additional services beyond those offered by the early intervention program or the child's school program. Parental involvement in children's school-based education program is a significant positive predictor to early reading skills but shares considerable variance with maternal communication skill for this outcome. In this study, maternal communication skills and the child's hearing loss were the strongest predictors for language development. Maternal use of additional services was the strongest predictor to poorer social-emotional adjustment. The study's findings indicate that although parental involvement in their deaf child's school-based education program can positively contribute to academic performance, parental communication skill is a more significant predictor for positive language and academic development. Factors associated with parental involvement, maternal communication, and use of additional services are explored and suggestions are offered to enhance parental involvement and communication skills.     

Collaborative communication Programming: Providing a Meaning-Based Curriculum to Students With Severe Multiple Disabilities

Speech and language services for students with severe multiple disabilities require a team effort. These students benefit from communication intervention which is part of normal daily routines. Current best practices for all individuals with severe multiple disabilities have focused on adult-life skills needed to access typical community settings. Speech/language services are a valuable resource to this process. Communication is both a fundamental human right and a behavior that occurs naturally across settings in the school and community.     

Communication Intervention for Students with Severe Disability: results of a partner training program

This paper reports on the evaluation of a professional development program designed for communication partners of students with severe disability. The program aimed to facilitate the translation of reported best practice in the area of communication to classroom practice. A model of case application was used to enhance partner acquisition of targeted skills and knowledge, thereby addressing perceived concerns in this area. Participants including teachers, teacher aides, and speech pathologists completed pre‐ and post‐intervention questionnaires measuring skills, knowledge, and concerns. Data were analysed on the basis of participant role to determine the significance of change between groups. Results suggest that the professional development program was effective. Teachers and teacher aides reported increased skills and knowledge, accompanied by reduced concerns. Speech pathologists indicated minimal change in either area. These findings are explored in the context of the current research literature on partner training in communication intervention.     

Communication disorders in the school: Perspectives on academic and social success an introduction

The critical role of communication in schools cannot be understated. Communication skills are a necessity both in the academic and social atmosphere of the school environment. Unfortunately, there are a large number of children in the schools today identified with speech and language disorders. This special edition of Psychology in the Schools examined issues that impact the academic and social functioning of such children. Several articles are focused on potential early intervention strategies or services surrounding literacy and social skills that may enhance the success of children with communication disorders and/or at risk for communication disorders (e.g., Chapman, Denning, & Jamison, 2008; Thatcher & Fletcher, 2008; van Kleeck, 2008). Two other articles tackle promising strategies that may be used in academic settings with children who stutter (Logan, Mullins, & Jones, 2008) or with children with cognitive impairments (Gillette & DePompei, 2008). Despite promising avenues of intervention and practice, there are also barriers to providing instruction to children with communication disorders in a regular classroom (Pufpaff, 2008). Each article provides insight into the importance of communication skills for academic and social success in the schools. The key to the success of children with or at risk for communication is for all school personnel to be aware of and proactive with children with communication disorders. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The effects of speech and language therapy intervention on children with pragmatic language impairments in mainstream school

In this article, Catherine Adams, clinical senior lecturer in speech and language therapy at the University of Manchester, and Julian Lloyd, senior lecturer in psychology at Newman College, Birmingham, describe the implementation and effects of an intensive programme of speech and language therapy for children who have pragmatic language impairment (PLI) attending mainstream education in the north west of England. An intervention which focused on aspects of pragmatic language such as conversation, inference and narrative was developed. Six children who have PLI (mean age=7;10 years), all with a Statement of special educational needs, participated in a single case study series in which they each received 20 sessions of the speech and language therapy programme in their own school. Guidance and specific training was provided for learning support assistants and classroom teachers. Despite showing heterogeneity in their initial profiles of impairment, progress in conversation skills was seen in all six children and some significant changes in language test performance were found. These findings suggest that intensive speech and language therapy intervention has the potential to produce generalis-able gains in language and communication skills in children who have PLI and indicate appropriate outcome measures for future effectiveness studies.     

LDA Student Award Winner, 2008 Narrowing the gap: A report on the QuickSmart mathematics intervention

This article focuses on the cognitive factors that impact on students in the middle school years experiencing learning difficulties in basic mathematics. It begins with a review of selected literature providing information about the learning difficulties in mathematics. Focus then shifts to an implementation of the QuickSmart intervention. QuickSmart is a basic academic skills intervention designed for persistently low-achieving middle-years' students. In this small-scale study, 12 middle school students experiencing learning difficulties participated in the QuickSmart mathematics program. Comparisons are made between the mathematics progress of the intervention group and eight average-achieving peers. The results indicate that on measures of response speed and accuracy QuickSmart participant students were able to narrow the gap between their performance and that of their average-achieving peers. Further, on standardized tests of more general mathematical knowledge, participant students improved significantly from pre-test to post-test. Implications are drawn regarding the importance of interventions that emphasize automaticity in basic mathematics for middle years students with learning difficulties.     

Developing teaching assistants’ skills in positive behaviour management: an application of Video Interaction Guidance in a secondary school

This paper reports an action research project in a school in the UK designed to investigate the impact of a brief Video Interaction Guidance (VIG) intervention in promoting skills of non-teaching staff in positive behaviour management. A summary of the literature in relation to VIG is provided before describing the project and data collected. Ten teaching assistants (TAs) from a secondary school took part in an intervention using VIG. The impact on TA skills and confidence was assessed using participant ratings of the specific target outcomes of the intervention using the Target Monitoring and Evaluation (TME) system. Participants’ experiences of the intervention were explored during a focus group discussion after the intervention had taken place. TME data suggested a positive impact on TA skills and confidence to support individual pupils, while thematic analysis of focus group data showed a number of themes relevant to the application of VIG in this context, including promotion of effective staff development.     

Developing the spoken language skills of reception class children in two multicultural,inner‐city primary schools

This article describes a small‐scale study which emanated from the concern of the head teachers and staff of two primary schools serving deprived, multicultural areas of an inner city. The concern of the staff related to the level of their pupils' spoken language skills through the schools and the perceived impact that this has on pupils learning more widely. The article explores the nature and importance of oral language development in the early years and describes an intervention designed to enhance the spoken language skills of the reception children. The pre‐intervention scores of the children at school entry indicated that the language skills of the children were less well developed than those of the general population. The findings suggest that the intervention had a positive effect on the speaking and listening skills of the reception children and that the teachers' involvement in the research contributed to their professional development.     

The Literacy Skills of Language-Impaired Children: Time for 'joined up' thinking?

Relatively little research has been completed into the nature of the association between language and literacy in language-impaired children. This study examines a group of children who attended language unit provision between the ages of 3 years 6 months and 7 years in an inner city education authority. At follow-up, the children were between 7 years 10 months and 13 years 3 months. Of the 24 children, five had transferred to mainstream school, 12 went to a Key Stage 2 language unit and seven went to special school. The links between the assessments of language, phonological skills and literacy development are described. The educational outcomes for this group are considered. Proposals are made for closer collaboration between educational psychologists, and speech and language therapists in the initial identification of children with language impairment, and the continued communication with teachers, so that the language and literacy development of such children can be viewed within the whole teaching context.     

The core components of reading instruction in Chinese

The present study aimed at identifying core components of reading instruction in Chinese within the framework of the tiered intervention model. A curriculum with four teaching components of cognitive-linguistic skills was implemented in a Program school for 3 years since Grade 1. The findings showed that the Tier 1 intervention was effective in enhancing the literacy and cognitive-linguistic skills of children in the Program school. The positive effects were maintained at the end of Grade 2. Progress in both word-level and text-level cognitive-linguistic skills predicted significantly progress in reading comprehension. Based on the present findings, the four core reading components in Chinese were proposed—oral language, morphological awareness, orthographic skills, and syntactic skills. Comparing the Big Five in English and the four core components in Chinese reflects different cognitive demands for reading diverse orthographies.     

Phonological Awareness and Bilingual Preschoolers: Should We Teach It and, If So, How?

This article briefly reviews recent research on teaching phonological awareness skills to preschoolers as well as the benefits of different types of bilingual education. A more in-depth analysis of research on cross-language transfer of phonological awareness/metalinguistic skills follows. The major recommendation resulting from this review is that the teaching of phonological awareness skills in both the home language and school language of preschoolers is the preferred intervention.     

Examining the communication skills of a young cochlear implant pioneer

The purpose of this longitudinal case study was to closely examine one deaf child's experience with a cochlear implant and his speech, language, and communication skills from kindergarten through middle and high school using both developmental and sociocultural frameworks. The target child was one of the first children to receive a cochlear implant in the United States in 1988, when he was 5 years of age. The developmental analysis revealed that prior to receiving a cochlear implant the child demonstrated profound delays in speech and language skill development. His speech and language skills grew slowly during the first 3-4 years following implantation, very rapidly from about 5 through 7 years postimplantation, then slowed to rates that were highly similar to same-age peers with normal hearing. The sociocultural analysis revealed that the child's communicative competence improved; that he used sign language but use of sign language decreased as his oral communication skills improved; that as his oral communication skills improved, the adults talked and directed the topic of conversation less frequently; and that topics became less concrete and more personal over time. The results of this study indicate that we may learn more about how to support children who use cochlear implants by examining what they are saying as well as how they are saying it.     

自闭症谱系障碍儿童专业助手干预技能培训的研究进展

专业助手是自闭症谱系障碍儿童接受教育的重要支持人员,对其学业能力的发展以及社会交往技能的提升具有重要意义。本研究梳理了近二十年国外培训专业助手对自闭症谱系障碍儿童实施干预的实证研究,从专业助手的特征,ASD儿童的特征,专业助手对ASD儿童实施干预的目标行为,实验设计,培训内容与程序,培训及干预效果等维度进行分析,在此基础上指出已有研究存在的局限和未来研究方向,以期为日后自闭症谱系障碍儿童专业助手培训的研究提供参考和建议。     

Relative efficacy of parent and teacher involvement in a shared-reading intervention for preschool children from low-income backgrounds

The effects of an interactive shared-reading intervention were evaluated with 3-to 4-year-old children from low-income families who attended subsidized child care. The children entered the program with oral language skills that were significantly below age-level as measured by standardized tests. Children were pretested and randomly assigned to 1 of 4 conditions: (a) no treatment control, (b) a school condition in which children were read to by their teachers in small groups, (c) a home condition in which children were read to by their parents, and (d) a combined school plus home condition. Parents and teachers were trained in a specific form of interactive reading via an instructional videotape. The intervention was conducted for 6 weeks, after which children were posttested on standardized measures of oral language, and language samples were obtained during a shared-reading assessment. Significant effects of the reading intervention were obtained at posttest and were largest for children in conditions involving home reading.     

Learning process, strategies and web-based concordancers: a case study

The recent widespread use of web‐based concordancers seems to provide a promising mode for language teaching and learning, especially in the English as a foreign language (EFL) setting, because through concordancers students can easily gain exposure to a huge number of authentic and sorted language examples. This paper describes a case study of the learning process and strategies used by three Taiwanese college students in the concordancer setting. A web‐based concordancer was used to assist the participants while undertaking a proofreading activity. Think‐aloud protocol was used to collect their data. The results showed that the following four factors have influenced learners’ learning process and strategies in use: (1) prior knowledge, (2) cognitive skills, (3) teacher intervention and (4) concordancer skills.     

交际、建构、发展：英语互动教学新模式——以高中英语新课程标准为文本分析

本文将高中英语课程改革与建构主义学习理论相结合,从任务驱动力、交际情境运用、任务型教学等八个层面进行了分析。以建构学生英语语言能力基础和终生发展为目标的一体化学习为目标,提出了“交际——建构——发展”的高中英语交际互动教学模式。     

Book review of Rallying the Whole Viage: The Comer Process for Reforming Education

This study tested the feasibility of an intervention designed to increase the frequency and quality of shared reading among low-income parents and their young, 2- and 3-year-old children. The program was based on an interactive reading method known to facilitate children's receptive and expressive language skills. Study participants were 61 children and their parents; they resided in 1 of 2 socioeconomically disadvantaged communities. Prior to the intervention, few parents reported frequent home reading, and most children's language skills were at or below that of others' their age. After the intervention, the frequency of home reading more than doubled, and significantly more parents reported their children enjoyed shared reading. This study demonstrates that relatively simple, inexpensive, community-based programs can change the home language and literacy activities of families with young children, including those most likely to begin school less "ready" than their middle-class peers.     

高职生英语学习策略的现状与教学对策

有效的学习策略可促进英语语言技能的发展,而高职高专学生在英语学习策略使用方面存在着很大问题。本文分别从认知、元认知、情感和交际策略方面提出了改善高职学生英语学习策略的教学对策,旨在提高高职学生的英语学习效果和英语教学质量。     

真实语境中高职学生英语语言输出研究

语言技能的发展依赖于真实语境中大量的语言交互和人际交流,只在真实交际意图的驱动下才能促使语言形式与意义发生关联,以输出促输入,实现有效的言语输入和输出,将语言知识内化为语言技能,形成良好的语言综合运用能力。为期两周的"用英语思维、用英语生活,用英语工作"的高职学生英语交际活动显示:真实语境中的语言输出激发了学生的学习动机和兴趣,挖掘了运用英语的潜能,有助于提高口语表达能力。真实语境中的语言输出研究为今后研究提供了有益的建议和启示。