Training of poor readers' phonological decoding skills: Evidence for syllable-bound processing

A flash card computer program designed to increase decoding speed in reading was evaluated with a sample of 55 eight- to twelve-year-old Dutch poor readers by using a pretest-training-posttest control group design. The reading level of the poor readers was comparable to the reading level of normal readers in grade two. After 8 weeks of practicing (twice a week) for 30 minutes per session, children in the training group showed substantial improvements in decoding speed not only on pseudowords directly practiced during the training, but also in untrained pseudowords and in existing words. The no-training control group did not improve in decoding speed from pre- to posttest. The results, furthermore, indicate that syllable-bound processes play a role in phonological decoding in Dutch, and that the flash card method used in this study stimulates poor readers to decode letter strings into syllabic units, which leads to an increase in decoding speed. The role of the syllable in phonological decoding and the potential of a specific flash card technique as a means to improve decoding skills of poor readers are discussed.     

The Counselor's Role Communication Skills,or The Roles Counselors Play: A Conceptual Model

This article presents a two-dimensional conceptual model called the “Role Communication Skill Model,” which outlines a comprehensive approach to the issue of skill-oriented training.     

An Attempt To Measure and Facilitate Counselor Effectiveness

This study evaluated the use of Interpersonal Process Recall (IPR) with videotape (as opposed to more traditional methods) in improving the effectiveness of practicum students. The practicum students were randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups: (a) a video-IPR, (b) an audio-IPR, and (c) supervision using an audiotape of a regular counseling session. Three judges were asked to rate videotapes of 54 practicum students conducting their final counseling session with a coached client. The judges rated two time-samplings of the final session by means of a scale consisting of three parts: (a) 33 behavioral and feeling items, (b) a single global evaluation representing the normal curve with the baseline divided into eight equal segments, and (c) a request for the judges to write any adjectives or phases that they felt described the practicum student. The results were not as convincing as had been anticipated. This article discusses possible reasons that the results were not convincing and implications the results have for future research within this area of counselor education.     

Educational videotape: a medium full of promise and riddled with pitfalls

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