English Language Learners and Learning Disabilities: Research Agenda and Implications for Practice

Although little is known about learning disabilities (LDs) in English language learners (ELLs), there is a substantial knowledge base about the identification, assessment, and intervention of and for LDs in monolingual native English‐speaking students. Building on this knowledge, participants at an October 2003 National Symposium on Learning Disabilities in English Language Learners were asked to suggest research questions, priorities, and suggestions on how to build the necessary infrastructure to address critical research needs. In the discussions that took place, important themes emerged: (1) identification and assessment of LD and/or reading disabilities (RD) in ELLs (ELL/Ds), (2) understanding of the language and literacy developmental trajectories of ELLs, (3) understanding of the individual and contextual factors affecting outcomes, (4) the intersection of all of these areas with neurobiology, and (5) developing and testing the effectiveness of interventions for learning disabilities in ELL/Ds. These themes, and the research agenda that was forged around them, are presented. In addition, the practice implications of this agenda are presented, along with some suggestions for current practice while we await future research findings.     

Family‐centred practice: collaboration,competency and evidence

In the 1990s, the developing field of early intervention with young children with disabilities and their families adopted family‐centred practice as its philosophical foundation. Family‐centred practice includes three key elements: (1) an emphasis on strengths, not deficits; (2) promoting family choice and control over desired resources; and (3) the development of a collaborative relationship between parents and professionals. During the last two decades, the field of early childhood disability has successfully defined the working principles of family‐centred practice for practitioners. Although research has acknowledged that the paradigm shift to family‐centred practice is neither simple nor easy, a substantive body of evidence demonstrates that (a) family‐centred practice can be linked to a wide range of demonstrated benefits for both children and families, and (b) families are more satisfied and find family‐centred practice to be more helpful than other models of practice.     

Helping the One You Hurt: Toddlers’ Rudimentary Guilt,Shame, and Prosocial Behavior After Harming Another

This study explored the role of guilt and shame in early prosocial behavior by extending previous findings that guilt‐ and shame‐like responses can be distinguished in toddlers and, for the first time, examining their associations with helping. Toddlers (n = 32; M_age = 28.9 months) were led to believe they broke an adult's toy, after which they exhibited either a guilt‐like response that included frequently confessing their behavior and trying to repair the toy; or a shame‐like response that included frequently avoiding the adult and seldom confessing or attempting to repair the toy. In subsequent prosocial tasks, children showing a guilt‐like response helped an adult in emotional distress significantly faster and more frequently than did children showing a shame‐like response.     

Reading nonfiction text on an iPad in a secondary classroom

The intent of this research was to investigate the experiences of eighth grade readers as they read nonfiction text on an iPad for academic purposes. We investigated reading strategies that students use to support their reading as well as what role iPad features played in the reading process. New literacies, metacognition and transactional theories informed the framework. Multiple data sources were used to triangulate findings and included (a) retrospective think alouds, (b) student iPad survey, (c) pre and post study student interviews, (d) Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategies Inventory and (e) student observations. Data for the collective case study participants focused on the identification of proficient readers who displayed confidence, competency, and control over text. Themes identified in the collective case studies included (a) reading comprehension strategies, (b) nonfiction features and (c) iPad features to support their reading of nonfiction on the iPad.     

Using 21st century video prompting technology to facilitate the independence of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities

Barriers in acquiring, maintaining, and generalizing daily living skills are factors that contribute to discrepancies in independent living outcomes among transition age youth and young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Acquisition and generalization of daily living skills empowers transition age youth and young adults with disabilities to meet their own needs with minimal reliance on others. Infusing the use of technology as a self‐prompting device facilitates the acquisition of tasks that may not be otherwise attainable. In this study, self‐directed video prompting on an iPad with the My Pictures Talk application was used to help young adults with IDD in a postsecondary program acquire daily living skills in a single subject, multiple probe across subjects design. The effects of the intervention on generalization to tasks that were one, two, and three components different were also assessed. Results demonstrated a functional relationship between the introduction of the intervention and improvement in skill performance.     

The Perfect Marriage? – Language and Art Criticism in the Hong Kong Public Examination Context

Art education in Hong Kong has undergone various changes in response to educational reform. In art assessment, a major change in the Hong Kong New Senior Secondary (NSS) Curriculum is the inclusion of art criticism as a compulsory component of the new public examination. Assessing students’ abilities to interpret art in an art criticism public examination context is a critical issue in Hong Kong because the new senior secondary curriculum and assessment has brought attention to the role of written language in the art examination paper. This means the examination assesses not only students’ abilities to interpret art, but also their language abilities required to respond to art in written form. Since this new mode of assessment of art criticism has been published a number of issues have appeared. Recent studies show that teachers and students perceive this development negatively and they believe that the written format will assess students’ written language abilities rather than their critical abilities. These findings challenge the justification of the new art assessment policy and raise questions about the role of written language in responding to art. This article aims to raise the issue of the marriage between language and art criticism in the Hong Kong public examination context. It argues and examines the relationship of language to art interpretation, reasoning in the assessment, and issues in the public art criticism examination context. The issues addressed in this article provide opportunities for researchers and policy makers to reconsider and refine the new form of examination.     

An Autoethnographical Study of Culture,Power, Identity and Art Education in Post‐Colonial South Korea

This article reflects my experiences of learning art in the 1970s and 1980s and my teaching career in school art education in twenty‐first century South Korea. This autobiographical reflection shows how I have struggled with my identity as an art teacher in the post‐colonial context of Western influences on Korean society since World War II. There has been greater tension and a greater struggle for different values, practices and identities when new values and practices have been introduced into the particular socio‐cultural context of South Korea. My struggles with particular kinds of pedagogic identity valued within the rapidly changing political, economic and cultural context of Western influences on Korean art education demonstrate the hidden structural mechanism of the relationship between culture, power and identity in the post‐colonial world of globalisation. This study as an autoethnographical research provides critical insights into how identities are produced by pedagogic discourses and practices of art education that are constructed through the specific systems of practice and language which transmit and regulate such identities and values.     

Development of a didactical training concept for peer tutors in gross anatomy

Even though peer tutors are often used in gross anatomy courses, research in the field is rather a subject of the last two decades. This is especially true about the didactical challenges these types of peer tutors experience during their tutorials and about how they are prepared for the task. The aim of the presented study was to learn about the training needs of the tutors, and to subsequently design, implement, and evaluate a didactical training concept. A qualitative design was chosen to examine how tutors can best be prepared for tutorials of gross anatomy. To do so, focus group interviews were conducted. The data were analyzed and grouped into various concepts, using semi‐structured interview questions as guidance. It was found that peer tutors are in need of training in the following aspects: Dealing with students who are experiencing difficulties during or as a result of dissection, dealing with group dynamics, that is, at the dissection table, keeping students motivated, time management, and staying confident as a tutor. In order to be regarded as useful and relevant in the eyes of tutors, a preparatory training course should include all these aspects in addition to general didactical training elements. Training needs of peer tutors of gross anatomy go beyond the content of standardized didactical curricula; therefore, tutors should be prepared with a curriculum that is specifically geared toward the many challenges associated with teaching gross anatomy to first year medical students which are already so well documented in the research literature. Anat Sci Educ 10: 495–502. © 2017 American Association of Anatomists.