Denyse V. Hayward

Effectiveness of teaching story grammar knowledge to pre-school children with language impairment. An exploratory study

Narrative intervention is becoming a common feature in clinical treatment. However, there is a lack of research to support clinicians in their endeavour to provide effective and efficient intervention for children with narrative deficits. For the current study, 13 preschool children with language impairment (ages from 4;8 to 6;4) participated in a narrative intervention programme. Narrative intervention activities explicitly taught story grammar components. A mixed group and single-subject experimental design was used. Two measures of content were used to analyse children’s story productions: story information and episode level. As a group, children included more story information and produced more structurally complex stories following intervention. Single-subject data revealed that half the children showed statistically significant improvements for story information and episode level. Although the results of the study are mixed it is clear that the narrative productions of pre-school children with language impairment improve after narrative intervention. Clinically significant results are discussed along with directions for further research.

Revisiting the “Simple View of Reading” in a Group of Children With Poor Reading Comprehension

According to Gough and Tunmers Simple View of Reading, Reading Comprehension = Decoding (D) × Listening Comprehension (C). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the model with a sample of First Nations children, known to have average decoding and listening comprehension but poor reading comprehension. In addition, the authors examined the contribution of naming speed and phonological awareness to reading comprehension beyond the effects of D and C. Consistent with the findings of previous studies, the children exhibited poor reading comprehension despite average performance in decoding and listening comprehension, a finding that challenges the simple view of reading. The results also revealed that an additive model (D + C) fitted the data equally well as a product model (D × C). Neither naming speed nor phonological awareness accounted for unique variance.

Innovative Programs for Improvement in Reading Through Cognitive Enhancement A Remediation Study of Canadian First Nations Children

Forty-five Grade 3 students from a reservation school in Western Canada were divided into two remedial groups and a no-risk control group. One remedial group was given a classroom-administered cognitive enhancement program (COGENT) throughout the school year. The second group received COGENT for the first half of the year followed by a pull-out cognitive-based reading enhancement program (PREP). Children were assessed across phonological awareness, rapid naming, reading, and cognitive ability at the beginning of the year, midterm, and at the end of the school year. MANOVA results showed a significant interaction for reading measures, with students receiving classroom intervention over the school year making the greatest gains. Results are discussed in terms of group, remediation program, and individual participant improvements.

Cognitive Enhancement Training (COGENT © ): What Is It? How Does It Work With a Group of Disadvantaged Children?

A classroom-based program – COGENT©, consisting of five learning modules developed for the enhancement of cognitive, language, and literacy skills, was administered to a group of 11 disadvantaged children living in an orphanage in India. Pre- and posttests of reading and cognitive measures showed that 88% of the children made modest gains at posttest in word reading. The gains in the cognitive test scores were also encouraging with 54% of children showing gains in all four cognitive processing domains on which they were tested. All children responded positively to program activities and the interactive learning ambience. Cross-cultural concerns are discussed regarding cognitive processes involved in learning to read in a foreign language.

The Sound Access Parent Outcomes Instrument (SAPOI): Construction of a new instrument for children with severe multiple disabilities who use cochlear implants or hearing aids

Objective: To report on the Phase 2 development of the Sound Access Parent Outcomes Instrument (SAPOI), a new instrument focused on formalizing outcomes that parents of children with severe multiple disabilities (SMD) who use amplification prioritize as important. Methods: Phase 2 of this project involved item selection and refinement of the SAPOI based on (a) Phase 1 study participant input, (b) clinical specialist feedback, and (c) test–retest instrument reliability. Phase 1 participant responses were utilized to construct a draft version of the SAPOI. Next, clinical specialists examined the instrument for content validity and utility and instrument reliability was examined through a test–retest process with parents of children with SMD. Results: The draft SAPOI was constructed based on Phase 1 participant input. Clinical specialists supported content validity and utility of the instrument and the inclusion of 19 additional items across four categories, namely Child Affect, Child Interaction, Parent Well-being, and Childs Device Use. The SAPOI was completed twice at one-month intervals by parents of children with SMD to examine instrument reliability across the four categories (Child Affect, Child Interaction, Parent Well-being, and Childs Device Use). Instrument reliability was strong-to-excellent across all four sections. Discussion: The SAPOI shows promise as a much-needed addition to the assessment battery currently used for children with SMD who use cochlear implants and hearing aids. It provides valuable information regarding outcomes resulting from access to sound in this population that currently used assessments do not identify.

The Consequential Effects of Misinterpretations and Misrepresentations on Boys’ and Girls’ Reading Achievement and Motivation

In this chapter, we review studies on boys’ and girls’ reading achievement in North America for a period covering 13 decades. On the basis of over 3000 publications identified, only 78 were judged to be evidence-based for critical appraisal and interpretation. We lay out the background elements that have stoked a widespread rhetoric on gender differences and signal research on reading achievement and motivation for theoretical and empirical explanation. We next present the conceptual organization of the evolving set of facts on reading achievement into four periods that coincide with significant shifts in reading theories and practices including the major international and national assessments. Given the facts, we question whether boys’ underachievement in reading is a genuine or meretricious crisis. The current dropout rate is as high as 50% in some cities in North America with culturally diverse and immigrant populations disproportionately represented; we thus turned to the research on reading achievement and motivation to inform our understanding. Underachievement brought about by low academic motivation is a significant contributor to school dropout and reading competence is affected by factors such as motivation, amount read, and reading comprehension. However, the core dimensions of intrinsic motivation explain a fundamental part of the story of reading achievement but other demographic and affective factors are instrumental. We conclude with the exception of low achieving boys from low socioeconomic and visible minorities, the issue of boys’ and girls’ reading achievement must be tempered and presented factually. There is an overstated lack of achievement for boys and an understated lack of achievement for girls.