The Effects of Explicit Instruction in Letter-sound Correspondences with Children with Complex Communication Needs in Pairs with Peers
Open Access
- Author:
- Yorke, April M
- Graduate Program:
- Communication Sciences and Disorders
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- March 02, 2017
- Committee Members:
- Janice C. Light, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
Janice C. Light, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Kathryn D.R. Drager, Committee Member
Carol A. Miller, Committee Member
David B. McNaughton, Outside Member - Keywords:
- complex communication needs
augmentative and alternative communication
autism spectrum disorder
reading
ALL curriculum
explicit instruction
letter-sound correspondences
literacy
intellectual disability
developmental delay
cortical visual impairment - Abstract:
- This study investigated the effects of explicit instruction on the acquisition of letter-sound correspondences for children with complex communication needs (CCN) in small groups with peers with intellectual or developmental disabilities. The independent variable was the explicit instruction intervention. Each session consisted of an introduction to the target letter using letter-sound books, practice locating the target letter among four letter-sound cards (i.e., the target letter and three foils), and discrimination practice (beginning with the second targeted letter-sound). Results of the study provide mixed evidence regarding the overall effectiveness of the small group intervention. Of the six initial participants (three children with CCN and intellectual developmental disabilities and three peers who were children with intellectual developmental disabilities), four made progress in learning of letter-sound correspondences. The study was designed as a multiple-baseline across letter-sets design with three replications of the treatment effect for each participant with CCN. Due to time constraints, only three of the six initial participants completed letter-set one and continued to letter-set two. Consequently, experimental control was compromised. On average, participants in the current study required more total instructional time to learn letter-sound correspondences in pairs than in similar studies using similar explicit instruction methods to teach individual children (Benedek Wood, 2010; Caron, 2016). However, as the intervention was provided in pairs, the number of trials provided to each participant was divided between participants. For participants who made progress that can be attributed to the intervention, the current study required a lower average number of trials per letter-sound correspondence than in similar studies (Benedek Wood, 2010; Caron, 2016). Most participants who made progress in the current study required a substantial time investment to acquire the first letter-sound correspondence (i.e., averaging approximately 220 minutes of instruction, ranging from 100 – 320 minutes), but rapidly acquired subsequent letter-sounds—requiring approximately the same amount of time and a substantially lower number of trials than participants in Benedek Wood (2010). This research contributes significantly to the field in that it is the first to identify best practice procedures for small groups and integrate those into literacy intervention for children with CCN.