Education Commons^™

Investigating Bilingual Aac Practices In Bilingual Communities, Johanna R. Salisbury

Masters Theses

This thesis investigates best practices for teaching and supporting bilingual augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) users as they develop their communication skills. Although there are guidelines that inform best practices for teaching and supporting bilingual AAC users, there is very little information on what these practices look like. This thesis investigates the techniques and strategies that bilingual speech-language pathologists (SLPs) who practice in Catalunya, a bilingual community in northeastern Spain, use to evaluate, teach, and support people who use pictogram-based AAC modalities to communicate.

To do this, six SLPs who practice in Catalunya participated in interviews regarding their practices when …

The Effects Of Spoken Self-Disclosure Scripts On Nonaphasic Listeners' Perceptions Of People With Aphasia, Colleen B. Ward

Masters Theses

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of spoken self-disclosure scripts on nonaphasic listeners’ perceptions of people with aphasia (PWA). Self-disclosure is a tool that PWA can utilize in the event that they want a conversation partner to know of their communication disorder. However, limited research has been conducted on the effects of aphasia self-disclosure or whether it affects perceptions of PWA from neurotypical communication partners. If self-disclosure is determined to make a positive impact on a communicative interaction, it could be grounds for encouraging PWA who are interested to develop a self-disclosure script or use …

Assessment And Analysis Of Receptive And Expressive English Language Development In Spanish Speaking Ells And Native English Speakers Using The Pre-Klba, Candace Laprairie

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study is to examine the trends and differences in receptive and expressive English language development in native English speakers and Spanish-speaking English language learners (ELL). It also aims to analyze the relationship between auditory comprehension and narrative production skills and semantic skills and narrative production skills in native English-speakers and Spanish-speaking ELLs. Eighty-three preschool-aged children (17 Spanish-speaking ELLs and 66 Native English-speakers) were administered the Pre-Kindergarten Language Benchmark Assessment (Pre-KLBA) in Fall 2015, Winter 2016, and Spring 2016. This study utilized a three by two ANOVA to evaluate and determine: 1) If there are differences in …

Caseload/Workload Study Of Speech Language Pathologists In Missouri Public Schools, Jinyu Du

Masters Theses

"A survey was distributed to speech-language pathologists (SLPs) in Missouri public schools to obtain statewide information regarding caseload number, workload related activities and SLPs' level job satisfaction on various aspects of their job. An online questionnaire was sent to school-based SLPs in Missouri to solicit factual information on average monthly caseload numbers, factors that impact caseload assignments and the percentage of time spent on various professional responsibilities and job satisfaction ratings. Results indicated that 24% of the respondents had caseloads that exceeded the maximum state regulated caseload number for SLPs. Respondents were also largely unaware of the maximum caseload regulation …

Preliteracy Skills Promoted In Children’S Spanish-Language Books, Katherine Marie Suter

Masters Theses

As of July 1, 2013, the latest census figures indicate that there are approximately 54 million Latinosliving in the U.S. (US Census Bureau, 2013). However, many Latino children still do not receive the services or resources they need to perform well academically. The primary aim of this research study is to determine if the books available to Spanish-speaking Latino¹ populations in two Michigan Counties contain features that might be used to facilitate beginning pre-literacy skills.

Children’s Spanish-language books from bookstores and public libraries were analyzed to determine the presence of features that might facilitate print awareness, phonological awareness, and …

Executive Functions And Social Interactions: Developing Social Scenarios, Mackenzie Waite

Masters Theses

The aim of this study was to develop a series of vignettes to form the basis for an assessment of executive functions (EFs) for 9 – 12 year old children. Although EFs are necessary for effective social communication and positive social interactions, currently, most EF assessments focus on impersonal activities. Little research exists that incorporates real-time processing using ecologically valid social scenarios. The current study aims to develop realistic scenarios that children could encounter in daily life. Ethnographic interviews were conducted with six participants, who worked in a school with 9-12 year old children, to gain their perspective on social …

Explicit Teacher-Implemented Phoneme Awareness Instruction: Preschool Effects, Heather M. Osterhouse

Masters Theses

The purpose of the current study was to investigate the impact of explicit, concentrated, teacher-implemented phonological awareness instruction for ―at risk‖ 4- year-olds. Early childhood educators were trained to implement a 10-week program delivered for 20-minute sessions, four times a week, in their classrooms. The program focused on phonological awareness beginning at the level of letter-sound knowledge and advancing to blending and segmenting constituent phonemes in words. Pre- to post-treatment comparisons of phonological awareness and letter knowledge skills indicated that children in the experimental group made significant gains in comparison to the control group in phoneme blending and letter knowledge. …

Preschoolers With Speech And Language Impairment: Case Studies From A Teacher-Delivered Phonological Awareness Program, Katherine J. Wickham

Masters Theses

Past and present research demonstrates early reading success related to phonological awareness (PA) instruction conducted individually or in small groups outside of the preschool classroom. This study investigated the effects of an explicit, intensive and teacher-delivered PA instruction for children with speech sound disorder and language impairment as part of the preschool curriculum. The investigator examined the performance of individual cases in both groups, those who received instruction and the control. Two participants in each of the experimental (E1 and E2) and control (C1 and C2) groups had standardized scores indicating deficits in speech and/or language. These children who received …

Measuring Spelling Growth Over Time In Elementary Writing Samples, Pamela M. Ansell

Masters Theses

Developmental spelling stage theories have been proposed and disputed for 30 years. The current study used Gentry's (1982) model to assign category ratings to narrative writing samples produced by 32 students over two years to observe developmental growth over time. In addition, quantitative measures were obtained from the samples, including an index of control (Laminack & Wood, 1996) and a percentage correct. Analyses were also used to test the effectiveness of using a writing lab approach (Nelson, Bahr & Van Meter, 2004) on spelling development. During the last half of second grade, all 32 students received intervention guided by the …

Effects Of Adult Modeling On Literacy Behaviors Of Head Start Preschoolers, Stephanie L. Kerbel

Masters Theses

This project explored the uses of literacy artifacts in the dramatic play of preschool children from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds who live in poverty in Kalamazoo County. The purpose of this 9-week study was to determine the impact of adult modeling on the frequency and quality of use of literacy artifacts during the dramatic play of at-risk preschoolers. Two Head Start classrooms received different types of intervention: (a) a literacy-enriched dramatic play area with adult modeling for 5 minutes at the start of each play period ( once per week); and (b) a literacy-enriched dramatic play area without adult …

Investigation Of The Relationship Between Language & Mathematics In Regards To Problem Solving, Heather A. Grant

Masters Theses

While previous research has established language as a component of mathematical performance (Kintsch, 1988; Simon, 1985), none have identified a relationship between language and mathematics. This study was conducted to examine the relationships between language and mathematical abilities, specifically problem solving abilities and concept knowledge.

The subjects consisted of 29 fifth-grade students selected from an elementary school in central Illinois. These students were not receiving special education services. Each subject was administered the Test of Problem Solving (Zachman, et al., 1984) to assess the subjects' ability to utilize reasoning skills and expressive language to solve situational problems; and The WORD …

Story Writing By Students With Hearing Impairments, Lois A. Ketchum

Masters Theses

Students with hearing impairments (N = 21) wrote a personal narrative each academic year from 1990 to 1992. These narratives were rated on maturity of the story as a whole and maturity of the language used in the story by senior undergraduate students in the education department at Western Michigan University. The method used for rating was a holistic magnitude estimation technique.

Significant change over time was found for story scores, but not language scores. Grade level was found to have no significant effect on change from first to last ratings for either story scores or language scores. Degree of …

Teacher And Student Discourse Variables In Academic Communication, Janet M. Sturm

Masters Theses

This study was designed to analyze the oral communication exchanges between first, third, and fifth grade teachers and their students. It was based on the hypothesis that discourse parameters of linguistic quantity and complexity and communication acts change over grade level, much as the discourse parameters of caregivers with young children have been found to do. The language of teachers and students in 15 classrooms was examined by measuring 6 form and quantity variables and 11 communication act variables. Results showed significant differences for some form variables (MLU, mazes, and Type-token ratio) and some communication acts (convey content, mark content, …

The Effects Of Language Processing Strategies Upon Reading Comprehension, Kathy Ann Kirby

Masters Theses

In 1975, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act was passed providing educational services for children with exceptionalities. Learning disabilities was one of those exceptionalities whose definition used a language disorder as its major criteria for the identification and classification of a specific learning disabilities. The inclusion of language disorders within its definition brought about greater interest in language and the understanding of language development, acquisition and processing and how these aspects related with academic learning, particularly with reading.

The purpose of this study was to address the issue of language processing strategies in the remediating of language deficits and …

The Effects Of Total Communication On The Expressive Language Behavior Of Individuals Labeled Trainable Mentally Retarded, Lenore Aebischer

Masters Theses

The practice of total communication in language training for non-deaf individuals labeled mentally retarded has been guided by very little empirical evidence. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine whether the use of a total communication approach facilitates an increase in the frequency of expressive language behavior in children labeled trainable mentally handicapped. The three subjects studied, one male and two females, were selected on the basis of age and I.Q. They were enrolled in a self-contained, public school which was located in a rural area of Illinois. A multi-element baseline procedure was used. Stimuli were presented using …