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Explicit Teacher-Implemented Phoneme Awareness Instruction: Preschool Effects, Heather M. Osterhouse Jun 2013

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. …


Executive Functions And Social Interactions: Developing Social Scenarios, Mackenzie Waite Jun 2013

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 …


A Preliminary Study Of The Articulatory And Acoustic Features Of Forward And Backward Tone Placement In Singing, Krista Wyllys Jun 2013

A Preliminary Study Of The Articulatory And Acoustic Features Of Forward And Backward Tone Placement In Singing, Krista Wyllys

Masters Theses

A variety of terms exist for describing tone quality in singing, and voice scientists, voice therapists, teachers of singing, and students of singing use different terms to describe the same sound. One aspect of tone quality is tone placement. Teachers of singing often rely on imagery and imitation to elicit correct tone placement from students of singing. More concrete data about what produces forward and backward tone placement could supplement singing teachers’ current practice of using imagery and imitation to elicit a desirable tone quality. This study examined forward and backward tone placement to determine the articulatory gestures and acoustic …


Preschoolers With Speech And Language Impairment: Case Studies From A Teacher-Delivered Phonological Awareness Program, Katherine J. Wickham Apr 2013

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 …


The Effects Of A Communication Partner Training Program, Stephanie Fanale Jan 2013

The Effects Of A Communication Partner Training Program, Stephanie Fanale

Masters Theses

Historically, augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) intervention has focused on improving the communication skills of the individual using AAC, with limited support given to the communication partners of AAC users (Light, Dattilo, English, & Gutierrez, 1992). However, Carter & Maxwell (1998) contended that the skills of the communication partner are of equal importance as the AAC user's skills. In addition, many researchers have reported that family-centered intervention should be implemented in the AAC population (Bruno & Dribbon, 1998; Saito & Turnbull, 2007; Sigafoos et al., 2004). Unfortunately, few studies have directly measured communication partners' skills to measure progress or have …


Sensorimotor Factors Influencing /R/ Production, Jill Vogt Jan 2013

Sensorimotor Factors Influencing /R/ Production, Jill Vogt

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to evaluate if there was a difference in nonspeech single oral structure and function overall and within subsystems (tongue-jaw, tongue, lips, and jaw) and nonspeech oscillation tasks between children with typical articulation, children with /r/ errors who are stimulable for correct /r/, and children with /r/ errors who are not stimulable for correct /r/, as measured by an oral-motor assessment and subsection scores. A secondary research question explored if there was a difference between the groups in tasks which may be related to type of oral-motor deficit including: sensory/proprioceptive (as measured by an informal …