Language and Literacy Education Commons^™

A Model Literature Curriculum Guide For The Secondary Learning Disabled Student, Peggy G. White

Theses and Dissertations

This Literature Curriculum Guide has been prepared for Learning Disabled Students enrolled in special English classes at Hardaway High School in Columbus, Georgia. It was motivated by the observation that curricular materials for secondary Learning Disabled pupils were limited to content in grammar and other aspects of written language. Literature as content for these pupils had been completely overlooked.

Secondary English instruction, when using grammar only as content, is restricted to productive aspects of English. This restriction would necessarily deprive the Learning Disabled pupil of experiences with the heritage of literature shared and enjoyed by their peers. And, Learning Disabled …

Writing Apprehension: Can Sentence Combining Help?, Anne B. Trawick

Theses and Dissertations

This study tested the hypothesis that seventh-grade students who practiced a regimen of sentence-combining would have less apprehension about writing than students who were taught composition in the traditional mode. The subjects were four intact classes of seventh-grade students whose average IQ of 99, who were 12.2 years of age, and who were in classes for students who worked on or near grade level. Each teacher administered to the experimental group the sentence-combining treatment for two class periods a week over a nine week period and taught the control group composition by conventional methods the same amount of time. The …

The Use Of Oral Communications Courses In High School To Increase Skills In Language Arts, Sylvia C. Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to see if there is any difference between the reading and English test scores (TASK= Stanford Test of Academic Skills) between those high schoo1 students who take oral communications courses and those who do not take such courses.

This study used a sample of 40 students enrolled in oral communications courses from three randomly selected high schools. The comparison sample included 40 randomly selected students enrolled in Phase II English courses at the same schools.

The Stanford Test of Academic Skills served as both a pretest and a posttest for scores for all of …

Junior High School Teachers' Attitudes Toward Using The Microcomputer As An Instructional Aid, Gordon L. Cooksey

Theses and Dissertations

This study was a descriptive survey of a junior high school's teachers' attitudes toward using the microcomputer as an instructional aid. The subjects were 25 academic teachers at a Muscogee County, Georgia, junior high school. Most of the teachers had been part of a pilot program to introduce a microcomputer laboratory at the junior high level. The data gathering instrument for this study was a 20-item questionnaire devised by the researcher. The questionnaire was pretested and administered in the spring of 1984. The results revealed highly favorable attitudes among teachers in the four academic disciplines toward using the microcomputer as …

What Georgia's Middle Graders Are Reading: An Analysis Of Selected Georgia Book Award Recipients, Mary M. Bass

Theses and Dissertations

This project is a thematic analysis of thirty books nominated for the Georgia Children's Book Award Program. Books selected for analysis include the annual winners and one other book, randomly selected, from each year since the program began in 1969. A brief history of the program and the rules for the inclusion of a title are included in the report. A one-page review-analysis of each title includes a readability level, publication date, year nominated, brief sketch of the protagonist, and a synopsis of the book. The review of the literature focuses on similar studies along thematic lines and notes the …

Computer Assisted Instructed Materials Dealing With Sound Effects In Poetry For Use In The English Tv Classroom, Peggy Y. Westbrook

Theses and Dissertations

This project includes a survey of the types of Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI) available for use in secondary English classrooms, 1llustrating that the majority of such programs deal with grammar, vocabulary, and reading objectives. Muscogee County, Georgia, high schools now have Apple computers for use by teachers and students in the classroom and after school. However, most current commercial programs do not meet the specific objectives of the curriculum, especially the English IV curriculum with its emphasis on literature. This project presents a trio of programs based on a portion of the poetry-related objectives of the MCSD English IV curriculum. …

Computer Programs In Intermediate Language Arts For Use In A Rural School System, Wanda M. Stuckey

Theses and Dissertations

This project developed and field tested computer programs in language arts for use in a rural school system. A review of the literature compared the effectiveness of computer-assisted instruction(CAI) in various academic areas, specifically focusing on the English curriculum. Commercially available computer programs from Texas Instruments were reviewed for content and format. Two computer programs were then developed on a TRS-80 color computer; the programs were designed specifically to assist in remedial instruction in the intermediate grades. Two reading skills were reviewed: the concepts of literal versus figurative language and fact versus opinion. The graphics portion of a commercial computer …

Homogeneous Versus Heterogeneous Grouping Of Low Ability First Grade Students And The Effect On Reading Achievement, Velinda O. Hickey

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of homogeneous versus heterogeneous grouping on reading achievement with low ability first grade students. Using a modification of a posttest-only control group design and applying a t-test for independent samples', it was found that the 18 students placed in the homogenous group achieved significantly. higher reading levels in the Holt Basic Reading Management Program than the 18 heterogeneously grouped students. In addition, it was also found that students' placed in the homogeneous group achieved significantly higher means on two of the 23 reading skill subtests. In contrast, it was found …

Classroom Practices In The Teaching Of Writing, Rickey A. Cotton

Theses and Dissertations

This study was a descriptive investigation of current practices in the teaching of writing. The subjects were 327 eleventh grade English students and the six English teachers who taught them. The subjects were selected from three of eight high schools operating in a system of approximately 30,000 students in the southern region of the nation. The data gathering instrument for this study was a student writing questionnaire devised by the researcher. The questionnaire was pretested and administered in the spring of 1983. The results revealed both positive and negative aspects of writing instruction. Frequency and length of writing assignments emerged …

A Comparison Of The Effect Of The Language- Experience Approach And The Basal Approach On Reading Achievement, Larry L. Copeland

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to examine and compare through objective literary research the effectiveness of the basal method versus the language experience method on reading achievement. The review of the literature covered a wide variety of sources including several books, journals, dissertations, and reports by professional organizations.

Five questions were formulated to help guide the probe through the vast amount of literature and to narrow the scope and breadth of the research report. The questions asked about the significant differences of reading achievement by: (1) method of instruction, (2) socio-cultural background, (3) sex, (4) intelligence levels, and (5) …

A Method For Surveying Literacy In Minority Languages In Mexico, Steven T. Egland

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to develop a testing method for surveying the literacy needs of minority language groups in Mexico. The tests were designed to determine the approximate percentage of adults in a given Mexican Indian town who can read and write in Spanish and in their own Indian language. The reading tests allowed subjects to be classified according to their abilities.

The tests were intended to improve on some previous studies of literacy in minority language groups outside of the United States. As the tests designed by this investigator were used in three language groups of Mexico …