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Mia Johnson 1
What effect does speech impairment have on the development of phonemic awareness?
Mia JohnsonRE 5725
November 2005
Mia Johnson 2
What effect does speech impairment have on the development of phonemic awareness?
Interest and Summary
As a first grade classroom teacher, my goal is to provide students with appropriate
strategies to become successful readers. In a classroom consisting of 22 students at
different stages of reading development, it is obvious that various strategies must be
utilized. The dynamics of my classroom are vastly different than in my past years of
teaching. This year I have 7 students being served by our speech pathologist. 5 of those
students are also pulled out for services in reading through the Exceptional Children’s
Program. Of the 7 speech disabled students, 5 are being treated for articulation disorders
including /r/, /l/, /th/, and l blends. The remaining students are served for language
delays. My interest in speech impairment and its effect on phonemic awareness stems
from struggling to find effective strategies to teach these specific students.
During my initial search for research on this subject, I found many studies
showing the importance of phonemic awareness as a predictor of reading success. These
articles were beneficial in helping become more comfortable with terms and processes
involved in developing phonemic awareness in beginning readers. Although, there were
many studies demonstrating the importance of phonemic awareness, few studies
highlighted the students with speech impairments.
Utilizing the speech pathologist and exceptional children’s teachers, I was able to
look more specifically at the developmental processes of speech as a separate component
and compare those to the development of phonemic awareness.
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Researched based literature stresses the importance of the partnership and
collaboration of the speech pathologist and regular education teacher. According to
Justice et, al, early literacy screenings are crucial to providing at-risk students intense
intervention in early literacy and speech programs to prevent reading failure. Early
intervention is promoted through Nittrouer’s study, proving that students that lack
language exposure before coming to school are more likely to struggle in reading tasks.
Once early identification is made and students are identified as speech impaired, the
nature of their impairment is fundamental.
Once the impairment is identified and a plan is put in place, intense intervention
in phonemic awareness is suggested by Gillion, following her research comparing
traditional and intense intervention on speech impaired students. Intervention by the
speech pathologist was proven to be the most beneficial, according to Hesketh in her
follow-up studies of the previously identified speech impaired.
Because phonemic awareness was credited throughout my readings as the main
predictor of reading success in young children, I was curious as to the research to prove
this statement. After reading Scholes’ article, The Case Against Phonemic Awareness,
where his hypothesis was proven through a study he conducted using university students,
I began to see phonemic awareness as a part to a whole. My realization continued as I
read Norris and Hoffman’s article on phonemic awareness developing holistically on a
continuum. Phonemic awareness can be taught explicitly and in some severe cases must
be presented in an intense program; however, much of the research I read indicated that
phonemic awareness embedded in a thorough phonics program would result in gains for
at risk speech impaired students. Buchheit’s longitudinal study of college level students,
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identified and treated for articulation disorders, proved no long term affect on reading
success as adults. This study, along with others proves the importance of early
intervention in speech impaired students.
The intervention methods throughout my readings all indicate phonemic
awareness as an essential key component in that intervention. It is also evident that there
must be collaboration between the speech pathologist and regular education teacher.
Although collaboration is important, my role as the classroom teacher is to provide my
speech impaired students with many opportunities to develop phonemic awareness.
Students with speech impairments or articulation disorders are capable of mastering
phonemic awareness, although intense intervention through explicit training may be
necessary. Articulation disorders do not prevent students from developing phonemic
awareness; however, it may slow down the process. The impact of intervention in
addition to regular classroom reading education for speech impaired students is needed to
ensure reading success.
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Gillon, Gail T. (2000) The Efficacy of Phonological Awareness Intervention for Children With Spoken Language Impairment. Language, Speech and Hearing Services in Schools, Vol. 31, 126-141.
According to Gillion, “phonological awareness is considered a crucial link
between spoken and written language” (2000, p. 126). Students with speech language
impairments have shown to “perform poorly on measures of phonological awareness”
(Gillion, 2000, p. 126). Although many studies have shown gains, post-intervention of
phonological awareness, few have involved students with speech language impairments.
This study was aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of phonological intervention on
students with speech impairments and to measure any transfer effects to word recognition
and reading comprehension.
The study looks at three forms of phonological intervention and the effects on
students with speech language impairments. The phonological intervention took place in
two 1-hour individual sessions for a total of 20 hours. Children were treated at the
University of Cantebury, by a speech pathologist or other qualified researcher with
intense phonological awareness strategies. The traditional intervention group received
two 1-hour individual therapy sessions for a total of 20 hours. The focus for this group
was on traditional speech interventions such as articulation of target sounds in isolation
and basic sound production. The third group of students received minimal interventions
with consultations once a month by a speech pathologist with the teacher or parent of the
child. Strategies were given to improve speech production. The researchers
hypothesized that speech language students exposed to phonological interventions would
make more gains in reading than those speech language students involved in traditional
and minimal intervention programs.
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Ninety-one diversely economic students between ages of 5.6 and 7.6 were
involved in this study. Sixty-one students were identified as having speech language
impairments, 23 in the intense phonological group, 23 in the traditional group, and 15 in
the minimal intervention group. The remaining thirty students made up the control group
that received regular education. All students were given a pre-test which showed
substantial differences in reading ability and lack of phonological awareness in students
with speech language impairments in comparison to regular education students. After 4.5
months of interventions, a post test was administered measuring gains in phonological
awareness and reading ability.
The results of the post-test proved the researchers’ hypothesis correct. The
intense phonological intervention group made significant gains from pre-test to post-test
in phonological awareness, making more growth than the traditional intervention,
minimal intervention, and control groups. This group also made more growth than the
minimal intervention group in onset-rime measures and more growth than the traditional
intervention group on syllabic level measures. Gillion added that “children in the
phonological awareness intervention was greater than control groups for word
recognition skills, reading and comprehending connected text, and non word decoding
ability. There was no difference between the improvement of Groups 2 (traditional) and
3 (minimal) on any reading measures (135).” In addition to the improvements made by
the phonological awareness group in reading skills, gains were also noted in speech
production
Following the pre-test, interventions, and post-test, the data was investigated
using the profile of five children involved in the study. The five children profiled had the
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lowest speech productions measures. This study showed that these students made gains
and that “phonological awareness intervention had positive effects on both the speech
production and phonological awareness abilities for all five children. Transfer effects to
reading performance were also evident in four of these children. (136)”
In conclusion, the findings in this study prove that phonological intervention is
key in making progress for students with speech impairments. All students receiving
some form of intervention will make gains, however significant gains were noted
throughout this study in word recognition, reading comprehension, and speech production
as a result of phonological awareness intervention. These gains were also noted to
transfer in a small sample group. It should be noted that more research in transfer effects
is needed to enhance the results of this study.
Education is about finding ways to enable all children to learn to the best of their
ability. Children with speech impairments can be at risk readers if phonological
interventions are not put into place, according to Catts and Kamhi (1999) and Vellutino et
al. (1996). Through this study, educators can see that advocating for students with
speech language impairments to receive intense phonological intervention is key for
those students to make comparable gains in reading ability and speech production to
regular education students.
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Gerber, Adele, Klein, Evelyn. (2004). A Speech-Language Approach to Early Reading Success. Teaching Exceptional Children, Vol. 36, 6, 8-14
“Extensive research has produced compelling evidence of a strong relationship
between phonological awareness and the acquisition of reading skills” (Gerber and Klein,
2004, p. 8). Speech pathologists, Gerber and Klein, took that evidence along with teacher
feedback and composed a Speech-Language Approach to teaching beginning readers that
differs from traditional approaches. The approach is centered from the speech language-
hearing discipline, experience, and research on beginning reading.
Caseloads of children with articulation delays and disorders prompted “intensive
training in speech-sound perception that enabled (those) children to develop a heightened
awareness of the difference between their error production and the corresponding
standard sound (Gerber and Klein, 2004, p. 8).” Within the Speech Language Approach,
children are exposed to two stages of intense training. The first stage is training
phonemic awareness of consonant-sound perception. The second stage is matching letter
to sound using systematic phonics. These stages are followed closely throughout the
program and effectiveness is noted.
In stage one, students are introduced to individual consonant sounds. Students are
guided through an intensive multi-sensory and repetitive process to obtain mastery of
these sounds. The targeted consonant sounds in isolation provide beginning readers
opportunity for recognition of the sound-letter correspondence in words, according to
Gerber and Klein (2004, p. 9). Stage two consist of four steps that progress through
matching letter-sounds to identifying beginning letters with corresponding words. This
stage takes, students to the next level of mastery.
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The Speech-Language Approach was adopted by a school district with goals to
reduce the number of students with reading difficulties. The program was incorporated
into an extended-day tutorial program for first and second grade students. Qualifying
students scored below basic level on initial reading assessments. These students were
divided into groups of 5, per one classroom teacher. They met in one-half hour sessions,
three times a week for a total of one and one-half hours from October to February for
intense instruction based on the Speech-Language Approach. Students were given a pre-
test, mid-year test, and post-test to track progress.
The data collected shows that progress was made in all areas for the first and
second grade groups. Of the 31 first grade students involved, 100% increased from
below basic level to proficient level in 7 of the 12 tested subgroups. 100% of the first
grade students went from below basic to basic level in the remaining 5 subgroups.
Similar results were shown in the second grade group with 100% of the 7 second grade
students moving from below basic to proficient on half of the subgroups and the
remainder of the subgroups showing gains from below basic to basic level.
Conclusively, this article demonstrates the effectiveness of a Speech-Language
Approach for at-risk readers in first and second grade. This program was proven
effective with reported gains in one area school district. Gerber and Klein support their
revised program by stating, “Failure in response to conventional phonics instruction is
frequently due to attempts to match the abstract form of a letter to a sound that is not
perceived.” They go one to say that “phonemic awareness development is critical to the
speech-language pathologist’s methods of treating articulation disorders. To heighten
discrimination between a defective and a standard production of a speech sound, the
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phoneme is removed from the surrounding sounds in a word and presented in isolation.
(2004, p.9).”
Although gains were noted as a result of this program, only one school district
was involved. A control group was not used, therefore leaving speculation that the gains
could have been made regardless of the Speech-Language Approach. However, with
supported references and specific reasoning, the importance of intense training coming
from the speech language-hearing discipline was credited. This article reinforces the
importance of speech pathologists’ knowledge and involvement in phonemic awareness
development for at-risk readers.
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Ramos-Sanchez, Jose Luis; Cuadrodo-Gordillo, Isabel. (2004) Influence of Spoken Language on the Initial Acquisition of Reading/Writing: Critical Analysis of Verbal Deficit Theory. Reading Pyschology. Vol. 25, 149-165.
“Language skills are related to reading and writing performance, since learning to
read and write is nothing but learning the spoken language in a written form (2004, p.
150).” Is reading difficulty caused by a deficit in language? The answer to this question
resulted in the research of the influence of spoken language on the ability to learn written
language. Ramos-Sanchez and Cuadrodo-Gordillo proceeded with their study of that
question upon establishing that students to be involved must be in the pre-reading stages
and show no reading difficulties.
This study was designed with two sets of comparison groups. One comparison
group was exposed to a speech language program and the other group received traditional
classroom instruction. Both groups within this comparison had a focus on language. The
second set of comparison groups was exposed to the same variables with a focus on
reading and writing performance. The results of each comparison group was then
evaluated to show the effects of spoken language on the development on learning written
language.
The study involved 48 students, 24 student for the control groups and 24 students
for the experimental groups. These students ranged in age from 5 years 4 months to 6
years 3 months and were served in schools surrounding middle-class urban areas. The
groups were equal in gender and parental educational levels. Each group of students was
given the same evaluation instruments before and after they received instruction.
The students were assessed in reading, writing, articulation, vocabulary, auditory
memory, and phonological awareness. Each of these evaluation instruments provided
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necessary information regarding student reading readiness. Following the initial
evaluations the researchers met with classroom teachers to randomly select the control
groups.
The Spoken Language Program began once both sets of groups were established
and the materials and scheduling were set. The classrooms for each group were set up
with “similar materials: good lighting, sound and spatial conditions, workbooks available
for the pupils, motivational posters and pictures, a reading corner or books and magazines
with pictures, etc. (2004 p.156).” There were no added materials for the Spoken
Language Program.
The experimental groups were provided with specific systematic instruction for
30 minutes four days a week from November to May. The focus for instruction was on
phonological awareness for the first term and phonemic awareness the second and third
term. The control group was provided with instruction, activities, and regularly
scheduled lessons provided by the regular education teacher with no specific instruction
in the Spoken Language Program.
Following the implementation of the program, the evaluation instruments were
given to the same students, under the same conditions to measure gains. As a result of
this study, researchers found that there was “no influence on improvements of the
language skills of the group of pupils to whom it (Spoken Language Program) was
applied (Ramos-Sanchez and Cuadrado-Gordillo, 2004 p.158).” The researchers also
noted that “the principal conclusion that we draw from the analyses is that there exists no
causal relationship between initial reading/writing performance and the language
variables that have traditionally been regarded as important in facilitating the learning of
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reading/writing (vocabulary, articulation, and auditory memory). The exception was
phonemic awareness which was found to have a strong causal relationship with writing
simple words (Ramos-Sanchez and Cuadrado-Gordillo, 2004 p.159).” These finding led
the researchers to conclude the most important predictors of reading success is phonemic
awareness and alphabet knowledge.
This study proved the relationship of spoken language and learning written
language was not correlated as a whole. However, when broken down into the
individually evaluated variables, phonemic awareness was the only variable that could be
held as a predictor of reading and writing success. Classroom teachers, must take this
information and teach phonemic awareness while exposing students to the other variables
as well. Although no gains were noted higher in the control groups in comparison to the
experimental groups, the variables were maintained in each group. Therefore, in order
for students to maintain and acquire language, reading and writing skills, they must be
exposed to other components that build on phonemic awareness.
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Justice, Laura M.; Invernizzi, Marcia A.; Meier, Joanne D. (2002). Designing and Implementing an Early Literacy Screening Protocol: Suggestions for the Speech-Language Pathologist. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools. Vol. 33, 2, 84-101.
The partnership of the speech pathologist and classroom teacher is crucial in the
development of early literacy success in students with speech impairments. Justice, et al.
looks at the predictors of early literacy success and makes the case for designing and
implementing screenings to prevent and be proactive when it comes to reading
difficulties in children. Throughout the article, rationale is provided in support of setting
protocol for early literacy screening.
“Early literacy knowledge is strongly and reciprocally influenced by children’s
oral language proficiency. Children with specific language impairment and children with
phonological disorders, are at increased risk for delayed attainment of requisite early
literacy skills (Justice, et al., 2004, p. 84).” When children enter kindergarten or first
grade they are involved in instruction that requires pre-requisite language skills to be in
place. The children that are not able to perform at the pace of the class in the reading
curriculum are more likely to have ongoing problems in literacy development. Early
literacy screening would assist in identifying these students so that interventions could be
provided.
Researched based literature has provided information on key variables that can be
used as early literacy predictors. Studies represented in that research “indicates that
measures of phonological awareness, alphabet knowledge, letter-sound knowledge, and
other elements of early literacy-collected when children are between the ages of 3 and 5
or 6 years of age-serve as robust predictors of children’s later literacy achievement
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(Justice, et al., 2002 p.85).” These variables should be part of the early literacy screening
protocol. Written language awareness, literacy motivation, and home literacy should also
be included as targets used to construct an instrument that provides general information
regarding a child’s early literacy skills.
School districts in the nation are experimenting with early literacy screening. An
area in Virginia, has screenings in place as a proactive model. Children entering
kindergarten are screened with a comprehensive early literacy skills test. Speech
pathologist and teachers were involved in the screening of 88% of kindergarten students.
The students that did not perform at standard on specific skills were identified and
provided intense early literacy instruction. Following those students for one year,
provided the researchers with the information that the intense instruction did enhance
their literacy skills for their kindergarten year. Although, this was just one study, many
school districts are moving towards early literacy screening.
The need for early literacy screening is vast, although there are some
contradicting views. Justice, et al. states, “problems that are specifically phonological in
nature do not necessarily place a child at risk for later literacy problems, however,
children exhibiting severe phonological impairment are at substantially greater risk for
literacy problems than children with more moderate impairments (2004, p. 86).” It is
also noted that several studies are contradicting in that some suggest students with
communicative impairments will not suffer literacy problems, while others show
evidence indicating that children with sound production problems may have difficulty
obtaining early literacy skills. Early literacy screening is needed, but it should be viewed
as only a “snapshot” of what a child is capable of learning in terms of literacy.
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Before implementing an early literacy screening, several features should be
included to ensure the instrument is valid and reliable. Psychometric quality will
provide construct validity, comprehensiveness will make certain that all areas crucial to
literacy development are tested, and sensitivity should be included to differentiate the
children who are being tested.
Early literacy screening is a proactive way to provide students with the tools they
need to be successful readers from the beginning of their school career. Students entering
school should be screened and identified for any literacy difficulties, especially those
students who are at risk due to speech language impairments, home literacy background,
and literacy motivation. Proactive educators ensure that students are offered
interventions if needed to prevent frustrations and failures in reading. Early literacy
screenings are a crucial tool that would enhance the proactive process.
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Scholes, Robert J.. (1998) The case against phonemic awareness. Journal Research in Reading. Vol. 21, 3, 177-188.
Strategies to teach reading have been on a paradigm over time. The whole-
language approach has been compared to the phonetic approach with varied results.
Researchers have dually noted the effectiveness of both approaches, however, in this
article a case was made against phonemic awareness.
To better understand the case against phonemic awareness, several definitions of
reading were given. Some researchers believe reading is “the ability to sound out strings
of letters (Scholes, 1998, p. 179).” While others believe that reading is “comprehending
written language (Scholes, 1998, p. 179).” This definition in correlation with the
definition of phonemic awareness, which is “ability to isolate and manipulate sounds,”
provides Scholes the foundation to form his hypothesis that phonemic awareness is not a
precursor to reading success.
The question formulated from this ongoing debate, is which concept causes the
other. Meaning is phonemic awareness the cause of reading success or does reading and
alphabetic knowledge result in a good understanding of phonemic awareness. The third
position, could indicate that reading and phonemic awareness are independent of one
another. Scholes, conducted a small study to prove his hypothesis and case against
phonemic awareness.
A small-scale study was utilized in a letter/sound deletion test often used to assess
phonemic awareness in beginning readers. The group tested consisted of 70 literate,
university students. The students were asked to delete specific sounds and record the
new word in written form. 90% of the students were successful in tasks consisting of one
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to one spelling-sound correspondence. However, in contrast to that success rate, only
12% of the college-level students were able to delete and reproduce a new word when
there was no correspondence in the spelling of the word and the deleted sound.
The results of this study indicate that phonemic awareness can be associated with
the acquisition of alphabetic knowledge in regards to spelling and not the aural part of
spoken language. The deletion in task two, shows that students wrote the new word
based on the deletion in the spelling of the word, but made an incorrect pronunciation of
the word. Although it appears that phonemic awareness is more critical to written
language than reading, it can be argued that the English language does not lend itself to
phonemic awareness being a precursor to that skill.
Some argue that since speech precedes written language, phonemic awareness
plays an important role in spelling and writing. Scholes argues, that “spelling ought to
reflect speech; that is there should be correspondences between letters and sound (1998,
p. 184).” He continues to prove his hypothesis stating that written language is consistent
with many spelling rules, while the spoken English language can vary in dialect. He
states that “writing utilize(s) a number of ways of signaling and function that have no
counterparts in speech (1998 p. 187).”
Scholes is adamant in speaking against phonemic awareness as a contributor to
reading success. He shares examples of adult students that are non-readers gaining
reading skills without specific phonics instruction. He argues that phonemic awareness
was not explicitly taught, although the illiterate adults became readers through immersion
in spoken language and alphabetic knowledge.
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The conclusion of Scholes’ small-scale study demonstrates many positions of how
phonemic awareness is developed and its importance on reading and writing success.
The first position, stating that phonemic awareness is a precursor to reading was
disproved by Scholes study in students that did not receive explicit phonics instruction
still gaining skills to become readers. The second position, immersion and mastery of
alphabetic principle, is backed up as Scholes shows that adult learners were able to
become literate without begin exposed to phonemic awareness. The third position, shows
that phonemic awareness and reading are unrelated as the native non-alphabetic script
languages can be learned without specific phonemic instruction.
Scholes proved his case against phonemic awareness. The importance of
phonemic awareness, however, was demonstrated throughout the article as it was
mentioned as part of developing reading and writing skills. Although Scholes does not
agree that phonemic awareness is the precursor to reading and writing success, the
evidence provided shows that phonemic awareness is a contributing factor. Phonemic
awareness cannot be taught as an inclusive phonics program. Other components must be
integrated including alphabetic knowledge, spelling rules, immersion in spoken language
and literature to have an effective reading program.
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Nittrouer, Susan. (1996). The Relation between Speech Perception and Phonemic Awareness: Evidence From Low-SES Children and Children with Chronic OM. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research. Vol. 39, 1059-1070.
“Through months and years of listening and speaking in one’s native language, a
child gradually learns how to weight acoustic information so that phonetic structure can
be derived (Nittrouer, 1996, p.1060).” Studies support this statement; however, more
research was needed to find out if the amount of exposure to one’s native language
effected the development of phonemic awareness. To answer this question subjects with
varied linguistic experiences were administered a series of intervention strategies and
tests.
Researchers hypothesized that children with varied linguistic experiences would
show variations in phonemic awareness. Therefore, children with speech impairments
due to hearing difficulties which result in less linguistic experience would have less
phonemic awareness control. Children without speech or hearing impairments, but less
linguistic exposure would also have less phonemic awareness control than those students
with no impairments and average linguistic experience.
Specific groups with varied linguistic experiences were composed. Children from
a middle socioeconomic class with no impairments and children from a middle
socioeconomic class with a strong history of otitis media composed two groups. Chronic
otitis media in a low socioeconomic class of children and children of the same
socioeconomic class with no impairments composed the final two groups. These groups
were carefully selected with regards to medical backgrounds and household income.
Three of the four groups consisted of twelve children meeting specific
qualifications. The middle socioeconomic group with no impairments comprised the
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control group with twelve subjects. The middle socioeconomic group with chronic otitis
media and the low socioeconomic group with no impairments consisted of twelve
subjects. The final group was consisted of only five qualifying children of low
socioeconomic group with chronic otitis media.
These students were given three pre-screenings measuring vocabulary, speech
ability, and reading skills. Following the initial screenings, the subjects were
administered two phonemic awareness tests consisting of phoneme deletion and initial
segment manipulation. Each of the tests was given in a sound controlled chamber to
eliminate other stimuli.
The results of this study proved that on the phonemic awareness tasks, children in
both low socioeconomic groups performed poorly in comparison to the middle
socioeconomic groups. When segregated into impairment groups, the groups with
chronic otitis media scored lower than their counterpart socioeconomic group. However,
the low socioeconomic groups performed similarly in the tasks.
It is evident through this study that the native language exposure is important to
the acquisition of phonemic awareness. “Two studies have shown that kindergartners
from low-SES homes have poorer phonemic awareness than those from mid-SES homes.
Another study showed that low-SES children fell progressively further behind mid-SES
children on phonemic awareness tasks and reading ability as they went though school
(Nittrouer 1996, p. 1062).” Nittrouer goes on to suggest that “there is a threshold on
how much linguistic experience is necessary for the normal development of speech and
language (1996, p. 1060).”
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Although this study is not conclusive in stating the actual cause of the decreased
development of phonemic awareness, it can be deduced that lack of exposure to one’s
native language and interaction with sounds causes the deficit. “Low-SES parents are less
likely to respond to their children’s utterances than are mid-SES parents (Nittrouser, 1996
p. 1062).” The findings of this study highlight the importance of conversation and initial
language development for young children. Children with hearing or speech impairments
must be immersed in language to develop a foundation of phonemic awareness.
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Adams, Marilyn J.. (1990). Beginning to Read: Thinking and Learning About Print. Bradford Books; London, England.
For children, learning to listen, speak, read, and write are all crucial to their
development. Each of those components in communication must be mastered in steps.
According to Marilyn Adams (1990), “ in speaking and listening, our attention is focused
on the task of comprehending, the task of making sense out of the collective, ordered
stream of words” (p.51). She continues by saying, “for the purposes of reading or
writing, however, children must pay attention to these units (phonemes and syllables)”
(p.51). Children do not attend to both purposes at one time.
Language development begins at birth as a child becomes aware of utterances and
phrases. This awareness increases to recognizing that words make up those phrases and
those words are made up of syllables. The understanding of phonemes, used in decoding
skills is the last to develop. Because this developmental progression goes from larger
units to smaller units, it is clear that parents and educators should expose young students
to print and language in their early years.
An awareness of phonemes is needed to read, write, and speak fluently. “Faced
with an alphabetic script, children’s levels of phonemic awareness on entering school
may be the single most powerful determinant of their success or failure in learning to
read” (Adams, 1990, p. 54). Phonemic awareness is not consciously developed.
Children who are absorbed in spoken language and print before entering school are more
likely to have control of phonemic awareness before learning to read.
Onsets and rimes are part of the development of phonemic awareness. Studies
show that “children are better at identifying the spelling of whole rimes than of individual
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vowel sounds” (Adams, 1990, p. 56). When words are spoken, the individual units
cannot be broken down. It is not until reading and writing occurs that children are able to
see individual phonemes. This shows that children look to chunk or categorize words
when decoding them. They do this with rimes and are able to focus on the onset to easily
read or produce the word.
Phonemic awareness is an important component in learning to read. Although
phonemic awareness can be taught as an explicit skill, it is not recommended. In this
chapter, Adams shares that the awareness of phonemic development depends on an
association of letters and sounds being taught simultaneously. She goes on to say that
phonemic awareness does not happen at one time; it continues to develop through
adolescences.
There is no timeline for the development of phonemic awareness. Therefore,
some children are retained for the lack of mastery of phonemic awareness. Adams
suggests that this is not an appropriate effect because not all children come to school with
the same exposure to spoken and written language. Phonemic awareness develops slowly
and can develop alongside other skills such as word recognition as the child progresses
through school.
For those children that struggle to develop phonemic awareness, Adams says that
“explicit training of phonemic awareness is invaluable” (1990, p. 56). However,
programs that incorporate linguistic awareness games and activities can be used to
enhance that development. Students should not be given phonemic awareness tests to
determine retention; however, they must be given the opportunity develop that skill
through print and language exposure.
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Primary classroom teachers have the charge of providing students a print rich
environment and exposing them to language in order to enhance the development of
phonemic awareness. Letters and sounds must be taught in correlation with one another.
Classroom teachers must also realize that not all children come to school with the same
linguistic experiences; therefore various levels of phonemic awareness will be evident in
a small group of children. Phonemic awareness is a crucial determinant of reading
success that develops at a different rate for all students.
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Hesketh, Anne. (2004). Early literacy achievement of children with history of speech problems. International Journal of Langauge and Communication disorders. Vol. 30, 1, 453-468.
“A speech disorder may exist as a ‘pure’ condition in some children, but is
frequently accompanied by a broader language impairment, which is itself associated
with literacy problems” (Hesketh, 2004, p. 454). The question arises as to the effect of
speech disorders on the development of literacy. There are opposing views on the answer
to this question.
A study by Larivee and Catts found that there may be a correlation between
children with speech problems and their ability in early reading achievement. On the
other hand, Bishop and Adams’ study states that “that purely speech-disordered children
are not at risk for later literacy or academic problems” (Hesketh, 2004, p. 455). Due to
the conflicting view, speech therapist must accurately establish the effects of speech
disorders on reading success so as to use their intervention time effectively.
A study consisting of 61, 3.6-5.0 aged, children was used to gain an early profile
of children with speech disorders. The children were diagnosed with moderate to severe
speech disorders and received 10 speech/language therapy sessions emphasizing
production practice and metaphonological awareness. The children were tracked through
the therapy sessions and then revisited for the current study.
The current study took place when the children were 6.6 – 7.7 years of age. The
children were tested with the Phonological Assessment Battery (Hesketh, 2004, p. 457).
Individual skills such as alliteration, rhyme; non-word reading, digit-naming speed, and
fluency were tested within this assessment. Data was collected from the tests and
compared to the results of the initial test.
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The results of this study showed that all subjects “made progress in speech,
including some of the most severely affected on original identification” (Hesketh, 2004,
p. 458).” Researchers hypothesized that the different therapy sessions: metaphonological
and production practice would appear in the results of the current study. These finding
were not found to be true. Specifically looking at rhyme matching and onset
segmentation, there was little difference in the gain in either group.
Of the 35 children tracked throughout both studies only 2 children fell below
average on the final assessment. When looking at the results of the earlier study,
researchers found that using that information as a predictor of early reading success
would be false. Results of the current study show that all children made progress.
However, the researchers still conclude that phonemic awareness is the best predictor of
early reading success.
As a result of these two correlated studies, Hesketh encourages more research to
be completed. There are many studies that show predictors of early reading success in
students with speech language disorders. There are also many studies that show those
predictors to only hold true to the most severe cases. More research is needed ensure that
speech language disorders are diagnosed early. Speech language pathologist must begin
intervention early to ensure optimistic outcomes of interventions. Although the
intervention must take place early, the severity of the speech disorder is not a predictor on
the success of the intervention.
Students with speech language disorders in primary classrooms must receive
regular education opportunities, however, it is crucial that they also receive intense
intervention focused on their needs. The students would be best served if disorders were
Mia Johnson 28
detected in preschool years where individual plans could be put in place. Educators of
these students must work together to provide the needed services so that reading success
is attainable.
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Torgesen, Joseph K.; Wagner, Richard K.; Rashotte, Carol A.; Rose, Elaine; Lindamood, Patricia; Conway, Tim; Garvan, Cyndi. (2005). Preventing Reading Failure in Young Children with Phonological Processing Disabilities: Group and Individual Responses to Instruction. Journal of Educational Psychology. In Press.
Instructional conditions can play a crucial role in reading development as well as
prevention of reading disabilities of at-risk young students. “Perhaps the most important
single conclusion about reading disabilities is that they are more commonly caused by
weaknesses in the ability to process the phonological features of language” (Togesen et,
al. p. 2). The instructional presentation of phonemic awareness strategies administered
to children identified as at-risk readers before reading instruction begins could be the
most effective form of reading disability prevention. In this study, Torgesen and
colleagues pose a goal to answer that question. The study focuses on a way “to examine
the effectiveness of several instructional procedure for a specific subset of children who
are at-risk for reading difficulties; those who enter school delayed in the development of
phonological skill” (Togesen et, al. p. 2).
Three instructional procedures were contrasted in order to identify the most
effective for developing phonological skills in at-risk students. Two of the three
approaches were constructed based on the research that states, “children with
phonological processing weaknesses must receive direct instruction in phonemic
decoding strategies” (Torgesen et, al. p. 3). The first mentioned approach, phonemic
awareness approach, focused on providing students with the maximum, direct instruction
of phonemic decoding skills. The second instructional strategy, embedded phonics
group, emphasized phonemic reading skills with context clues, mixing word and text
Mia Johnson 30
level instruction. The final approach consisted of one on one tutoring that mimicked the
instructional strategies of the students’ regular classroom teachers.
Participants in the study were prescreened using the Letter Naming, Phoneme
Elision task, and Verbal Intelligence tests to qualify for the study. Of the 413
kindergarten aged students, 180 qualified scoring the lowest on Letter Naming and
Phoneme Elision tasks as well as obtaining a score below 75 on the Verbal Intelligence
test. The qualifying group consisted of equal gender and diverse race. These students
were randomly placed in one of the three groups: phonological awareness group,
embedded phonics group, and the regular classroom support group. A control group with
no treatment was also added. These students were given a series of pre-test including:
phonological awareness, verbal short-term memory, rapid automatic naming ability, rapid
object and letter naming. They were also administered general verbal and non-verbal
ability measures. A home literacy questionnaire was sent to parents along with an
inventory sent to classroom teachers. This data was scored, analyzed, and filed for
reference throughout the study.
During the two and one-half year study, participants were exposed to “four, 20
minutes sessions of one-to-one instruction per week beginning in the second semester of
kindergarten” (Togesen et, al. p. 5). The instruction was administered by certified
teachers trained as tutors and aides, rotating every two tutoring sessions. Students
involved in phonological awareness group “received Auditory Discrimination in Depth
Program as developed and outlined by Patricia and Charles Lindamood” (Togesen et, al.
p. 7). The embedded phonics program focused on recognizing small groups of words
through games, drill, letter-sound activities, as well as sentence reading and writing. The
Mia Johnson 31
final group was exposed to instruction that was similar to the classroom instruction of
their regular teacher. The instruction was consistent and maintained for four consecutive
semesters, ending when the students were in second grade.
Throughout the study, 5 tests were given to all groups. The final tests were
compared with the pre-tests and ongoing tests. The data was analyzed closely and broken
down into several measures that showed no significant difference in those groups
provided with some type of phonological instruction. However, it did show that the
regular education tutoring showed less growth in phonological development. The
researchers’ overall statement of data was that “given the right instructional conditions, it
is quite possible to help even children with core phonological weaknesses acquire the
critical foundational skill in phonemic analysis and decoding that have been so strongly
associate with good reading outcomes in elementary school” (Torgesen et, al. p. 22).
The study was beneficial, but according to the researchers, it did have some
weaknesses. The data can be upheld as reliable, however, one must realize the
background information obtained by the participants varied as some were retained and
did not receive the same grade level instruction throughout the study. It was also noted
that the inconsistency of the tutors should be taken into consideration. The tutors,
although certified teachers, had no experience in the programs in which they were trained
to administer. These factors must be considered when looking at the reliability of this
study.
Students must be given explicit, intense phonics instruction to help reduce reading
failure. This instruction should be coupled with alphabetic principles as well as whole
word and text exposure. Educators must know their students ability and background
Mia Johnson 32
knowledge in order to provide them with the direct instruction appropriate to their
development.
Mia Johnson 33
Buchheit, Christine L.. (2003). Follow-Up of College Students with a History of Development Speech Disorders. School of Health Sciences of Duquesne University.
“The prevalence rate for phonological disorders among 3-11 year old children is
estimated to be about 7.5%; of these affected cases, 5% are considered articulation
impaired, with the remaining 2.5% diagnosed with a more severe phonological disorder”
(Buchheit, 2003, p. 1). The question emerges as to what effect these disorders have upon
growth in school and adulthood success. Many studies have been conducted to analyze
the growth in school, whereas this study takes a longitudinal look at the long term effects
on adulthood success rates of students with speech and articulation errors.
Long term studies that have been executed include a study that followed a group
of adolescent students in two specific subgroups. The articulation impaired subgroup
showed to have less adulthood impact than did the language impaired subgroup. A
second study proved that students diagnosed with “moderate to severe speech delay tend
to experience long-term and adverse consequences in speech, language, and academic
performance, specifically in adolescence and early adulthood” (Buchheit, 2003, p. 2).
“King, Jones, and Lasky performed the only study to date that has obtained follow-up
information about children with articulation verses phonological impairments” (Buchheit,
2003, p. 4). Results from that study showed that students with articulation disorders had
less overall problems, in contrast to the students with phonological impairments who
have a high rate of communication problems as adults. These studies are important the
current research, but must be examined with caution due to the reliability and validity of
the collection of the follow-up data.
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The current study examines 32 college students. One half of the group was
diagnosed with articulation disorders as a child. The second half of the students had no
history of speech or language disorders. The subjects were interviewed and were
administered two prescreening inventories. They were given a hearing and oral-motor
evaluation. All subjects were successful in these measures. Each subject then
participated in several tests that were administered by the same assessment investigator.
The testing instruments used were: Fisher-Logemann Sentence Test of Articulation,
Conventional and Pseudo-Word Spelling Tests, Test of Achievement (Woodcock and
Johnson), Syllabification Task, Nonsense Word Reception, Expository Writing Task, and
subject interviews and surveys.
After all the tasks were complete, the scores were analyzed and compared based
on gender and speech language history. The gender comparison showed no significant
difference in any of the task. The two speech language history groups were then
compared on each individual task. The analysis of results showed “subjects performed
comparably on traditional and non-traditional measures that were selected to tax the
expressive and representational phonologic system” (Buchheit, 2003, p. 18). The subject
interviews and surveys were then examined to compare aspiration of goals, special
service needs and extra-curricular involvement of the two groups. All areas showed
comparable results in grade point average, credit hours taken, and extra-curricular
activities. Several students did utilize special services in college with writing, science,
and statistics support. These findings were not significant as noted by the researcher.
The results of this study conclude that students with residual articulation errors
are not adversely affected as adult learners. In comparison to a control group of peers,
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college students with a history of articulation disorders and treatment therapy at a young
age performed at similar levels on tasks assessing phonologic systems. The subjects are
also comparable in social and emotional content. The overall “results are encouraging for
parents and speech-language pathologists who work with this population, since the
finding s suggest that , once the misarticulations are resolved, affected individuals are not
likely, as a group, to later display functionally important negative consequences in early
adulthood” (Buchheit, 2003, p. 26).
Continued longitudinal research is needed in the area of articulation and language
impaired students and their adulthood success and motivation. However, the importance
of early treatment of articulation errors in children is evident in the results of this study.
Treatment must occur in order for the students to overcome and resolve the errors in
order to be a successful student and life-long learner.
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Hoffman, Paul R.; Norris, Janet A. (2002) Phonemic awareness: a complex developmental process. Topics in Language Disorders, Vol. 22, 2, 1-34.
According to Hoffman and Norris, it is recognized that phonemic awareness is
important to the processes of learning to read and spell, the exact nature of phonemic
awareness and its origins are poorly understood (Hoffman et, al. 2002, p.1). This article
looks at the Situational-Discourse Semantic model with a constellation model of teaching
phonemic awareness and its individual levels. The models are used to show the
developmental processes of phonemic awareness and how they emerge in children.
Rhyming words, identifying initial sounds and number of sounds in words are just
a few concepts used to measure phonemic awareness. Norris and Hoffman state,
“phonemic awareness is the ability to come consciously aware of the individual
phonemes or sounds within words” (2002, p. 2). The concepts used to identify phonemic
awareness in children are presented in various models to examine the developmental
steps beneficial to reading success.
Within the development of phonemic awareness three models best explain the
processes, according to Norris and Hoffman. The first model suggests that phonemic
awareness consist of various abilities that are interrelated, beginning in early years. The
second model explains that phonemic awareness “is shown to emerge developmentally
along a continuum, from early infancy through 7+ year” (Norris and Hoffman, 2002, p.
3). Children begin with listening to nursery rhymes and move onto reciting them and
then reading them. Each step along the continuum leads to understanding of the next
step. The final model shows why the continuum in the second model occurs with a focus
cognitive processing.
Mia Johnson 37
Within the three models, “phonemic awareness is a complex developmental
ability that children acquire only gradually when provided experiences and opportunities
to learn about the form of oral and written language” (Norris and Hoffman, 2002, p. 4).
Children must be provided with a print-rich environment, repeated exposure to nursery
rhymes and language, as well as adult reading models. These language experiences
expose children to many sources of phonemic awareness.
A continuum from holistic experiences to meta-linguistic knowledge sets the
framework of the Situational-Discourse Semantic Model. It illustrates that when children
are only a few months old, they attend to stimuli such as rhymes and pictures. As
children are exposed to repeated sounds and language they sort those sounds into
phonemic categories. Along the continuum in this model, children make the move from
listening to being an active participant through gesturing, visually tracking, and
vocalizing in response to language stimulus. As students cognitively process the
stimulus, they become aware of differentiating phonemic awareness from phrases to
words to letters to sounds. This moves the students forward in on the continuum.
Norris and Hoffman constructed a constellation model that is used to show how
the levels on the continuum can interact with one another. This is a multi-sensory
approach that occurs simultaneously as the students interact with language. They begin to
participate in whole events paying attention to acoustic features and meanings of words.
They continue to dissect words and transform meaning using deletions and additions of
parts and sounds. This encourages students to become more aware of the position of
phonemes in words, where they occur within syllables, and how to manipulate the
meaning.
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“Some researchers believe that phonemic awareness is a skill that underlies and is
a prerequisite to reading, others believe a reciprocal relationship exists between learning
and the emergence of phonemic awareness” (Norris and Hoffman, 2002, p. 17). The
reciprocal approach mirrors the constellation method. The article highlights the
importance of exposure to print and language from an early age. It is suggested that left
to right directionality, print conventions, and concept of word will develop as children are
continually exposed to language, environmental print, and good reading models.
The Situational-Discourse Semantic continuum with relation to the constellation
model developed by Norris and Hoffman provide a clear example in which phonemic
develops in children. Conclusively it is stated, “that children who demonstrate good
phonemic awareness are those who have progressed through the sequences of
development… they are children who have mastered many of the levels of the
Situational-Discourse Semantic continuum” (Norris and Hoffman, 2002, p. 27).
According to Norris and Hoffman’s article, “it is not surprising that children who do well
on tests of phonemic awareness, particularly those measuring skills at the upper end of
the Situational-Discourse Semantic continuum, are better readers” (2002, p. 27).
The importance of phonemic awareness and its link to reading success is noted
throughout the article. However, the main focus is on the processes in which children
take to master that skill. Print-rich environment and exposure to oral and written
language at an early age are the key points to foster development in phonemic awareness.
It is apparent in the article that phonemic awareness does not develop in a step by step
progression, yet more holistically within a constellation network. Educators and care
Mia Johnson 39
takers must provide an array of opportunities to meet the multi-sensory needs of all
children at different phases of the continuum.
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Castiglioni-Spalten, Maria; Ehir, Linnea C.. (2003). Phonemic Awareness Instruction: Contribution of Articulatory Segmentation to Novice Beginners’ Reading and Spelling. Scientific Studies of Reading. Vol. 7, 1, p. 25-52.
According to Castiglioni and Ehri, “phonemic awareness is centrally involved in
learning to read an alphabetic script, beginning readers need to learn how to distinguish
phonemes in spoken words and how they are linked to graphemes in the spellings of
words” (2003, p. 26). When children are taught the difficult task of segmenting words
into phonemes using gestures and pictorial markers, it is hypothesized that the reading
process will be more beneficial than other methods.
Castiglioni-Spalten and Ehir note that phonemic awareness instruction is an
important aspect in learning to read. A study was conducted “to isolate and examine the
effectiveness of teaching phonemic segmentation with articulatory pictures to novice
beginning readers” (Castiglioni-Spalten and Ehir, 2003, p. 26). Three groups were
formed, each receiving a different method of phonemic awareness instruction. One group
received the mouth treatment. This instruction was put together, “borrowing from the
Lindamood and Lindamood approach and also Elkonin’s procedure,” teaching mouth
pictures and gestures to segment words (Castiglioni-Spalten and Ehir, 2003, p. 26). The
ear method was taught to another group, allowing students to use blocks to segment
words. The final group received no specific instruction on phoneme segmentation.
After a pre-screening process, 45 students were accepted for the study: 29 females
and 16 males. The average age of the participants was 5 years 9 months. The subjects
were given a pre-test session, instruction in their assigned group and post test as part of
this study.
Mia Johnson 41
Once the pre-tests were analyzed, three groups were randomly selected so
instruction could begin. Students in the mouth group were taught using a specific
method. The instructor demonstrated and taught mouth positions (gesturing) when
specific sounds were produces. Following mastery of mouth positions, students were
given pictures corresponding to mouth positions and sounds. They were taught to
segment words by placing illustrations with letters in correct sequences, while using a
mirror to form the sounds with their mouths, gesturing. Students were involved in this
training for 3-6 weeks, 20-30 minute sessions per day.
The ear method group was instructed using blocks with pictures, illustrating one
ear. The students were taught to segment words by tapping the blocks according to sound
and number of different sounds they heard during instruction. No articulatory pictures
were used in this condition. Once students obtained need training, direct instruction on
this method ended.
The final group received no explicit instruction. They remained in the regular
education classes during training sessions and were not exposed to phonemic awareness
or reading instruction during the this time.
Following the scripted instruction for the two experimental groups, two post-tests
were administered. One was given one day after instruction commenced and the other a
week later. The post-tests were given by assessors that were not aware of the explicit
training provided to the students. The data was analyzed and the researchers concluded
that the mouth and ear conditions were successful in teaching phoneme segmentation.
With further investigation, the results showed no significant difference in the mastery of
segmentation between the two experimental groups. However, it was noted that although
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both groups showed comparable transfer in spelling, more mouth conditioned students
proved successful in transferring segmentation in reading. Throughout the study, time of
instruction and behavior management was examined closely. Consistency was
maintained between the two groups.
Phoneme segmentation is an important aspect of phonemic awareness and
developing reading skills. However, the method to teach phoneme segmentation is not
notably significant in this study, disproving the researchers’ hypothesis. Researchers
explained that, “ear training procedure may have taught some articulatory awareness. Ear
students were required to articulate the separate sounds in words” (Castiglioni-Spalten
and Ehir, 2003, p. 44). Reading teachers are aware of various methods of instruction and
should utilize the methods that are best suited for their students. Although the study was
inconclusive as to the reason one method did not outperform another, it is clear that
phoneme segmentation coupled with articulation instruction proves to be beneficial to
reading development in beginning novice readers.
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Mia Johnson 44
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