Enhancing Phonological Awareness and Orthographic Knowledge of Preservice Teachers: An Intervention through Online Coursework

The teaching of reading is a core priority across the education sector. In an attempt to better prepare our next generation of professional teachers of reading, academic staff at an Australian university implemented coursework changes that were designed to enhance the phonological awareness and orthographic knowledge of first-year preservice teacher education students. All students were asked to complete written surveys measuring phonological awareness and orthographic knowledge during class-time at the start and end of their first semester of study. During the semester, students were expected to complete two online modules on phonological awareness and orthographic conventions and pass an online quiz (worth 10% of their grade) as part of their course on the Teaching of Reading and Writing. Education students’ performance in phonological awareness and orthographic knowledge improved significantly over the course of the semester. However, a significant percentage of students failed to achieve mastery level in phoneme-level awareness. Implications and future directions for current higher education practices are presente

Reading Success in the Primary Years: An Evidence-Based Interdisciplinary Approach to Guide Assessment and Intervention

This open access book describes the Reading Success project, in which a 5-step, assessment-to- intervention process, based on the Simple View of Reading, was used within a primary school setting in Australia to better support those students who struggle with reading. It provides an easily accessible overview of each step of the process involved in implementing this approach and highlights the crucial importance of collaboration between professionals involved in the teaching of reading within a school setting. It focuses on the decision-making processes used, such as rich dialogue with the leadership team and teachers, and shares participants’ perspectives gathered throughout the project. Using case studies, the book describes how the 5-step approach assists in creating detailed profiles of students’ strengths and weaknesses in spoken and written language skills that can be used to guide targeted intervention. This book offers valuable insights for educators, speech pathologists, researchers, and pre-service teacher education students interested in the teaching of reading

Reading Success in the Primary Years

This open access book describes the Reading Success project, in which a 5-step, assessment-to- intervention process, based on the Simple View of Reading, was used within a primary school setting in Australia to better support those students who struggle with reading. It provides an easily accessible overview of each step of the process involved in implementing this approach and highlights the crucial importance of collaboration between professionals involved in the teaching of reading within a school setting. It focuses on the decision-making processes used, such as rich dialogue with the leadership team and teachers, and shares participants’ perspectives gathered throughout the project. Using case studies, the book describes how the 5-step approach assists in creating detailed profiles of students’ strengths and weaknesses in spoken and written language skills that can be used to guide targeted intervention This book offers valuable insights for educators, speech pathologists, researchers, and pre-service teacher education students interested in the teaching of readin

The phonological awareness skills of education and speech pathology higher education students during their first semester of study

Responding to the urgent call to address the need for appropriate preparation of professional teachers of reading, this preliminary investigation examined the phonological awareness knowledge of Bachelor of Primary Education and Master of Speech Pathology students in their first semester of study before and after their regular course work. This report outlines the results of the study and proposes ways of utilising this information to enhance tertiary teaching practices, with the ultimate aim of raising student performance in the area of phonological awareness

Fiction or non-fiction: parent-reported book preferences of their preschoolers with autism spectrum disorder

Background and aims: Children’s early interactions with books are important for fostering development of oral language and emergent literacy skills. It is not known whether children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder show different preferences for text types in the home environment prior to school entry. The current study aimed to: (i) investigate parent-reports of the favourite books of their children with autism spectrum disorder compared to typically developing children and (ii) identify whether there are differences in the reasons why books were preferred across the two groups. Methods: Participants included children (aged 26–70 months) with autism spectrum disorder (n = 41) and typically developing peers (n = 164). Parent-reports of their child’s current favourite book/s were coded as fiction versus non-fiction and also category type. Parents also reported why the book was considered a favourite and this was coded. Results: There were no differences between groups for fiction versus non-fiction, with both groups preferring fiction (>95% of responses). A strong category preference for animal topics across both groups was present. Significant group differences were found when asked to select specific reasons for favourite book preferences. Conclusions: This study provides preliminary evidence of similarities between preschool children with autism spectrum disorder and typically developing peers’ preferences for fiction books during the early years. Implications: It should not be assumed that children with autism spectrum disorder have different preferences for book types compared to typically developing children in the early years of development. Providing preschoolers with a range of book types during the preschool years will help to facilitate early language and emergent literacy skills

Kişisel Anlatı Değerlendirmesinde Güncel Bir Araç: Global TALES Protokolü

ÖZETGiriş: Anlatı türlerinden biri olan kişisel anlatılar günlük hayatta yaşanan geçmiş olaylarınaçıklamalarıdır. Anlatı becerisi, çocukların dilsel, bilişsel ve sosyal becerilerinin bir göstergesi olaraksayılabildiği için değerlendirmede önem taşımaktadır. Bununla birlikte kişisel anlatı değerlendirmearaçlarının sayıca az olduğu bilinmektedir. Literatürde kişisel anlatı çalışmalarının sınırlı sayıdaolmasının yanı sıra klinik ve araştırmalarda kullanılan standart bir protokolün olmaması önemli bireksiklik olarak düşünülmektedir. Bu amaçla 2018 yılında geliştirilmiş olan “Global TALES Protocol(Global TALES Protokolü)” literatürdeki bu boşluğu doldurmayı amaçlayan uluslararası bir projeninürünüdür. Global TALES (Talking About Lived Experiences in Stories), dünyanın her yerindekiçocuklara hitap edebilecek duygu/duruma dair toplam 6 soru içeren bir kişisel anlatı protokolüdür.Protokolde yer alan sorular ve gerekli durumda da ipucu niteliğindeki takip istemleri kullanılarakçocuklardan anlatı örnekleri alınmaktadır. Global TALES Protokolünün kişisel anlatı değerlendirmearacı olarak farklı ülkelerde kullanımı mevcuttur ve bu ağ giderek daha çok genişlemektedir.Geliştirilmesinden bu yana ise farklı ülkelerin dillerine uyarlanarak çocuklarda kişisel anlatıdeğerlendirme aracı olarak kullanılmıştır. Avustralya, Brezilya, Hırvatistan, Kıbrıs, Yunanistan, İsrail,Yeni Zelanda, Rusya, Tayvan ve Amerika Birleşik Devletleri gibi pek çok ülke projeye dahil olanülkeler arasındadır. Projenin Türkiye ayağı ise bu bildirinin ilk 2 yazarı tarafından yürütülmektedir. Bubildiri ile standart bir kişisel anlatı değerlendirme protokolü olarak güncel değerlendirme araçlarındanbiri olan Global TALES Protokolü ile ilgili genel bir tablonun ortaya konması planlanmıştır. Ayrıcaprotokolün klinikte ya da araştırmalarda nasıl kullanılacağına dair bilgi verilmektedir. Sonuç: Bubildiride kişisel anlatı özelinde Global TALES Protokolünün genel özellikleri ve kullanımı üzerindedurulmuş, ayrıca önemine vurgu yapılmıştır.Anahtar Kelimeler: anlatı, kişisel anlatı, kişisel öykü, anlatı değerlendirme, Global TALES Protokolü</p

A systematic review of the academic achievement of primary and secondary school-aged students with developmental language disorder

Background and aims The ability to communicate is a fundamental skill required to participate in school. Students with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) have persistent and significant language difficulties that impact daily functioning. However, the impact of DLD on the academic achievement of primary and secondary school-aged students has received limited attention. Methods A systematic review of the empirical research published between 2008 and 2020 was undertaken to identify studies that have examined the academic achievement of school-aged students with DLD within curriculum areas. A total of 44 studies were identified that met inclusion criteria for review. Results Students with DLD demonstrated difficulties with academic achievement across all measured curriculum areas compared to their typically developing peers. Most studies focused on literacy skills, including reading, spelling, writing and narratives. Conclusions and implications The performance of students with DLD was heterogeneous with individual students demonstrating relative strengths in some areas of academic achievement. The implications of these results for educational practices and future research are discussed

No differences in code-related emergent literacy skills in well-matched 4-year-old children with and without ASD

This study used data from a prospective community-based sample and compared the code-related emergent literacy skills (phonological awareness and letter knowledge) of 4-year-old children with ASD (n = 36) to their peers without ASD (n = 36), matched for age, gender, socio-economic status, language ability, and nonverbal cognition. We also compared groups on parent-reported home literacy measures, including the amount of time their child enjoyed being read to. There were no significant group differences in emergent literacy, indicating that an ASD diagnosis was not related to children’s emergent literacy performance. We found no group differences in parent-reported home literacy experiences. This highlights the need for careful consideration of factors beyond ASD traits that may influence literacy outcomes in this population

Exploring the development of cultural awareness amongst post-graduate speech-language pathology students

PURPOSE: Speech-language pathology programs globally need to prepare graduates to work with culturally and linguistically diverse populations. This study explored the knowledge, perceptions and experiences related to development of cultural awareness of graduate-entry Master of Speech Pathology students at an Australian university. METHOD: Sixty students across both year-levels completed a cultural awareness survey at the beginning of the semester. To explore how clinical placement influenced students' knowledge and perceptions, year-2 students completed written reflections pre- and post-placement (n = 7) and participated in focus groups post-placement (n = 6). RESULT: Survey results showed student interest in working with culturally and linguistically diverse populations was high (over 80%) and confidence was moderate (over 50%). More than 80% of students reported awareness of their own cultural identities, stereotypes and prejudices. Content analysis of focus group and written reflection data identified key concepts comprising of: (1) context-university, and clinical placement site; (2) competencies-professional and individual; and (3) cultural implications-clients' and students' cultural backgrounds. CONCLUSION: Findings suggest clinical placement may positively influence cultural awareness development and students' own cultural backgrounds may influence this more. Further exploration of how students move along a continuum of cultural development is warranted