Pages 588-595 from Owens textbook - Language Disorders

Language Disorders: A Functional Approach

Long Vowels and Phoneme-Grapheme Relationships

• Long Vowels

  • Often appear in short syllables or with unusual spellings.

  • Examples: day, weigh, raise.

  • Training in phoneme–grapheme relationships should be cautious and structured.

Morphological Awareness (MA) Intervention

• Importance

  • MA can improve reading and spelling along with phonological, orthographic, syntax, and semantic knowledge.

  • Studies indicate improved performance in students through MA intervention.

• Intervention Focus

  • Increase awareness of morphological structures and orthographic rules when adding suffixes.

  • Example: The transformation of the 'y' in happy to 'i' in happily.

• Tasks

  • Segment words into syllables/morphemes.

  • Combine affixes and base words.

  • Identify base words and common affixes (e.g., un-, dis-, -er).

  • Recognize orthographic changes when suffixes are added (e.g., e-dropping in riding).

  • Understand semantic relationships among complex words.

Difficult Phoneme-Grapheme Relationships

• Examples and Explanations:

  • /r/-controlled vowels (e.g., through, true, crew): inconsistent spelling.

  • Diphthongs (e.g., fly, height, right): inconsistent spelling.

  • Different spellings for /ɛ/ and /ʌ/: (e.g., sofa, won).

  • Plural -s and past -ed have multiple pronunciations.

Comprehension Strategies

• Active Reading

  • Blend previous knowledge with text to form mental representations.

  • Inferences help readers connect information.

• Shared Book Reading

  • Preteaching vocabulary and engaging children through questioning.

  • Focus on narrative and expository structures for comprehension.

• SLP’s Role

  • Develop background knowledge and employ strategy instruction (e.g., predicting, summarizing).

  • Use visual and verbal cues to aid comprehension.

• Evidence-Based Strategies

  • Strategies include activating background knowledge, questioning, visualization, monitoring, and retelling.

Comprehending Word Meanings

• Eye Movement Analysis

  • Students actively check word meanings against surrounding context.

• Strategies

  • Teach dictionary use and word analysis into roots.

  • Use semantic and graphophonemic strategies appropriately:

    • Semantic strategies: definitions/synonyms for key words.

    • Graphophonemic strategies: sounding out words.

• Activation of Prior Knowledge

  • Improves comprehension, especially for children with language disorders.

Contextual Support for Comprehension

• Preparation for Reading

  • Establish context and relationships, discuss vocabulary.

  • Use conversational styles for group reading interactions.

• Story Structure and Mnemonics

  • Teach narrative structure for younger children and plot development for older students.

Active Goal-Specific Strategies

• Self-Regulated Reading

  • Students should internalize and apply comprehension strategies actively.

• Types of Strategies

  • Goal-specific: Analyzing context, activating knowledge, self-questioning, analyzing text structures, visualizing, paraphrasing, summarizing.

• Monitoring and Repair

  • Strategies that help readers assess comprehension and make necessary repairs.

Identifying the Main Idea

• Challenges for Children with Language Disorders

  • Often struggle to find the main idea and understand text organization.

• Textual Features

  • Features like italics, boldface, and syntactic structure aid in determining main ideas.

• Intervention Strategies

  • Active strategies: predicting, questioning, generative tasks, summarizing, semantic networking.

Help for Children with CLD Backgrounds

• Culturally Responsive Interventions

  • Integrate culturally relevant materials and consult with community members for accuracy in representation.

  • Structured interventions that focus on morphosyntax in both languages.

Writing as a Complex Process

• Nature of Writing

  • Requires consideration of audience and greater cognitive resources than speaking.

• Processes Involved

  • Text construction, handwriting, executive function, spelling, and memory.

• Executive Functioning Skills

  • Self-regulation in planning and monitoring writing tasks.

• Text Formats

  • Differentiate between narrative and expository writing forms, with increase in complexity for expository.