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Ethnographic study of classroom reading and writing instruction with severely speech and physically impaired children
Abstract
Many children who are severely speech and physically impaired (SSPI) are unsuccessful in developing literacy (Koppenhaver, 1991; Light, 1991). Yet there is increasing recognition that SSPI children are capable of developing sophisticated reading and writing skills (Creech, 1988; Kelford-Smith, 1989; Koppenhaver & Yoder, 1991; Light & Lindsey, 1990). In addition to current cognitive studies about the literacy development of SSPI children, studies are needed from other perspectives. A new and emerging research perspective of literacy development among general education students views reading and writing as social and cultural phenomena. Such a perspective has promise for understanding the literacy development and practices of SSPI students. This study involved two SSPI children and their reading/writing activities during the first semester of the 1991-1992 school year. Methods used in the study included participant observation, interviewing, and videotaping. A multi-step analysis process was used, consisting of (1) thematic analysis, (2) componential analysis, and (3) sociolinguistic microanalysis. The use of these analytic techniques and the interpretation of findings is guided by theoretical constructs from sociolinguistic ethnography and recent studies of literacy as a social process. Among the findings are (1) the social construction of reading and writing. The mechanisms contributing to social construction were social recognition and acknowledgement, mediation, and communication structure. (2) The development of identities as readers and writers. The terms used to label SSPI students within the reading/writing groups, the title given the group, the language used to construct various social roles within the reading/writing groups, the focus on attending within the group, and body posturing contributed to the construction of the SSPI students' identities as readers and writers. (3) Differing definitions of reading and purposes for the lessons. (4) Miscommunications during lessons due to differences in definitions of reading. (5) Ways that SSPI students show communicative competency within the communication structure of the reading/writing lessons. Implications are given for the relationship of communication technology to interaction, methods of facilitation of reading and writing interactions, and the relationship of literacy and social acceptance of SSPI students in classrooms.
Subject Area
Speech therapy|Literacy|Reading instruction|Special education
Recommended Citation
Harris, Ovetta Lorraine Harrison, "Ethnographic study of classroom reading and writing instruction with severely speech and physically impaired children" (1992). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI9305838.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI9305838