Constructing Reading Material to Match a Child's Oral Language Patterns

Abstract

Individualized instruction is essentially the extreme of adjusting the task to be taught to the child's particular skills and deficiencies. In research terms, individualized instruction is validated by demonstrating that children possessing a certain characteristic are taught more effectively by one procedure than another. In a review of children's modality preference in relation to their reading acquisition (see Tarver & Dawson, January issue), research was unable to demonstrate subject by treatment interactions. This paper, also concerned with reading acquisition, suggests that the relevant distinctive variables may be the child's linguistic skills. The authors describe how information regarding linguistic skills is obtained from a child's language sample and how instructional reading materials can be chosen in the context of the child's linguistic skills and reading capability. While no validation data are included, the approach appears interesting and sensible and the reader's comment is solicited. — G.M.S.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Gillingham, A. , and Stillman, B. : Remedial Training for Children with Specific Disability in Reading, Spelling and Penmanship. Cambridge: Educators' Publishing Service, 1970.

Kavanagh, J. , and Mattingly, I. : Language by Ear and Eye: The Relationships between Speech and Reading. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1972.

Liberman, I. : Segmentation of the spoken word and reading acquisition. Bulletin of the Orton Society, 1973, 23, 65–77.

Rees, N. : Auditory processing factors in language disorders: The view from Procrustes' bed. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, 1973, 38, 304–315.

Rees, N. : The speech pathologist and the reading process. ASHA: Journal of the American Speech and Hearing Association, 1974, 16, 255–258.

Ruddell, R. : The effect of oral and written patterns of language structure on reading comprehension. The Reading Teacher, 1965, 18, 270–275.

Smith, F. : Understanding Reading: A Psycholinguistic Analysis of Reading and Learning to Read. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1971.

Stark, J. : Reading failure: A language-based problem. ASHA: Journal of the American Speech and Hearing Association, 1975, 17, 832–834.

Strickland, R. : The language of elementary school children: Its relationship to the language of reading textbooks and the quality of reading of selected children. Bulletin of the School of Education, Indiana University, 1962, 38, 1–129.

10.

Tyack, D. , and Gottsleben, R. : Language Sampling, Analysis and Training: A Handbook for Teachers and Clinicians. Palo Alto, California: Consulting Psychologists Press, 1974.

11.

Venezky, R. : The Structure of English Orthography. The Hague: Mouton, 1970.

12.

Vogel, S. : Syntactic Abilities in Normal and Dyslexic Children. Baltimore: University Park Press, 1975.