Language Instruction for

Students with Disabilities

Fourth Edition
Polloway, E. A., Miller, L., & Smith, T.
E. C. (2012). Language instruction for
students with disabilities (4th ed.).
Denver, CO: Love.
Instructors who adopt this book may use the Power Points to teach your
course without prior permission.
Love Publishing: Lynda Miller
1

Chapter 1
Introduction to Speech,
Language, and Communication

Introduction to Language, Speech,

and Communication
Importance of communication skills
for employability
Communication skills needed in
school and for social interaction with
peers

What Is Communication?
Interchange of ideas, feelings, thoughts,
experiences, and information
Communicating through language
Speechthe oral sounds of the
language code

How Is Literacy Related to

Communication?
Literacy: the set of competencies
children develop with both oral and
printed language (including
electronic forms)
Speaking
Reading
Writing
5

Four Models of Language

Rationalism
Empiricism
Naturenurture continuum
Social-interactionist model

Language Development from

Infancy through Adolescence
The Building Blocks of Language
Form
Content
Use
Narrative
Nonverbal

The Building Blocks of

Language

Form: the structures of language

Content: how meaning is derived
Use: the social functions of language
Narrative: how conversations and
stories are structured
Nonverbal communication: meaning
carried outside spoken and/or written
language forms

Language Form
Phonology
44 phonemes in English
Vowels: sounds produced with an open vocal tract
Consonants: sounds produced through place of
articulation, manner of articulation, and voicing

Language Form, continued

Morphology: rules governing how
phonemes are combined into syllables
and words to convey meaning
Two kinds of morphemes: free and bound

10

Language Form, Continued

Syntax: the study of linguistic
conventions for generating
meaningful phrases and sentences
Examples: word order, use of active
or passive voice, arrangement of
words in a phrase and/or sentence

11

Language Content
Language content: the meaning level
of language
Also called semantics
How humans attribute meaning
(includes study of vocabulary
development in children)
12

Language Use
Language use: the conventions governing
how language is used in various social
contexts
Rules a culture uses for what people say, to
whom, how, and under which circumstances
Often called pragmatics: analysis of the
functions of language, particularly those
related to social contexts
Significance of violations of the rules
13

Narrative Ability
Narrative: a sequence of events tied
together in a story
Major precursor to learning to read
and write
Story grammar: character(s), setting,
and episodes
Cultural variations: topic centered or
topic associated

14

Nonverbal Language

Paralinguistics
Proxemics
Kinesics
Chronemics

15

Chapter 2
Language Development from Infancy
through Adolescence

Language Development from

Infancy through Adolescence
Five stages of language development
prelinguistic
emerging language
developing language
language for learning (L4L)
adolescent language
Mean length of utterance is used as a
measure of language development up to
age 5

17

Communication in the Prelinguistic

Period

Motherese and language during infancy

Joint attention and joint referencing
Mutual attending
Babbling
Emergence of communicative intentions

18

Emerging Language
Browns Stage I, MLU between 1.0
and 2.0
Semantics and increasing vocabulary
Syntax: from one-word utterances to
two-word phrases
Noun phrases and verb phrases
Development of the interrogative and
negative forms

19

Phonology
Variability in the development of
phonological abilities: phonetically
consistent forms
First phonemes to emerge
Simplification of adult forms of
phonology: phonological processes
20

Pragmatics (Language Use)

Doubling of childrens attempts to
communicate
Increased range and number of intentions
children express
Discourse functions: referrals to previous
speech acts
Beginning awareness of the need for
presuppositions
Increased ability in turntaking

21

Developing Language
Between ages 27 months and 46 months
in typically developing children (Browns
Stage II through V, MLU of 2.0 to 4.5)
Semantics: exponential vocabulary
development
nouns, verbs, prepositions, temporal
words, adjectives, and pronouns
emergence of inflections to change word
meanings
22

Semantics, continued
regular and irregular verb forms
contractions
beginnings of pronoun acquisition

23

Syntax
From two-word utterances to sentences
containing adjectives, prepositional
phrases, and subordinate clauses
development of interrogatives and negatives
increasing complexity of sentence forms
through embedding
(1) embedding phrases within sentences
(2) embedding clauses within clauses
24

Syntax, continued
Compound and complex sentences
Object complement clauses, whquestion clauses, and relative
clauses

25

Morphology
Plural marker: one of the earliest
morphemes children use regularly
Overgeneralization of morphemic
rules
Learning exceptions to morphemic
rules
26

Phonology
Children acquire most of the
phonological system during this
stage
Many children use later developing
phonemes incorrectly well into the
next stage

27

Pragmatics
Turntaking and topic maintenance
improve
Increased ability with conversational
repair
Moving from a preponderance of
direct requests to an increased use of
indirect requests
28

Figurative Language
Emerging understanding that
language exists on several levels
Increased understanding of
synonyms and homonyms
Beginning understanding and use of
metaphoric language
Idioms
Humor

29

Narrative Development
Protonarratives and heaps give way
to primitive narratives
Four types of narratives children use
in this stage:
Recounting
Eventcasts
Accounts
Fictionalized narratives

30

Language for Learning

Stage (L4L)
Extends from age 5 through 10 or 11
years
Language characteristics and
knowledge of children from homes in
which literacy practices are common

31

Relationship between Oral

Language and Print
Recency of written language forms
Advantages of being read aloud to before
learning to read
Decoding and phonological awareness

32

Semantic Development
Characteristics of vocabulary
development in this stage
Addition of new words
Using words they already know in new
ways
Choosing words for getting just the right
meaning
Chunking: classifying words into
categories and hierarchical subcategories33

Semantic Development,
continued
Elaborated definitions of words
Differentiation of nouns into
subcategories
Appearance of adverbs
Fine tuning the pronouns

34

Figurative Language
Nonliteral use of language:
Metaphor
Simile
Idiom
Proverbs, adages, maxims

Development of humor in this stage

35

Syntactic Development
Expanding noun and verb phrases
Passive sentences: reversible and
nonreversible
Exceptions to the rules
Principle of minimal distance and
exceptions/violations

36

Syntactic Development,
continued
Embedding
Infinitive phrases
Object complements
Relative clauses that modify noun phrases in
the object position (but not in the subject
position)
Decreasing difficulty with confusing
embeddings
37

Syntactic Development,
continued
Conjoining
Learning exceptions to logical (causeeffect)
order

38

Morphological Development
Three significant morphological
advances: producing
Gerunds
Agentive forms
Adverb forms

39

Pragmatic Development
Moving toward the literate end of the oral
literate continuum
Discourse: different ways to talk, act, and
write in different circumstances
Discourse genres
Conversational competence
Increased ability to sustain topics over time
Improved skill in responding to clarifications
for repair

40

Pragmatic Development,
continued
Proficiency in understanding and using
indirect requests

The oral-to-literate shift: shifting from

using primarily oral language to
using language that is primarily
literate
Characteristics of literate language
Advantages to children from homes that
41
use literate language

Pragmatic Development,
continued
Six narrative genres children are likely
to encounter

Structured play
Wordless books
Comic books
Books on video/DVD/online
Folk tales
Trade books
42

Narrative Development
Shift in narrative abilities during this stage
Stories containing a basic episode give way to
stories that contain complete episodes
Basic episode: initiating event, attempt,
consequence
Complete episode: basic episode plus internal
response, plan, and reaction or ending

By age 7, most children produce stories

with a plot that may or may not be
developed
43

Narrative Development,
continued
After age 8, childrens stories begin to
resemble adults stories:
Clear plot line
Problem is obvious
Enough (not too much) information/detail
Time and place described in enough detail
Characters actions and motivations make
sense
44

Learning New Discourse

Forms
Classroom Discourse
Often implicit and not verbalized by the
teacher
Initiation-Response-Evaluation (IRE) format

Expository Discourse
Highly decontextualized language
Structures are different from story grammar
Nested organizational schemes may be more
difficult for students until late in this stage
45

Learning New Discourse Forms,

continued
Argumentative/persuasive discourse
More abstract and complicated structure
than expository structures
Some students in this stage develop
proficiency with oral forms but few are
able to produce written
argumentative/persuasive discourse
46

The Metas
Metalinguistic
Metapragmatic
Metacognitive

47

Metalinguistic ability
Most children develop some
proficiency with the various
metalinguistic forms; some are
considerably older
Consequences for learning to
read
Difficulties with phonological
awareness

Metapragmatic ability

Metapragmatic strategies
Decoding classroom
discourse

Metacognitive ability

Comprehension monitoring
Organizational and learning
strategies

50

Writing
Graphophoneme awareness
Importance of oral language
development and emerging reading
skills

51

Adolescent Language/
Advanced Language
Primary developments in this stage
Social interactions with peers
Necessity of understanding and
producing literate language forms
Using language to develop critical
thinking skills

52

Semantics
Vocabulary
Enlarging number and types of words
Elaborating vocabulary that reflects
literate language forms
Further expanding the meanings of
already known words
Learning Aristotelian definitions
53

Pragmatics
Most prominent developments are:
increased abilities with figurative language
forms
Understanding and producing diverse
discourse types

Figurative language
Improved comprehension of metaphor,
similes, and idioms
Playing with language for humorous effects

54

Pragmatics, continued
The importance of slang for teenagers
Increased emphasis on understanding and
using all the discourses presented by school

Narrative
Expository
Argumentative
Persuasive

55

The Metas
Increased demand for metacognitive
skills
Emergence of:
Analogic/inductive reasoning
Syllogistic/deductive reasoning

Comprehension monitoring during

adolescence
Organizational strategies for learning
56

The Metas, continued

Metapragmatic requirements
necessary for negotiating school and
peers
Writing: purpose of writing; audience
who will be reading the writing;
choosing the appropriate discourse
genre
Social interactions: which discourse
types to use when and with whom

57

The Metas, continued

Metalinguistic development
Talking about language and its uses, both oral
and written
Reflecting on language form, content, and
discourse type in order to write
The emergence of an understanding of the
aesthetic aspects of language
Humor
58

Writing
Reading and writing as reciprocal processes
Increased proficiency with writing mechanics
and different literary styles
Three major processes of writing in
adolescence
Planning
Sentence generation
Revision
59

Chapter 3
Cultural Diversity and Language
Differences

Cultural Diversity and Language

Differences
Language varies across cultures
Diversity in society
More cultural diversity in the U.S. today
than in previous years
One fourth of the U.S. population
consists of minority groups
Population projections indicate a
continued increase in diversity in the
61
U.S.

Language Characteristics Across

Cultures in the U.S.
Immigrants to the U.S. speak a
variety of languages other than
English
As of 2007, one fifth of students in
schools in the U.S. were immigrants
and likely to speak a language other
than English
62

Myths Surrounding Students

from Diverse Backgrounds
A students ethnic background implies
that s/he has the same needs and
intellectual abilities of all other students
from the same ethnic background
Speaking broken English or a dialect
indicates intellectual deficiency
All minority students are
disadvantaged, lazy, and on welfare
63

Myths Surrounding Students

from Diverse Backgrounds,
continued
All students from Asian-American families are
academically gifted
All students from minority families are inferior
What teachers can do in the classroom:
1.Have
1.Have reading
reading materials
materials addressing
addressing cultural
cultural diversity
diversity
2.Enlist
2.Enlist advocacy
advocacy groups
groups to
to obtain
obtain information
information about
about cultural
cultural diversity
diversity
3.Seek
3.Seek out
out families
families of
of students
students from
from diverse
diverse backgrounds
backgrounds
4.Find
4.Find professional
professional seminars
seminars that
that focus
focus on
on diversity
diversity
5.Learn
5.Learn about
about diversity
diversity from
from reading
reading materials
materials aimed
aimed at
at children
children
64

Disproportionality in Special
Education
What is disproportionality?
Overrepresentation
Underrepresentation

Primary cause of disproportionality =

unfair (i.e., biased) assessment

65

Policies and Practices Affecting

Education for Minority Students
Institutional racism
Reduced (or enhanced) expectations
Mismatch between curriculum and
student needs
Using inappropriate pedagogy
Limited input from teachers and from
students and their families
66

Three Cultural Models

for Educating Minority Students
Background regarding linguistic
diversity in the U.S.
Eight linguistic regions in the U.S.
Substantial linguistic variation:
language disorder, cultural
mismatch, or language difference?
67

The Cultural Deficit Position

Assumptions
Language of minorities constitutes a
deficient code
Students not speaking standard English
have an automatic language deficiency

Minorities are culturally deprived, which

indicates educational limitations
Implications of using elaborated or
restricted codes of language
68

The Cultural Mismatch

Model
Primary assumption: there is a
mismatch between the expectations
of the majority culture and the
students culture
Educational implication: closing that
gap, i.e., helping the student achieve
majority cultural values, prepares the
student for success in the majority
culture

69

The Culturally Different

Model
Primary assumption is the same as the
cultural mismatch model: there are
differences between individuals from
different cultures, each of which has its
own strengths and weaknesses
In this model, language systems may
be different but are not necessarily
deficient
Ebonics as an example

70

The Culturally Different Model,

continued
Importance of using the term
nonstandard instead of substandard
Challenges facing students who do
not speak proper (i.e., standard)
English

71

What Teachers Can Do

Characteristics of culturally
responsive teachers
Self-reflection questions teachers can
use to understand their own and
others cultural beliefs, values, and
expectations

72

Fair Assessment
The challenge of finding fair,
accurate assessment instruments
and procedures
Content bias
Construct bias

IDEA requirements for reducing

discrimination in assessment
73

Four Instructional
Approaches
1. English as a Second Language Approach
English is the language of instruction
Students native language not addressed
directly
Advantages and disadvantages

2. Bilingual Education Approach

Instruction uses both English and the
students native language
Advantages and disadvantages
74

Four Instructional Approaches,

continued
3. Submersion Programs
No bilingual programs available
Students are expected to develop the
majority-culture language
Students native language is not used

75

Four Instructional Approaches,

continued
4. Immersion Programs
Students grouped with others who
speak the same primary language
Teachers are fluent in both English and
the students native language
No formal instruction in English
Advantages and disadvantages
76

Code Switching and Code

Mixing
Code switching: proficient in both
languages, the individual switches
from one to the other deliberately
and consciously
Code mixing: the individual
indiscriminately mixes the two
languages
77

Bilingual Education
Materials
Few Spanish-language materials are
available
Steps to use in selecting appropriate
materials for students from diverse
backgrounds

78

Guidelines and Teaching

Strategies
Twelve specific suggestions for
teachers to meet the special
classroom needs of students with
language differences

79

Families of Culturally Diverse

Students
Factors influencing family
participation in the students
education
Importance of schoolhome
communication

80

Chapter 4
Language Assessment and Instruction
for Preschool Children

Language Assessment and

Instruction
for Preschool Children
For preschoolers, assessment is used
to determine the childs
developmental characteristics
The goal of instruction and
intervention is to assist the student
in moving to the next developmental
stage
Legislative background

82

Developmental Considerations for

Preschool Children with Disabilities
How severely are communication and
language affected developmentally?
Focus of assessment for preschoolers
with severe impairments
Goal of assessment for preschoolers with
moderately compromised communication
and language
Purpose of assessment for preschoolers
with mild impairments

83

Four Types of Assessment

Standardized tests
Nonstandardized approaches
Interviews with parents and
caregivers
Observations of the childs play and
routines in familiar environments
84

Standardized Testing
Standardized instruments are norm
referenced
Characteristics of norm-referenced
instruments
Strengths and weaknesses of
standardized instruments
85

Nonstandardized
Approaches
Criterion-referenced procedures
Developmental scales
Dynamic assessment

86

Interviews with Parents and

Caregivers
Constructing ones own interview
formats
Using existing developmental scales
and behavior checklists
Using a combination of the two
Advantages and disadvantages of
using interviews
87

Observation of Childrens Play and

Routines in Familiar Environments
Less intrusive for the child
Likely to yield more representative
communication and language
abilities than a standardized
instrument
Advantages of using interviews to
assess a childs communication and
language abilities

88

Assessment of Preschool
Children
Purpose of assessment for children in
the
Prelinguistic period of language
development
Emerging language stage
Developing language stage

89

Standardized and Nonstandardized

Testing
Tools for Prelinguistic Language
Tools for Emerging Language
Tools for Developing Language

90

Interviews with Parents and

Caregivers
Designing the interview format,
location, and process to reflect the
purposes of assessment for each
stage of communication and
language development
Available instruments
Designing ones own interview
91

Observations of Childrens Play

and Routines in Natural
Environments
Passive observation
Interactive observation and dynamic
assessment
Constructing a worksheet or checklist
to organize observations

92

Communication and Language

Instruction for Preschoolers
Types of guidelines and standards for
designing instruction
The importance of literacy development
Metalinguistic awareness in preschool
children
Language-learning disabilities and
dyslexia
Long-term goals of language instruction
93
for preschool children

Language Instruction for Preschool

Children: Prelinguistic Stage

Specific instructional goals

Four effective interactive behaviors that
foster communication
1.
2.
3.
4.

Turntaking and imitation

Joint attention
Anticipatory sets
Communicative intentions

Fostering language through reading

books aloud

94

Language Instruction for Preschool

Children: Emerging Language
Stage
Factors that predict the need for language
intervention and instruction
The role of symbolic play in developing
language
Semantic development: relational and
substantive words
Syntactic development
Phonology
Pragmatic skills

95

Language Instruction: Emerging

Language, continued
Communicative intentions and
discourse functions
Requests for information
Acknowledgments
Answers

Presuppositions and turntaking:

possible instructional scenarios
96

Language Instruction for Preschool

Children: Developing Language
Stage
Focus on language abilities underlying
success in school
Instructional products (goals), processes
(methods), and contexts (settings)
Instructional goalslinking to state learning
standards
Long-term goals and benchmarks (short-term
objectives)
Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) and
modifiability

97

Language Instruction: Developing

Language Stage, continued
Example showing how to use the ZPD to select
short-term objectives

Instructional methods
Teacher directed
Child centered
Combinations of both of the above

Instructional settings
Collaborating with a Speech-Language
Pathologist (SLP)
Consulting with an SLP
Language-based classroom

98

Children with Severely

Compromised Speech
Alternative and augmentative
communication modalities (AAC)
Primary goal = engaging in
interactive communicaion
Guidelines for selecting AAC
systems/devices
Symbol systems
AAC devices

99

Chapter 5
Language Assessment and Instruction
for School-Age Children

Language Assessment and

Instruction for School-Age Children
Language abilities ranging from
prelinguistic and the language for
learning (L4L) stages
Two levels of assessment and
instruction
Basic communication and language skills
School-related oral language skills and
emerging literacy
101

Assessment Goals, Procedures,

and Instruments

Four primary assessment questions:

level of development in
1. Semantics, syntax, phonology, and
pragmatics
2. Narrative discourse
3. Nonnarrative discourse
4. Metalinguistic ability

Assessing developmental abilities

Semantics

102

Assessment Goals, Procedures,

and Instruments, continued
Syntax and morphology
Phonology
Pragmatics
Figurative language
Narrative language
Metalinguistic awareness

Standardized measures
103

Assessment Goals, Procedures,

and Instruments, continued
Nonstandardized measures
Observational checklists
Criterion-referenced measures and
behavioral observations

104

Assessing Language Development,

continued
Phonology
Phonological awareness and phonological
processing
Rapid automatic naming (RAN)

Semantics
Receptive and expressive vocabulary differences
Instructional and textbook vocabulary
Word retrieval and/or word finding
Noun differentiationcategorization
105

Assessing Language Development,

continued
Syntax and morphology
Understanding and use of specific
syntactic and morphological structures
Using dynamic assessment and the
Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) for
both assessment and instruction
Mediated teaching
106

Assessing Narrative
Discourse
Applebys stage model
Heap stories
Sequence stories
Primitive narratives
Chain narratives
True narratives

Miller et al.s component model

Story components
Setting: time and place

107

Assessing Narrative Discourse,

continued
Character information
Temporal order
Causal information

Story ideas and language

Complexity of ideas
Complexity of vocabulary
Knowledge of dialogue
Creativity
108

Assessing Narrative Discourse,

continued
Episode elements and structure
Six episode elements
Development of childrens episode structure

109

Assessing Nonnarrative
Discourse Genres
Classroom discourse
The hidden curriculum
Decontextualized nature of classroom discourse

Other types of nonnarrative discourse

encountered by children entering school
Descriptive
Poetry
Expository
Argumentative/persuasive

110

Assessing the Metas

Examples of assessing:
Metalinguistic ability
Metapragmatic ability
Metacognitive ability

111

Pragmatics
How difficulties with metapragmatic
skills manifests in the social
interactive rules governing the
various discourse genres typical of
school
Difficulties students with LLD may
exhibit
112

Language Instruction
for School-Age Students
Linking language instruction to state
learning standards via the IEP
How Section 504 can help students
with language disabilities

113

Language Goals
Two primary goals for language
instruction during the language for
learning (L4L) period
Developing facility with the language
structures, forms, and functions typical
of the language in this developmental
stage
Making the shift from oral to literate
forms of language
114

Language Instruction
Principles guiding language instruction
in this stage of development:
Integrating oral and written language
Language targets can include components of
both oral and written language
Example for a second-grade student with
difficulties in phonological awareness and
pragmatic abilities
Two examples of how to use narrative language
as a means of integrating oral and written
115
language

Language Instruction,
continued
Focus on the metas
Engaging students on both the concrete and
abstract levels
Using rehearsal of a performance of a piece
of literature to emphasize different discourse
types, pragmatic abilities, and talking about
talking, language, and thinking

Narrative discourse
Dynamic assessment and mediated teaching
Using a variety of narrative genres
116

Language Instruction,
continued
Nonnarrative (expository) discourses
Characteristics of nonnarrative discourse
Graphical schemas as visual organizers
Key words

Mathematics discourse

Teacher instruction
Reading mathematical symbols
Story problems
Self-talk strategies
117

Methods for Language

Instruction
Recap of methods from Chapter 4:
continuum from teacher directed to student
directed
Scaffolding
Example of mediated teaching as a method for
utilizing scaffolding
Wallachs narrative development approach
Westbys book report sequence

Whole language as a method of language

instruction

118

Settings for Language

Instruction
Classroom settings
Collaborating or consulting with the
speech-language clinician (SLP)
Language-based classrooms

119

Web-Based Instruction
Teacher-hosted web pages
Teacher- and state-sponsored networks
Online technologies supporting
instruction
Case Western Reserve Universitys
website tutorial for teachers
Internet4Classrooms web design
resources for teachers

120

Web-Based Instruction,
continued
Websites offering specific language
instruction materials
LD Online website resources

121

School-Age Children
with Severe Impairments
Primary goal of language instruction
Independence in daily living and
vocational settings
Functional repertoire of communication
and language skills
Contexts for language instruction
Published programs for teaching
functional language
122
AAC systems and devices

Chapter 6
Language Assessment and Instruction
for Adolescents

Language Assessment and

Instruction for Adolescents
Assessment goals, procedures, and
instruments
Social discourse with peers and in the
classroom
Literate language abilities
Skill with the metas

Standardized measures
Oral language
Written language

124

Nonstandardized
Assessment
Semantics
A rubric for evaluating the students
knowledge of the literate lexicon
Special verb classes
Factitives
Nonfactitives

Word relationships and etymologies

Evaluating words according to context of
use
Figurative language

125

Nonstandardized Assessment,
continued
Syntax and morphology
Assessing through an oral narrative
sample
Three aspects of oral and written syntax
T-unit length
Clause density (subordination index)
High-level, low-frequency structures
characteristic of an advanced literate style
126

Assessing Pragmatics
Conversational competence
Larson and McKinleys assessment procedure
Two procedures for assessing negotiation
abilities
Role playing
Hypothetical situations

Nelson and Rosenbaums procedure for

assessing slang vernacular
127

Assessing Pragmatics,
continued
Discourse genres
Assessing competence with classroom
discourse
Observational checklist
Student self-rating

Assessing listening skills

Literal level
Critical (metalistening) level

Drawing inferences

128

Assessing Pragmatics,
continued
Retelling complete and complicated narratives
Summarizing narratives through the use of
cohesive markers
Cohesive devices used by good writers

Assessing expository abilities, both oral and

printed

Assessing the process of writing as well as the product

A model for assessing written products
Using rubrics to evaluate expository writing
Portfolio assessment
129

Assessing The Meta Level

Using dynamic assessment to assess
metalinguistic skills
A set of questions to assess students
awareness of classroom rules
(metapragmatic aiblity)
Using Gardners Multiple
Intelligences to assess metacognitive
abilities

130

Language Instruction
Purposes of language instruction
Prerequisites for students being
successful with compensatory
learning strategies

131

Language Instruction,
continued
Semantics
Focus on the literate lexicon
Elliss five elaboration techniques used to
teach vocabulary
The Family Learning Associations six-step
vocabulary development program
Denver Public Schools Literacy Support
Team
Metalinguistic approaches to semantics
instruction

132

Semantics Instruction,
continued
Web resources for teaching figurative
language

133

Syntax and Morphology

Instruction
Syntactic and morphological
complexity of literate language
Using reading (or reading aloud) as a
means to teach syntax and
morphology
Self-cueing and editing others work
134

Pragmatics Instruction
Conversational competence
Teaching oral persuasion
Teaching conversational discourse
Peer modeling
Helping students with classroom
discourse
Models of scaffolding
Graphic organizers
Role playing

135

Pragmatics Instruction,
continued
Narrative discourse
Reading good stories
Scrambling stories for students to reassemble
Using story frames
Online resources
Literature-based rehearsal and performance
Explicit instruction about story grammars
Story grammar checklists
Including cohesive markers
136

Pragmatics Instruction,
continued
Expository discourse
Teaching the macrostructures of
different expository types
Teaching students how to understand
persuasive discourse functions
Teaching students to write expository
discourse
Rubrics
Online resources

137

Pragmatics Instruction,
continued
Techniques for students with
LLD
Three phases of writing
expository text
The planning stagegenerating ideas
Generating and organizing
sentences into coherent wholes
Editing their work
138

Instruction for the Metas

Teaching comprehension monitoring
Teaching metacognitive skills

139

Secondary Students
with Severe Impairments
Teaching functional communication and
language skills
Individualized Transition Plans
Teaching conversational skills
Teaching the communication skills needed for
self-advocacy
Helping students learn the communication and
language skills needed outside school
Teaching skills needed in independent living
140
contexts

Secondary Students
with Severe Impairments,
continued
Alternative and Augmentative
Communication (AAC)
Evaluating the communicative
appropriateness and effectiveness of the
AAC systems used by students in a
secondary school environment
Guidelines for assessing AAC systems
needed for a variety of different
communicative situations
Teacher resources

141

Chapter 7
Reading Concepts and
Assessment

Reading Concepts and

Assessment
The increasing achievement gap
between students in general and
students with disabilities (the
Matthew effect)
Challenges in learning to read
successfully
Origins of reading problems
143

Development of Reading
Early reading
Three primary concepts guiding reading
instruction
Phonemic awareness
Understanding the link between speech sounds
and printed words (alphabetic understanding)
Automaticity with the phonological/alphabetic
code

Key early reading skills

The role of phonological and phonemic
awareness

144

Initial Reading Skills

Instruction for early reading skills,
which are prerequisite for initial
reading instruction
Sight vocabulary
Word analysis skills
Phonetic analysis

145

Acquiring Broad Reading

Skills
Automatic decoding: rapid reading and
the acquisition of a broader base of
skills
Development of fluency in reading
Skill in the structural analysis of word
forms
Contextual analysis: the bridge
between word recognition and
comprehension

146

Advanced Reading
Students shift from learning to read to
reading to learn
Characteristics of reading at this stage
Focus on comprehension
Variables affecting comprehension
Student background, experiences, skills,
motivation
The content to be read
The reading purpose

147

Reading Comprehension,
continued
Three types of comprehension
Text explicit
Text implicit
Script implicit

Specific comprehension skills for

reading development
148

Refined Contextual Reading

and Life Applications
Reading independently
Skills of students at this stage

149

Assessment of Reading
Using assessment to guide
instruction
Formal tests to obtain quantitative
information
Advantages and limitations of formal
tests
Survey and diagnostic tests
Commonly used diagnostic tests

150

Informal Assessment
Applying the results of informal
assessment to reading instruction
Advantages of informal assessment
Informal reading inventories
Curriculum-based assessment

151

Using Assessment Data

Using assessment data to
Identify a readers specific problems
Hypothesize reasons for the problems
Derive implications that guide
instruction

Summarizing informal diagnostic

data
152

Selected Teaching
Strategies
Direct instruction of critical skills for the
different stages of reading development
Learning stages
Acquisition learning
Proficiency learning
Generalization learning

Specific recommendations for teachers

to provide effective instructional
programs
153

Selected Teaching Strategies,

continued
Provide incentives
Foster cooperation
Focus on using reading to teach reading
Shift from oral to silent reading
Allow sufficient time
Group students effectively
Use scaffolding
Continue instruction at the secondary level
Promote homeschool cooperation

154

Chapter 8
Reading Instruction

Reading Instruction
Bottom-up (decoding) and top-down
(holistic) approaches
Phonemic awareness
Rationale for teaching phonemic
awareness
General recommendations for teaching
phonological awareness

Four elements of word recognition and

analysis

156

Word Recognition
1. Sight word identification

Automaticity
Strategies for promoting recognition and
recall of sight words
Using word banks
Fernalds multisensory method
The Edmark program
Helping students build a functional reading
vocabulary
157

Word Recognition,
continued
2. Phonetic analysis

Importance of phonics instruction

Balancing phonics instruction with other
instructional approaches
Teaching phonics skills
Analytic phonics
Synthetic phonics
Teaching consonants first, then vowels

158

Word Recognition,
continued
3. Structural analysis

Morphemic analysis
Syllabication
Teaching compound words
Teaching affixes
Contractions

4. Contextual analysis

Provides semantic and syntactic cues to

help identify words
The cloze procedure

159

Word Recognition,
continued
Combining word recognition strategies
Steps to follow in teaching students to
combine word recognition strategies
DISSECT

160

Vocabulary
Importance of developing a strong
vocabulary
Approaches to enhancing vocabulary
development

161

Fluency
Definition of fluency
Repeated readings
Steps in using multiple oral reading
approach
Cautions in using repeated readings to
promote reading achievement

162

Comprehension
Definition
Specific levels of comprehension
The eight kinds of comprehension
instruction most likely to be effective
and promising
Holistic programs
Key concepts
Specific activities
The language experience approach (LEA)

163

Comprehension, continued
Teacher-directed questioning strategies
Directed reading/thinking activity (DRTA)

Student-directed strategies
Why students need strategies to understand
expository text
Comprehension monitoring (self-questioning)
Importance of self-questioning in comprehension
Features characteristic of comprehension
monitoring
164
The Reads-It approach

Comprehension, continued
Other student-directed strategies
RAP
SQ3R
Collaborative reading

Graphic organizers
The value of graphic organizers
Semantic mapping
165

Students with Significant

Disabilities
Specific considerations for teaching
reading to students with significant
disabilities

166

Commercial Reading
Programs
Lindamood Phoneme Sequencing Program for
Reading, Spelling, and Speech
Phonological Awareness Training for Reading
Edmark Reading Program
Gillingham-Stillman Remedial Reading Manual
Reading Mastery Program
SRS Corrective Reading Program
Basal Readers
167

Chapter 9
Handwriting Assessment and
Instruction

Handwriting Assessment and

Instruction
Definition, history, and importance of
handwriting
Trends in handwriting
Effect of technological advances
Emphasis on the process of writing
Renewed attention to handwriting
instruction
Teaching handwriting skills in isolation or
169
context

The Nature of Handwriting

The complexity of the mechanics of
handwriting
Perceptualmotor skills required for
handwriting
Handwriting development in children
Continuous curvy lines
Series of circles or straight lines or both
170

Handwriting Development,
continued
Five levels of early handwriting
development

171

Sequence of Skills
From prewriting to skilled written
expression
The developmental sequence of
handwriting skills
Patterns of development
Basic prewriting skills
Proper posture
Proper pencil grip
How to recognize and form uppercase and
lowercase manuscript letters

172

Sequence of Skills,
continued
Refining of manuscript writing and
beginnings of the forming of some
cursive letters
Cursive writing
Written expression

Sample handwriting at different

grade levels
173

Assessment of Handwriting
Common assessment methods:
analysis of errors in
Letter formation
Spacing
Slant
Line quality
Letter size and alignment
Writing rate
174

Handwriting Assessment, continued

Formal assessment
Limited number of formal assessment
instruments specifically designed to assess
handwriting skills
Some general achievement tests include
subtests that measure handwriting skills

Limitations of handwriting scales

Small sample sizes
Inadequate or missing information about
reliability

175

Handwriting Assessment, continued

Lack of differentiating between male and
female handwriting

Specific scales
Informal assessments
Student work developed in natural settings,
especially the classroom
A hierarchy of handwriting skills
Most common forms of illegibilities
Elements of legibility

176

Handwriting Assessment, continued

Examples of informal evaluation tools

177

Remediating and Teaching

Handwriting Skills
Use of commercial teaching
programs
Some popular programs
Scant evidence supporting any
particular one

Some instructional principles for

teaching handwriting
178

Handwriting and the

Whole Language Curriculum
Incorporation of handwriting in the
whole language curriculum
Decline of handwriting instruction
tied to the decline in the use of the
whole language approach

179

Manuscript versus Cursive

Writing
No one best method for teaching
students to write
Manuscript generally taught first
History
Advantages of teaching manuscript first
Advantages of teaching cursive first

180

Alternatives to Manuscript and

Cursive

DNealian Handwriting Program

Mixed Script Approach
Slanted Approach
Typing/Keyboarding

181

Instructional Activities
Readiness skills
Primary objectives
Developing handedness
Developing visualmotor skills

Prerequisite skills for beginning formal

handwriting instruction
Activities
182

Instructional Activities,
continued
Beginning to write
Pencil grip
Posture
Activities for integrating visual motor
skills into prerequisite writing skills
Questions and supports for handwriting
development
183

Instructional Activities,
continued
Manuscript writing
Letters to focus on in initial instruction
Steps and guidelines for students to
follow

Cursive writing
Grouping letters into shape categories
Steps and guidelines for students to
follow
Practice in penmanship

184

Instructional Activities,
continued
Handwriting programs
Common characteristics of effective programs
Guidelines to follow regardless of program
Guidelines for parents to follow in encouraging
handwriting practice at home

Remedial programs
Individualizing based on strengths and
weaknesses
Guidelines to follow for students with disabilities
185

Instructional Activities,
continued
Left-handedness
Incidence in the U.S.
Unique challenges faced by left-handed
writers
Modifications for left-handed writers

186

Chapter 10
Spelling Assessment and Instruction

Spelling Assessment and

Instruction
English orthography
Definition
Phonemegrapheme relationships in
English
Five principles governing the regularity
of English spelling
Two approaches to teaching spelling
Rule based
Word study

188

Spelling Assessment and

Instruction, continued
Differences in spellers
Two types of individuals with difficulties in
spelling
Characteristics of proficient spellers
Characteristics of less fluent spellers
Difficulty of remedying spelling difficulties

Development of spelling skills

Models of spelling development
Characteristic development of spelling in
students with learning disabilities

189

Spelling Assessment and

Instruction, continued
Assessment
Formal assessment
Purposes of assessment
How student performance is affected by the
manner in which the test is structured
Current tests that include spelling subtests
The Test of Written Spelling-4

190

Spelling Assessment and

Instruction, continued
Informal assessment
Error analysis
Observations and clinical interviews
Spelling error analysis chart

Criterion-referenced tests
Published CRTs
Informal spelling inventories
Progress monitoring
191

Instructional Approaches
Purpose of spelling instruction
Principles for teaching spelling to
students with learning disabilities
Seven common effective practices

Traditional approaches
Traditional approach may not be
effective for students with disabilities
Importance of adapting and modifying
commercial spelling texts

192

Instructional Approaches
Remedial approaches
Curriculum modifications for implementing
remedial programs
Multisensory approaches
Linguistic approaches
Rule-based, bottom-up instruction
Direct teacher instruction
193

Instructional Approaches, continued

Word study approaches
Top-down instruction
Principles for using a word study approach to
instruction
The importance of combining a word study
approach with explicit strategy instruction

194

Instructional Approaches, continued

Word lists
Determining which words are important to learn to
spell
Categories of word lists
Fixed lists
Flow lists

Cognitive approaches

Specific instructional strategies

Corrected-test method
Studytest versus test-study-test method

195

Instructional Approaches, continued

Instructional cues
Identifying the students specific spelling
difficulties
Using configuration

Mnemonic devices
Motivational techniques
Computer-assisted instruction
Detecting and correcting errors
Activities for teaching proofreading
Specific dictionary skills

196

Instructional Approaches, continued

Self-regulation and learning strategy
instruction
Five ways to foster students selfregulation in spelling
Cover, copy, and compare

Study skills
Guidelines for teaching study skills
197

Chapter 11
Written Expression

Written Expression
Recent research on written language
Challenges for students, including
students with disabilities
Aspects of written expression
Formulation
Syntax

General considerations in developing a

writing instruction program for students
with disabilities

199

Stages of Written Language

Prewriting: a planning stage
Input
Motivation
Purpose
Narrative (expressive)
Informative (functional)
Persuasive (functional)
200

Stages of Written Language,

continued
Writing stage: drafting (transcribing)
Vocabulary acquisition and word usage
(semantics)
Sentence structure (syntax and
morphology)
Paragraph development (transitioning to
well-written compositions or reports)
Organizational development
201

Stages of Written Language,

continued
Postwriting stage
Editing structure
Revising content

202

Assessment
Emphases of assessment
Assessing composition
Assessing through indirect measures
Assessment of process
Assessment through holistic rating

Formal assessment
Subtests of achievement and diagnostic
tests
Test of Written Language (TOWL-3)

203

Assessment, continued
Informal assessment
ASCDs qualities of writing to be assessed

Prewriting considerations
Students experiential background
Prewriting skills
Motivation and readiness for writing

Writing fluency
Words per sentence
Types of sentences used

204

Assessment, continued
Vocabulary
Typetoken ratio
Use of unique words

Syntactical analysis
Specific skills
Trends in error patterns

205

Assessment, continued
Content assessment
Questions to guide assessment of content
Assessment of logical flow
Assessment rubrics
Portfolios
Learning-to-learn strategies related to
writing

Postwriting assessment
Questions guiding postwriting

206

Instructional Strategies
Commitment to student success
Relationship to general education
curriculum
Prewriting strategies
Stimulation of students ideas
Motivating students to write from their
own interests
207

Instructional Strategies,
continued
Steps to follow

Help students set the purpose for their writing

Specific strategies from NAEP
Questions for setting the purpose
Questions for functional writing

Writing/drafting strategies
General considerations
Author role
Secretarial role
208

Writing/drafting strategies,
continued
A supports model for students with disabilities
Using selective feedback

Developing initial writing skills

Conducive atmosphere
Language experience approach (LEA)
Relating functional writing to specific purposes
Keeping first assignments short

Developing vocabulary
Goals of vocabulary instruction
Reducing the stress of spelling

209

Writing/drafting strategies,
continued
Sentence development
Patterned sentence guides and structures
Sentence extension/sentence combining

Paragraph development

Elements to emphasize
Beginning with brief, functional writing tasks
Letter writing
Paraphrasing
Graphic organizers
Go For ITNOW

210

Writing/drafting strategies,
continued
Composition writing considerations
Myklebust-Johnson stage model

Concretedescriptive
Concreteimaginative
Abstractdescriptive
Abstractimaginative

Methods for encouraging student expression

Composition strategy training

Story grammar strategies
Self-regulated strategy development model
Models using mnemonics

211

Writing/drafting strategies,
continued
Postwriting strategies: revising and
editing
Selling students on the concept of the
working draft
Self-evaluation questions to guide students in
revising and editing
Organizing postwriting instructional exercises
COPS
REVISE
Peer review and feedback

212

Chapter 12
Adolescents with Language Disabilities

Adolescents with Language

Disabilities
Overview
Impact of language disabilities on
adolescents
Importance of language skills for
postsecondary educational success

The nature of adolescence

Cultural variations
Number of U.S. adolescents in grades 9
214
12

Adolescence
Definition of adolescence
Period between childhood and adulthood
Shift in emotional maturity
Beginning and end of adolescence

Puberty
Chronological age
Economic and/or emotional independence
Beginning to work and be free of parental sanctions
Questions to help define beginning and end of
adolescence
Subcategories of adolescence

215

Adolescence, continued
Tasks associated with adolescence
Significant tasks associated with
adolescence
How the presence of a disability affects
these tasks

216

Characteristics of Adolescence

Sexual maturation
Physical development
Moral development
Challenges created by rapid growth and
sexual maturation
Responses to appearances, actions, and/or
feelings
Emotional responses
Influence of peers
217

Characteristics of Adolescents
with Disabilities
Comparisons with students without disabilities
Academic deficits
Social skills deficits
Types of disabilities affected
Lack of peer acceptance

Motivation problems
Behavior problems
Psychological problems

218

Characteristics of Adolescents
with Disabilities, continued
General problems facing adolescents

Suicide and suicidal ideation

Drug and alcohol abuse
Teen pregnancy and other problems
School demands

Language problems and interventions with

adolescents
219

Adolescents with
Language Disabilities
Receptive language
How a difficulty in this area affects adolescents in
school
Reading
Importance of teaching reading at the
secondary level
Students reading vocabulary
Woodward and Peters list of frequently used
content terms
Using SQ3R with secondary students
Literacy strategies
220
Listening and attention

Adolescents with
Language Disabilities, continued
Expressive language
Written expression
Teaching written expression in steps
Isolated skills approach
Holistic approach

Spelling
Handwriting
Oral expression: Using Quick-Talks

Expressive vocabulary: Activities

Pragmatics: Examples of activities to
promote pragmatics
221

Adolescents with
Language Disabilities, continued
General instructional considerations
with adolescents
Student motivation
Role of family and peers

Curricular options
Alternative curricular options
Remediation
Maintenance
Functionality
222

Adolescents with
Language Disabilities, continued
Study skills
Commonly used study skills and their
significance for learning

Accommodations
Teacher efforts to modify the learning
environment
Advanced organizers
Post-organizers

223

Adolescents with
Language Disabilities, continued
General school survival skills
Teacher-pleasing behaviors
Six survival skills secondary students
need
Activities to teach school survival skills

224