Degree Name

EdD (Doctor of Education)

Program

Educational Leadership

Date of Award

May 1981

Abstract

The problem was to determine whether selected psycholinguistic instructional aids were effective in remediating learning deficiencies among early elementary children (grades 1-3). Literature was reviewed to substantiate a need for the use of psycholinguistic instructional aids for remediation of learning deficiencies among early elementary children. Research surveyed included auditory perception skills, language skills, motor skills, and visual perception skills. Data were collected from test groups of students in grade levels one, two, and three. A stratified random sampling technique yielded a sample of thirty-six students, eighteen males and eighteen females. Each of the three grade level groups in the sample was divided randomly into two groups containing an equal number of males and females. These groups were labeled the experimental groups and the control groups. The Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities (ITPA) was administered as a pretest to the sample. A series of reading lessons was taught for an instructional period of twenty-one sessions to both experimental and control groups. The experimental groups were provided thirty-minute sessions of prescribed psycholinguistic instructional aids following the presentation of each reading lesson. The control groups received "pseudo" treatment designed to control for the Hawthorne effect. The ITPA was re-administered as the posttest. No significant difference was found between the scores achieved on the ITPA for the experimental groups and the control groups for grade levels one, two, or three. There was no significant difference found between the scores for the composite experimental group and the composite control group. The 0.05 level of significance was applied in all cases using the statistical technique of analysis of covariance with the pretest as the covariate. The comparison of experimental groups and control groups found that: (1)The experimental groups for all grade levels showed higher increases than the control groups. (2)The composite experimental group showed an increase over the composite control group. The comparison of male and female control and experimental groups found that: (1)The male experimental groups showed an increase over the male control groups with the exception of the second grade level where the control group was slightly favored. (2)The female experimental groups showed an increase over the female control groups in all grade levels. (3)The female experimental groups, including the composite experimental group, showed a gain over the male experimental groups. The recommendations made as a result of the study were: (1)Additional studies should be conducted using larger samples and/or longer durations of time to determine whether selected psycholinguistic instructional aids were effective in remediating learning deficiencies. (2)Replication of the study should be made in other geographical areas using different research designs and methodologies in order to increase the ability to generalize the results. (3)Studies should be conducted with middle and upper elementary school children to determine whether psycholinguistic instructional aids were effective for the remediation of learning deficiencies at those grade levels. (4)Schools should use evaluation instruments such as the Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities to assess students' psycholinguistic abilities and incorporate the findings into staff development programs and professional growth activities. (5)Studies should be conducted on the impact of psycholinguistic instruction on students' self-concepts. (6)Studies should be conducted to determine if paraprofessionals could enhance students' psycholinguistic performance.

Document Type

Dissertation - unrestricted

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