Faculty of Education - Theses
Permanent URI for this collection
Search Results
1 - 10 of 14
-
ItemA preliminary investigation of language function and educational success in primary school children( 1980)This study is an attempt to establish if there exist differences in pupil performance at the level of language function which will support teachers' intuitive judgements of pupil ability in the context of the primary school classroom. The type of study was naturalistic and descriptive and involved children in grades two and six of a regional city State Primary School. The 12 subjects were selected by the respective grade teachers on perceived performance, and allocated by them to either an upper or lower ability grouping. Each group consisted of three pupils and the same teacher conducted each lesson in the same classroom situation. The task was concerned with the developing concept of floating and sinking and involved pupils having to initially classify 82 items as either float or sink objects. After this task was completed the pupils tested each object to establish if their initial hypothesis was correct. Results were analysed using an interaction based functional model of language and subjected to statistical analyses to establish which functions reached a level of significance. Results indicate that significant differences do exist at the level of function between ability groups at each grade level and between respective grades. The lower ability pupils at grade two appear to interpret the demands of the educational task differently from their upper ability counterparts. At the level of cognitive discourse function the lower ability group interpreted the task as requiring the use of the hypothesis discourse function which was linguistically realised principally by use of the one term/single response strategy and by general statement. The upper group however interpreted the task as requiring the use of evidence in support of any hypothesis made in an initial response and this function was linguistically expressed by using the causal statement strategies. The lower ability group also used the procedural function as a continuous commentary on their ongoing actions but the upper group employed this function significantly less. There was no significant difference in the choice of cognitive discourse function between groups at grade six, and both groups interpreted the task as demanding a different approach than that adopted by grade two. Both groups employed the 'use evidence' function as an initial response and the procedural function virtually disappeared. Differences did emerge in the selection of linguistic strategies to realise the cognitive discourse functions and three of these reached a level of significant difference. These were the one word/single term, single attribute, and no response strategies which were consistently employed by the lower ability group. The upper ability group employed more anecdote and affirm/ deny strategies than the lower group. The use of the social discourse function also changed between grades. At grade two both ability groups interposed their own social discourse between educational exchanges with the teacher. By grade six this function was almost exclusively used by both groups to support peer statements and acted as a cohesive element in the discourse. At the level of teacher reaction the teacher used significantly more of those reaction types which extended discourse with upper ability groups at both grade levels. The teacher also employed 'request for extension' significantly more at the grade six level than with the grade two groups. In this study, because only two groups of three subjects each have been compared, individual differences could influence the results obtained and therefore any interpretation and generalisation from the results found in this study will have to be limited and tentative in nature.
-
ItemHearing-impaired and normally hearing pre-school children's comprehension and production of shifting reference( 2000)This study investigated shifting reference in young hearing-impaired and normally hearing children. Shifting reference is a critical aspect of communication. Words that shift in reference are unstable in that the referent changes as the circumstances of a conversation change. However, the words do not change their meaning even when there is a change to the event, or object, or person to which the reference refers. A listener can only determine the referent through the use of shared knowledge of the previous event, or conversation or person, or by being able to take the perspective of the speaker. Shifting reference is seen as a difficult aspect of communication to acquire. This study involved three profoundly hearing-impaired children and three normally hearing children aged 5:3 to 5:8 years of age. The purpose of this study was to make an initial investigation into the comprehension and production of shifting reference in young hearing-impaired and normally hearing children in the year prior to primary school. The study also investigated the use of an intervention program that focused on exposing the children to the terms under consideration. The results from the study suggest that the hearing-impaired participants were showing a delay in their comprehension and production of shifting reference when compared with the normally hearing participants. The final assessment of the hearing-impaired participants indicated that the language intervention program had some positive effects, as there was some improvement in most of the selected targeted word categories. The data also suggested that the normally hearing children also benefited from the language intervention program as they improved in both comprehension and production, in the targeted areas where mastery had not been reached.
-
ItemThe communicative interactions of hearing impaired students with hearing peers and regular teachers( 2001)This project examined the levels of control used in interaction by regular teachers and normally hearing peers with mainstreamed hearing impaired students. The communicative interaction of thirteen students; ten normally hearing and three hearing impaired, and their teacher was observed. Observations were recorded and then analysed based on the characteristics of communication developed by Wood.D, Wood.H, Griffiths.A & Howarthl (1986). The interactions experienced by hearing impaired students are important to the development of their communicative competence. It is through interaction with more mature users of language that communicative development takes place (Wood, Wood, Griffiths & Howarth,1986). The literature suggests that the hearing-impaired student experience high levels of control in interactions with others, in particular from their parents and teachers. Webster (1986) used the expression that mothers of deaf students 'command' the child. High control does not allow the hearing-impaired child freedom in response, or the development of extended communication acts in which both partners, can participate, learn and share responsibility. Both partners, parents and children, need to search for meaning in their communication with each other (Webster, 1986). It is through accessing meaning that language makes sense. Paul (1994) suggests that hearing impaired students are exposed to a lower quality of oral communication because they are labelled as deaf. Activities, such as speech or listening training, often take the place of meaningful conversation. The data suggests little difference in the level of control used by teachers when interacting with hearing and hearing impaired students. Similarly, there was little difference found with the level of control used by hearing students in their interactions with either normally hearing of hearing impaired peers. Interactions were short involving few exchanges. The characteristics of the language used consisted of mainly wh type questions, personal contributions, instructions and gesture. The information gathered would suggest that the input to interaction in this regular mainstream setting are not consistent with research of parent -child interaction and pre-school settings and provide opportunity for interaction and promotion or development of communicative skills.
-
ItemTurn-taking behaviour in hearing-impaired children with cochlear implants( 1993)The study investigated the effect of a multi-channel cochlear implant on one aspect of the preverbal development (namely turn-taking) of a group of profoundly hearing-impaired children and made comparisons with hearing impaired children fitted with a hearing aid. Measurements of turn-taking were made before and after the implant to measure the communicative behaviour of the child in the case of the cochlear implant children, and before and after a twelve month period in the case of the hearing aid children. The children ranged in age from 22 months to 60 months. Video recordings were made of the interaction of the child with the parent or caregiver and the data was classified into a range of categories of turns: verbal/vocal, turns to the speaker. referential turns and gestural turns. It was hypothesised: that there would be an increase in turn-taking skills from pre-implant to post-implant and that there would be a greater increase in the preverbal skills of the cochlear implant children compared to the hearing aid users. Results show that the cochlear implant children made a significant increase in turn-taking from pre-implant to post implant, and had a significant increase in the percentage of vocal turns taken. In the case of the hearing aid subjects there was not a significant increase in turn taking, but it was a borderline case. It was recommended that further studies make use of a wider range of variables to take account of the complexities of the communicative interactions of parents and hearing-impaired children.
-
ItemAn analysis of the structures and contexts underlying adolescent speech in the secondary school : the implications for developing a language policy in the secondary school( 1991)The purpose of the study was to investigate the extent of speech variation across different school contexts and explore the implications for policies on spoken language in secondary schools. In order to measure changes of speech resulting from different contexts, it was necessary to identify a form of analysis sensitive to speech variation. A number of approaches were examined including syntactic and functional analysis. The units of speech used by various studies included the speech act, the exchange and the episode. A review of the literature regarding the contextual variation of speech and the concept of 'communicative competence' was carried out as well as an examination of a number of studies of language in schools. Attention was also given to policy statements on spoken language in secondary schools. A functional analysis at the level of the speech act was identified and modified to match the study. Analysis of interrogative and assertive exchanges was also carried out, the latter being identified in the course of the study. Samples of student speech over a variety of contexts were collected and analysed. The study identified links between school context and pupil speech. A profile of school context, functional outcomes, and the speech forms used, was then compiled. The formal classroom was found capable of inducing abstract levels of speech involving evaluative and speculative activity. Other forms of speech such as verbal planning, reflection, the interaction of ideas and the negotiation of meaning, require careful planning if they are to become part of the linguistic experiences of pupils in secondary schools. A number of implications for a policy on spoken language in secondary schools have been raised and directions for further research put forward.
-
ItemParents' and teachers' expectations of and attitudes to the auditory verbal approach( 2001)The present study investigated parents' and teachers' expectations of, and attitudes to, the auditory verbal approach. Questionnaires were distributed to three early intervention centers: the Cora Barclay Center in South Australia, the Speech and Hearing Center in Western Australia and St. Gabriel's School in New South Wales. Twenty matching questionnaires were completed and returned. Early intervention programs for hearing impaired children and family-centered practice were reviewed. In addition, the collaboration between parents and teachers to achieve goals were also addressed. The results of this study showed that age of diagnosis of hearing loss, age of device fitting, early attendance at the early intervention program, hearing loss level, and extended family involvement do not directly influence the child's language progress. However, these factors still affect parents' and teachers' expectations of the auditory verbal approach which in turn affect the child's receptive and expressive language progress. Finally, the implications of the study are discussed together with suggestions for future research.
-
ItemThe emergence of consonants in severe to profoundly hearing impaired pre-school aged children using hearing aids or cochlear implant( 1997)The Nucleus 22 Electrode Cochlear Implant is being implanted in young, severe to profound hearing impaired children with the anticipation that spontaneous speech production will develop more in line with what is expected in normal hearing children This study investigated the early emergence of consonantal sounds in the spontaneous speech production of two groups of pre school aged children. The first group consisted of five children implanted with the Nucleus 22 Electrode Cochlear Implant and using the Multipeak Speech Processor (MSP). The second group of five children wore electronic hearing aids and had at least some aided thresholds in the speech spectrum. The consonantal inventories of each subject, collected over a thirteen month period, were compared within the subject groups, between the subject groups and also to literature discussing consonantal emergence in children with normal hearing. All subjects in this study were found to have increased the number of consonants in their consonantal inventories by the end of the thirteen month period. This result indicated that both devices were of some use to the subjects. Neither group showed a consistently larger increase in the number of new consonants that had emerged by the final inventory. The assortment of consonants emerging in the consonantal inventories of the subjects was also investigated and found to vary more on an individual basis rather than a group basis. However, the results did show that more implanted subjects had the consonants /s/, /w/ and / / in their inventories by the end of the study. More aided subjects had / / and /h/ in their consonantal inventories by the end of the study. Although being an average 12 months older than the aided subjects, more implanted subjects had consonants in their inventories that required the perception of high frequency cues. This study also showed two other interesting trends. Firstly, both subject groups had individuals that did not progress as well as expected. Secondly, the implanted subjects produced the unvoiced stops /p,t,k/ and the unvoiced fricative / / more often than the aided subjects.
-
ItemWorking with words: the discourse of Reach youth( 2003)Working with Words: The Discourse of Reach Youth' explores and explains the discourse of Reach, the conceptual structure it embodies and the group processes it articulates and initiates. The Reach Foundation is a not-for-profit organization that was established in 1994 and is Victorian based. Its primary focus is running preventative programs that aim to positively impact upon young people aged 13-18 years. The discourse of Reach is a framework of common words with unique and specialized meanings, which instils in those that take part a particular way of thinking, which in turn aims to change their behavior to being more positive. For young people different ways of coping with life in a risk society brings with it its own language (discourse). This thesis unpacks and decodes the specific discourse of Reach as a pliable linguistic resource by exploring both how the discourse as a teaching and learning tool is implemented, and how young people use the discourse to index and construct their identities and everyday worlds. Exploring and comparing some of the ways in which past and contemporary youth researchers understand and portray young people and their life meanings and experiences in a risk society positions the study. A review of the ways that discourse informs the construction of youth identities is also focused upon. An interpretative and ethnographic qualitative methodology is drawn upon with a theoretical orientation of working from a poststructuralist theory of discourse and identity construction. The study explores the discourse of Reach in two ways. It looks at the outcomes of the discourse for the young people involved, yet focuses on how the outcomes are achieved by the implementation of the group processes. Data collection was over the period of 3 months and the data is drawn from a combination of a review of written documents, field notes, recorded data as well as interviews with the co-founders of Reach, 2 facilitators and 4 teenage participants. The discourse of Reach is unpacked and decoded and the conceptual structure of 'The Hero's Journey' that it embodies is demonstrated and explained. The reader is positioned 'within' the procedural stages of the 'Hero's Journey' to gain insight into how the associated group processes are articulated and initiated. The study demonstrates that there is a short-term positive impact of the discourse of Reach on individuals that take part in relation to the construction of their identities and negotiation of their future outlooks. It suggests that 'in' and 'through' the discourse effective learning and development is taking place for the majority of participants, but not for all. The young people provide evidence themselves that there is validity in the discourse and the associated group processes.
-
ItemThe effect of maternal dominance on the communication skills of young hearing-impaired children( 1995)The aims of this study were to determine whether mothers of preschool-age hearing-impaired children could adopt a less dominant and more responsive interaction style when instructed, whether hearing-impaired children could be more dominant and less responsive when interacting with a less dominant and more responsive mother, and whether these changes would result in mother-child interaction being similar to previous results for dyads with normally hearing children. Previous studies have found that mothers of hearing-impaired children use a more dominant interaction style than mothers of normally hearing children, and hearing-impaired children use poorer communication skills than normally hearing children of the same age. Furthermore, school-age hearing-impaired children have been shown to use improved communication skills when interacting with a teacher who was using a less dominant interaction style. In the current study, four dyads of normally hearing mothers and their profoundly hearing-impaired children aged 2:3 (years:months) were subjects. Data were collected over four sessions. Mothers were asked to play with their children as they normally would in the first (N) session, and were instructed to adopt a less dominant and more responsive interaction style in the subsequent three sessions (LD1-LD3). Mothers were highly dominant in the N session. They used fewer dominating moves in the LD1-LD3 sessions, but did not use more responsive moves. The children did not use more dominating moves in the LD1-LD3 sessions, but used fewer responsive moves. This resulted in a less dominant maternal interaction style, and a more dominant child interaction style for three of the four dyads only in the LD1-LD3 sessions. The fourth dyad was maternally dominant across all sessions. Also, interactions at the level of dyads were generally similar to previous results for dyads with normally hearing children in the N session. Therefore, instructing mothers to be less dominant and more responsive did not appear to be an appropriate strategy for use with dyads with preschool-age hearing-impaired children.
-
ItemSpoken, signed and written language of three deaf children engaged in a signed English program( 1992)Against a background which proposes significant change in the education of deaf students, it is significant that the Australasian Signed English system has had little investigation, either in terms of teacher accuracy in using Signed English, or in studies to examine the development of English competency among the students engaged in such programs. This study has sought to investigate the development of English structures in a group of children whose education is taking place through the medium of Signed English combined with speech and audition. Language samples were collected as a matter of routine during the course of a school year from three children who commenced the year aged 6.7, 6.8 and 6.9 years. Activities which typically occur in classrooms over the course of a year were used rather than contexts which are not authentic and are unrelated to the normal communicative environment of the classroom. Three codes of English have been examined: spoken English, signed English and written English, and eleven aspects of English grammatical structure: negation, copula, possessives, plurals, pronouns, relativisation, conjunctions, third person singular, question forms, past tense and auxiliaries. The data from the three children indicate the presence of developing English structures. These may occur in the mature form, in a non-mature form, or as yet unmarked or marked inconsistently. There is also evidence of approximations which mirror the overgeneralisations to be found in young hearing learners of English. The data reveal differences between the three children and differences between the three modes, as well as the degree to which the children accurately use the three forms of English. The results of this study present a possible interpretation as to the English development which is occurring in many children engaged in Signed English programs. Further examination, particularly on a longitudinal basis, is recommended.