ENVIRONMENTAL ENRICHMENT AND EXPRESSIVE LANGUAGE: A CASE STUDY OF A TOTALLY BLIND E.S.L. STUDENT. By Janice Elaine Sparrow B.Ed., Brandon University, 1963 Diploma Programme in Education of Visually Impaired Children, The University of British Columbia, 1964 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN EDUCATION in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES (Department of Educational Psychology and Special Education) Faculty of Education We accept this thesis as conforming to the required standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA May, 1990 ©Janice Elaine Sparrow, 1990 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the head of my department or by his or her representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. The University of British Columbia Vancouver, Canada DE-6 (2/88) ABSTRACT This study investigates the acquisition of English in a nine year old totally blind student (Amanda) who has English-as-a Second Language (ESL). The study demonstrates the intricate relationship between language and interactive experiences. This case study will show the contrast in expressive language before and after a transition into a grade four class. In this classroom, Amanda was expected to participate and interact with her teacher and classmates. Data was collected on videotapes from I960-1967 and language samples were recorded from 1966-1990. Additional testing was also used to determine post transitional development. Language samples were analyzed and results of pre and post means of Mean Length of Utterance, Complete Sentence Usage, Function Word Usage, Braille Letter Recognition, and Braille Writing were determined. Results indicated that significant improvement occurred in Amanda's expressive language following transition into the grade four classroom. ii T A B L E OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ii LIST OF FIGURES iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS V CHAPTER 1 Introduction and Background of Subject 1 Problems in Infant Years 3 Language Development Receptive Language 6 Expressive Language 6 School Experience Pre-School Experiences 6 Present Academic Program 12 CHAPTER 2 Literature Review 15 Language Acquisition 15 Language and Interaction 22 Language and Blind Children 23 English as a Second Language 26 Reading 29 Braille Reading 31 Chinese Culture and Attitudes Toward the Blind 34 Purpose of the Study 35 iii CHAPTER 3 Methodology 36 Subject 36 Data Collection 36 Method of Analysis 36 Measures of Change 41 Descriptive Measures 42 CHAPTER 4 Results and Discussion 46 Measures of Change 46 Descriptive Measures 54 Discussion of Results 56 CHAPTER 5 Conclusion 66 BIBLIOGRAPHY 69 APPENDIX 79 iv LIST OF FIGURES Page FIGURE 1 Pre and Post Means of Mean Length of Utterance 49 FIGURE 2 Pre and Post Means of Complete Sentence Usage 50 FIGURE 3 Pre and Post Means of Function Word Usage 51 FIGURE 4 Pre and Post Means of Braille Letter Recognition 52 FIGURE 5 Pre and Post Means of Braille Writing 53 v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my sincere appreciation to my thesis advisor, Dr. Sally Rogow and to the other members of my committee, Dr. Ron Jarman, Dr. Marg. Csapo, and External Examiner, Dr. Bernard Mohan for their encouragement and assistance. To all of them I acknowledge, with much gratitude, the many hours of time and effort spent on my behalf. I would also like to extend my thanks to my relatives and friends, especially David, who offered support and understanding. Appreciation, in particular, goes to my parents who provided continual encouragement. vi CHAPTER 1 This study is an investigation of the acquisition of English (both oral and written) by a nine year old totally blind student with English-as-a-Second Language (ESL). The child, who will be referred to here as Amanda, is from a Chinese-speaking family. Learning two languages poses one set of problems; blindness, another. Amanda's progress in developing competence in language usage demonstrates the importance of high levels of interaction with persons and objects (hereafter referred to as level of interaction") as a necessary precondition for language usage, as well as the problems of second language acquisition. The problems of English -as -a - Second - Language among blind children have not been documented. The study will demonstrate the intricate relationship between language and levels of interaction." It will indicate the kinds of enrichment and interactive experience which facilitate blind children's acquisition of a second language. It is the contention of this study that high levels of interaction with persons and objects is a powerful factor in learning how to use language- whether it is a first language or an acquired one. The issue of how children learn the complex structure and meaning of the language they hear has commanded a great deal of attention in recent years. Much progress has been made in understanding the process of language acquisition in young children. Children acquire their native language in a sequential manner (de Villiers and de Villiers 1976; Dale 1976). Most children learn to talk with little difficulty. What appears to be necessary for language to develop is the ability to hear language, to have 1 language models, and social interaction (de Villiers and de Villiers, 1976). By the time they are three years of age, most children are speakers of their native tongues. Many researchers believe that language development is a consequence of experience and interaction with the world. The literature indicates that there is a correlation between language and the "level of interaction" (Fraiberg, 1966; Cline and Cardinale, 1971; Wilkinson, 1971; Lloyd, 1972; Moor and Bliss, 1975; Curtiss, 1977; Garvey, 1977a; Donaldson, 1976; Moskowitz, 1976; Harley, Henderson, and Truan, 1979; Harris and Smith, I960; Lucas, I960; Smith, 1962; Bruner, 1963; Mills, 1963; Carrow-Woolfolk, 1965; Landau and Gleitman, 1965; Harley, Henderson and Sandford, 1967; Rogow, 1966). Children's level of interaction" in their environments provide the foundations for language development. Children learn the language of the home by hearing it spoken. In order to have something to talk about, they need to be actively involved in a variety of experiences and social interactions (Curtiss, 1977). A child cannot talk about events or objects if he does not have anything to which to attach meaning. From high levels of interaction with persons and objects, language is born. This fact is particularly true of blind children whose awareness of events may be hindered by lack of sight. A blind child needs a high level of interaction to teach him about his environment. Without this interaction with persons and objects, descriptions of articles or events simply become meaningless words. Many researchers believe that blind children, given opportunities to engage in high levels of interaction with their world in a meaningful manner, will acquire language at a rate comparable to their 2 sighted peers (Matsuda, 1964; Fraiberg, 1966; Landau and Gleitman, 1965; Rogow, 1966a; Lenneberg, 1967; and Harley, Truan and Sandford, 1967). Indeed studies of language problems among blind children illustrate the profound importance of first hand learning and environmental interactions. Motivation to speak is grounded in having a communicative partnership. Infants are in dialogue with their parents long before spoken language emerges (Bruner, 1963). Since this is a case study, it is important for Amanda's early background and infancy, early childhood, and past and present school experiences be discussed. BACKGROUND OF SUBJECT PROBLEMS IN INFANT YEARS Amanda was born in February 1960 and was of normal birthweight (6.5 lbs). She was diagnosed as having congenital primary anophthalmia. This is a rare condition in which the optic orbs do not develop and is most often bilateral, as in Amanda's case. The orbits are usually small, but well formed. The bone structure of the orbital cavity, eyelids, eyebrows and structures that support and protect the eye are present. Failure of the eye to develop can occur alone-without damage to other areas of the brain. There were no demonstrable indications of brain damage, although several medical reports have described Amanda as having a slightly smaller circumference of her head (microcephaly). 3 Amanda experienced extended hospital stays immediately after her birth (between February and October 1961) because of feeding and swallowing problems. One physician informed the family that she was severely neurologically impaired and advised that Amanda be placed in an institution. Although they were confused and grief stricken, Amanda's parents refused to give up their daughter. The family's strong religious (Catholic) beliefs sustained them. They received a great deal of support from their Church and the Grey Nuns. In addition, the family was supported by the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, (C.N.I.B.), family worker and the Chinese Community Crisis Team. Social Workers in the Chinese Community provide support to families and help non-English speaking families make use of the generic services. The language barrier combined with the cultural attitudes often, however, make those services less effective. Amanda's mother had taken some medication during the early months of her pregnancy and was fearful that she had caused Amanda's blindness. She did not speak any English at this time. The absence of appropriate and consistent advice delivered in the Chinese language delayed the beginnings of active intervention. The family had little knowledge about blindness or the learning potential of blind children. Few expectations were placed on Amanda. Since her parents were overwhelmed by fear for Amanda they felt it was their duty to care for this "child of God." Social services to the family focused on supporting the mother to ease her depression and anxiety. The issue of Amanda's educability was not stressed. Amanda had two older sisters who were four 4 and nine at the time of her birth. Amanda's sisters played with her, but they were so much older and had little in common with the young Amanda. No one besides the U.B.C. Special Education students spoke English to Amanda. The students spent only a few hours each week working with her. Amanda's parents, sisters, and baby-sitters all spoke Chinese. The Catholic Order of Grey Sisters, Chinese Community Crisis Team, and Human Resources provided family support, but could not offer educational assistance. Amanda's mother was receptive to having Special Education students from U.B.C. in her home to work with and stimulate her daughter. When Amanda's mother could see Amanda's responsiveness for herself, she began to relax and enjoy Amanda. In contrast to her delay in language, Amanda's motor development was unusual for a totally blind child. At about the age of one year, Amanda began to crawl. Her muscle tone was good and she loved physical activities. When she wanted, she crossed midline with her legs and arms, alternating with left and right side movement She walked with support at one and a half years of age. She loved to be held high in the air and be moved quickly in space. Amanda walked by placing both of her hands on the wall and did a lateral sidestep down the hall. She walked well and navigated about her home holding on to an adult's hand. She was taught to trail the wall by a student teacher. As soon as she could trail the wall by herself, she walked independently (Video tape # 2 , October, 1962). A chant-"Amanda is trailing the wall. She's trailing the wall in the hall." was used to encourage her independence. 5 Amanda moved freely around her home. She was familiar with landmarks such as the fridge, stove, and sink in the kitchen, furniture in the livingroom, and bedrooms. Amanda's language comprehension was indicated when she led her student-teacher to a requested place. She responded immediately when asked "Where is the kitchen?", "Show me the fridge.", "the stove', and "your bed." At two and a half years of age she walked well (Videotape *3, taken in October, 1963). Sh* also climbed up and down the stairs inside her home independently by crawling. At the top of the stairs she would turn around and go down backwards. She also walked up and down the stairs using alternating feet while holding the hand of an adult LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT 1) RECEPTIVE LANGUAGE Although she was not speaking, Amanda understood requests in both Chinese (Cantonese) and English (Videotape *2, October, 1962 and Videotape #3 taken October, 1963). The diaries kept by student teachers provided further evidence of Amanda's ability to comprehend language. A language stimulation program using nursery rhyme routines was developed for Amanda (Rogow, 1966). Nursery rhymes such as "London Bridge" were paired with specific motor patterns. Amanda initiated the nursery rhyme routines by any sign action such as moving into position, vocalizing, or taking the adult's hands. Amanda consistently responded to the nursery rhyme routines and indicated her preferences for certain 6 rhymes such as "London Bridge". These social routines had well defined beginnings and endings and provided a framework in which Amanda learned to anticipate and express intention. Amanda enjoyed these games and began to use the signals consistently. She enjoyed listening to rhymes and songs and used the action patterns as clear signals to indicate which ones she wanted to play (Videotapes*4, June 1963, and *5, July 1963). Other activities involving language responses were developed. There was emphasis in English comprehension. For example, Amanda was taught "ballet" movements to develop concepts of "forward", "backward", "front", "below", "next to", "side to side", 'up", "down", "big step", "first position", "above", and "small step" (Videotape *5). Amanda learned these concepts quickly and took great interest in the movements. Receptive language was also indicated by her responses to demands such as "Get your taperecorder for me", Turn around", "Stand up", "Let's go to the stairs", "Where's the fridge?", Turn the page", and "Hold your head up". Amanda also showed her knowledge of names of body parts and directions and knew the names of most body parts; "nose", "arm", "hand", "finger", "head", "neck", "hip", "knee", "ankle", "mouth", and "ear" in both English and Cantonese. Amanda's mother noted that some instructions were better understood in Chinese than in English but in contrast she knew both English and Chinese words for familiar objects in the home. These included, "pot", "sink", "bed", "book", "water", "glass", "mother", "father', and "sister". It is estimated that Amanda's receptive English vocabulary was about one hundred words at this time. 7 2) EXPRESSIVE LANGUAGE Amanda's expressive language was delayed. She comprehended far more than she expressed. Amanda spoke her first words at two and a half years of age. At the age of three, she had a speaking vocabulary of twenty to thirty words, but used these as single word phrases. She was not fluent and combined gestural indicators for communication. For example, she nodded her head "yes". She also used objects to communicate, such as taking a milk carton out of the refrigerator to show that she wanted a drink of milk. Amanda seemed to understand the need to communicate, but relied on signals, body movements, and gestures to do so. She did not use verbal communication to request, regulate, or otherwise influence her environment. SCHOOL EXPERIENCE 1) PRE-SCHOOL EXPERIENCES There was little variation of routine in Amanda's life. She rarely went outside of her home and interactions with persons and objects was minimal. Outings in the community, other than attending Church were non-existent. Her family protected her and she was not taken shopping or to visits in other people's homes. At four years of age, Amanda was still not using verbal language (Cantonese). She was registered in a parochial preschool at that time, where there was a highly academic program with an emphasis on English language skills. Amanda was accompanied to the 8 preschool by her nanny who stayed by her side. Because she was not as mature as the other children, the teachers made no demands on her. The following year there was a change in the preschool program with a teacher who encouraged Amanda's participation. This teacher took a personal interest in Amanda and often phoned her at night to encourage her to talk. Amanda made some progress during this year, but still did not speak freely. She replied to questions, but did not offer information. At the end of the school year, a decision had to be made about where Amanda was going to go to Kindergarten. The Sister Principal of the parochial school encouraged her parents to enrol Amanda in the Public school system, where there was a Resource Room program for blind children. Amanda was enrolled in the Resource Room in September 1966. The Resource Room program was located in a school in a middle class community a long bus ride away from Amanda's home. Two teachers alternated the Resource Room program and a teacher's aide was employed. Amanda's time was divided between the Resource Room and the Kindergarten class. Each year, there were different children and teachers at the Resource Room. The wide variations of the children's needs, performance, and ages, made it difficult for Amanda to establish continuous relationships. Amanda also had a number of teachers with whom to relate. All instruction was one to one. Amanda was taught mobility and self-help skills by one adult and braille reading and writing by another. For the most part, Amanda spent the majority of her school day in the Resource Room with three other students. She did make one close relationship with another child, who unfortunately, moved away at the end of the 1967 school year. 9 During her second year in the Resource Room (1987-1966), Amanda spent more time in the kindergarten classroom. At the age of six years, Amanda was still not able to express her needs verbally. This resulted in frustration and anxiety and Amanda had frequent tantrums in school. Amanda's behavior combined with her low language level led to low expectations. During the time Amanda was enrolled in the Resource Room, her family grew to include two younger brothers. There were now six children in the family as well as an elderly grandmother and Amanda's mother was too busy to give Amanda the extra time she needed. She was not satisfied with Amanda's progress, but was uncertain what to do about it In December 1968, three months into the school year, the Resource Room was closed. Amanda was placed in a class for severely disabled non-verbal children in another school. In the Primary Life Skills classroom the students were non-verbal and two or three years younger than Amanda. The classroom teacher felt the placement was inappropriate for Amanda. Materials were highly visual and designed for sighted mentally handicapped students. Amanda's parents had not been consulted about the move and her family was upset about this placement. During this time, the author was appointed as Amanda's itinerant teacher. Generally, Chinese people entrust the school with educating their young. They seldom question the teacher's ability or authority and view involvement in the school system as "meddling" or showing a lack of confidence in the school system. Amanda's mother, however, felt it was 10 important for the school to be aware of her unhappiness with the placement and made her views known. The only reading instruction Amanda received at this time was the daily hour she spent with the author. The reading instruction was isolated from the rest of her program. Amanda was capable of academic work and desperately needed to be moved to an academic setting. She had a much better command of English than she showed. She was sociable and enjoyed the cooking and swimming programs. Because Amanda was anxious to make friends in the classroom, she began to mimic the non-verbal children and it was feared that she would regress. Amanda was given orientation and mobility instruction (by the author) within the school and she learned the layout quickly. A route only had to be shown once for her to learn it. She went for walks to a restaurant, bakery, grocery store and drug store nearby. She learned to use her white cane and enjoyed feeling independent. Amanda looked forward to "mobility days" and learned mobility concepts quickly and efficiently. She also enjoyed shopping and talking with the people she met. After months of negotiation, it was arranged for Amanda to be integrated into grade four at that school. The grade four teacher welcomed Amanda warmly and responded with enthusiasm. She felt Amanda fit into her classroom. Amanda showed interest in the other students and, more importantly, began to express herself verbally. Her progress in the fourth grade prompted yet another move, this time to a class in her community school. 11 In September of 1986, Amanda was moved to her neighborhood school where she was placed in a grade four transition class. There were fifteen other nine year olds in the class. All of the children had English as a second language and some had other learning problems. One of Amanda's classmates was her neighbor-a situation Amanda had never before experienced. She was now able to invite a friend to her home to play. Amanda had friends among her classmates. The parents of the children in Amanda's class also accepted her. During the parent-teacher interviews in November 1969, many parents commented that it was good for their children to know Amanda. 2) PRESENT ACADEMIC PROGRAM The present academic program was designed by her grade four teacher and the itinerant teacher for the Visually Impaired (the author). The goals for Amanda include: 1. reading and writing skills, 2. English prof iciency, 3. socialization, and 4. independence skills. Classroom activities were adapted so Amanda could be "just like the other kids". Amanda is encouraged to be responsible for her work in the classroom. She is expected to do her braille worksheets when the other 12 children were doing their seatwork. During silent reading, Amanda goes to the Listening Centre, where she listens to "talking books". Oral language is encouraged and Amanda is encouraged to participate in all classroom activities. The school program is age-appropriate and functional. Amanda is reassured and rewarded for talking and being responsible in the classroom. Amanda's potential was evident when she moved to her neighborhood school and was integrated into an age-appropriate classroom where there is encouragement and positive expectations. Amanda was shown how to skip, play Hop Scotch, Checkers, Snakes and Ladders, and Tic Tac Toe; games other children were playing. As an adjunct to the school program, a student teacher was hired to provide out-of-school experiences and to discuss these experiences with Amanda to enrich her language development. The student teacher took Amanda on community excursions such as trips to the Science World, eating at McDonald's, going on the Sky Train, and swimming at the local Community Centre. Children need something to talk about as well as the basic knowledge of how to put words together. It is difficult to separate the strands of culture and the level of interaction" from the process of language acquisition. In Amanda's case, it is the author's premise that a high level of interaction with persons and objects is indeed a stronger influence than either blindness or cultural difference. As the research shows, the association between language and the "level of interaction" is an important variable for language acquisition. This is the 13 theoretical premise of the thesis that will be documented in the following pages. The improvement highlights the important relationship between experience, self-concept, and language development. Chapter Two will include the literature review. 14 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW The literature to be reviewed in this chapter is divided into seven headings: 1. Language Acquisition 2. Language and Interaction 3. Language and Blind Children 4. English as a Second Language (ESL) 5. Reading 6. Braille Reading 7. Chinese Culture and Attitudes Toward the Blind 1. LANGUAGE ACQUISITION "Human beings can lead fulfilling lives without sight, hearing or mobility, but without a means to communicate with others, life becomes lonely and empty of meaning'* (Rogow, 1967, p. 195). It has been said that the voice reflects the inner man; the real self. According to Bruner, (1963X children need to have a working knowledge of the world to give them semantic targets to enable them to make distinctions from their acquired speech. It could be stated that the terms in which the world is organized are the same as those which organize language. Oral language is used by children to interpret what they learn through interactive experiences. They use language to gain new information and for self-expression. Language 15 enriches the meaning of interactions and contributes to understanding the real world (Bruner,1983). Communicative competence can be defined as "the ability to participate in conversational dialogue, anticipate and respond to the listener's need for information, formulate and convey that information and enjoy the reciprocity of social exchange" (Rogow, 1961, p. 197). Communicative competence is participating in conversation and responding to the listener's need for information, formulating and conveying information and enjoying social exchange. Communicative competence combines knowledge of both language forms and functions, and is illustrated by the child who can ask and answer questions, declare, command, make requests and participate in conversation (Rogow, 1962). Speech The production of single-word utterances represents a giant stride on the road to language acquisition. Within a relatively short time and with almost no direct instruction a young child will acquire the language of his caregivers. Language acquisition is facilitated by non-verbal forms of communication. Natural gestures are a form of surface signalling. Skelly, (1973), describes natural gestures as facial expressions and body postures which convey meaning to a viewer. Speech emerges as an extension of the child's earlier signaling system. These signs are social signals. Bates, (1979), states conventional signals are the first steps toward representation of language. 16 Theoretically, certain sounds of infant's vocalizations (babbling) are reinforced when parents recognize them as elements of their own language. The evidence that preverbal babbling can be increased and shaped by appropriate reinforcement supports the learning theory of language acquisition (Schwartz, Rosenberg, and Brackbill, 1970). Auditory, visual, and tactile reinforcement administered alone or in combination increase the frequency of infants' babbling. Babbling is also affected by certain characteristics of the reinforcement For example, the pitch of spoken words has been shown to influence the pitch of babbling. When seven month old infants heard high-pitched vowels, the pitch of their babbling increased. Children vary in their rates of development Age, is not a good indicator of language development (Webster, Steinhardt, and Senter, 1972). As children learn to combine phonemes (the smallest sound units) to express words (morphemes), they also begin to use inflections (bound morphemes). Inflections signify plurality, possession, verb tense, subject-verb agreement, and comparative and superlative forms of adjectives. In the first two years of life, children spend a great deal of time putting words together and forming sentences. After the age of two, the basic process is refined and word sounds, words, and sentences are produced. Although refinements continue throughout life, generally children acquire a whole language system by the age of five (Moskowitz, 197$). Around eighteen or twenty months of age, children begin to put words together. Children assign meanings to the words and sentences they hear spoken. They also imitate what they hear and are reinforced for imitating sounds. Adult responses to the speech of their children are powerful 17 reinforcers especially when adults indicate that they understand children's intentions. The more receptive the adults have been, and the more accurately they have interpreted, the better the children are able to perceive the relationships between sounds and their meanings (Stern, 1977). Language performance consists both of encoding and decoding which include phonological, morphological and syntactical responses (McLean, Toder, and Schiefelbusch, 1972). Encoding, or speech production, is synonymous with the production of language. Speech production begins with the intention of saying something (McLean, Yoder, and Schiefelbusch, 1972). Decoding or language comprehension or receptive language is the understanding of a language. Through the receptive process the lexicon or vocabulary and grammatical structure of a language are comprehended (McLean et al., 1972). Children often comprehend more than they produce. Expressing ideas is harder than understanding the message (Swallow, 1962). Vocabularies are expanded through interactive experiences as children build categories of objects and events. Vocabulary acquisition is gradual and directly dependent upon a child's level of cognitive knowledge. Words are the smallest semantic units in the language. Selecting an appropriate word is related to the level of vocabulary development Difficulties in semantic development often results in communication problems that affect both academic and social development Since pragmatic language is based on semantic development, the language difficulty may really be a disorder in their semantic development (McLean et al., 1972). 18 Language is a symbol system and can be analyzed in terms of: 1. its phonology or sound structures, 2. syntax, or the organization of words in utterances, 3. lexicon or vocabulary, and 4. pragmatics or usage of language. Phonology Phonology is the sound system of the language. The rules of phonology govern how sounds are put together to form words. Phonemes are the smallest sound units. Meaningful symbols of reference are formed from the distinct patterns and sequences of the phonemes. The true units (or words) of language are the groupings of phonemes into meaningful units called morphemes. Words are morphemes. Morphemes are the smallest unit of meaning. In the word "largest", for example, the word "large" is a free morpheme because it can stand alone in a sentence and "est" is a bound morpheme because it must occur in association with a word. Bound morphemes are sound units that are not words by themselves, but have meaning. Bound morphemes in English are suffixes and prefixes (de Villiers and de Villiers, 1976). Syntax The organization of words into sentences is governed by "rules"; the grammar or syntax of language. The rules of syntax govern how words are put together to express meaningful utterances. Children do not learn sentences as memorized sequences, but rather, derive the rules for 19 combining words into sentences (McLean et al., 1972). The rules that govern English language structure include the following: a) Word order: refers to the order in which the words occur in the sentence. Word order is possibly the most important cue for a child learning to express semantic relations (McLaughlin, 1978). For example: "The dog bit the man" has a different meaning from "The man bit the dog". Children who have not mastered syntactic rules have problems both in decoding and encoding language. Both Crystal (1976), and Carrow (1974), rely on children's acquisition of syntactic rules in their language assessment instruments. b) Morphemes and bound Morphemes: The lexicon is the vocabulary of a language. Its morphemes are the smallest units of meaning. There are two types of morphemes: a) free morphemes or words that stand alone, b) bound morphemes or units of meaning when tied to words (morphemes). For example of the plural "s" or possessive "s", as in "Billy's coat". Examples of Amanda's bound morphemes include: "Sarah's"' and "somebody's" (Appendix pp.94-95)- The rule for expressing a plural is to add an "s" to words denoting people, objects or events. English also uses the bound morpheme "s" to denote possession. Children tend to generalize the plural rule and say "foots", "mans", or "feets" (Dale, 1976). c) Function words: are morphemes that function in relation to syntactic rules. They do not represent persons, objects or events. They function to represent linguistic relationships. Examples of function words 20 are "the", "a", and conjunctions. Conjunctions are the connectives between and within clauses. Conjunctions such as "and" and "or" produce compound sentences. The past tense of a function word is acquired after the progressive and present tenses. For example, the progressive tense ending in "ing" as "He going." is acquired before the third person singular ending such as "He goes." The "s" itself is acquired long before the past tense endings, as in "He goed." Function words that have grammatical but not lexical meanings include conjunctions, auxiliary verbs, prepositions, and plurals. d) Auxiliaries: syntactic rules govern the use of auxiliaries, such as the verbs "to be", "do", "have" and "go". e) Prepositions: indicate both spatial and time relations and includes "to", "in", "at", "by", and "with". Prepositions are acquired in the course of mastery of spatial relationships. Pragmatics Pragmatics is the study of "the rules governing the use of language in context" (Bates, 1976, p.420). Pragmatic rules are acquired together with the semantic and syntactical and phonological aspects of language. Pragmatics is concerned with the ways in which language is used. Language is used to serve a variety of functions, such as requesting, regulating or describing. Communication is the main pragmatic function of language. Studies of pragmatics illustrate how speaker's intentions affect the uses of language (Lee, 1979). The child learns most of what he knows about the 21 rules of conversing through the first-hand interaction with others in a variety of situations (Garvey, 1977a). Comprehension problems occur when a child has not established a relationship between linguistic forms and the meanings they denote. Carrow-Woolfolk, (1965), noted how important it is to establish this association. Children generally have mastered oral language before they learn to read and write (Carrow-Woolfolk, 1965). Children's responses to "Wh" questions such as "what*', "why", "where", "when" and "how" indicates language comprehension. Children often respond to this type of question with phrases or ellipsis to questions (de Villiers and de Villiers, 1976). Ervin-Tripp, (1970), suggests that interactive experiences together with the development of concepts of time and space are necessary for these concepts to develop. In the case of "why" questions, Ervin-Tripp, (1970), suggested that without adequate "levels of interaction", the child would be incapable of formulating explanations. 2 . LANGUAGE AND INTERACTION Language is a system of representation and children must interact with events and activities in order to represent them (Moskowitz, 1978). Language competence is a result of the child's "level of interaction" with the world. Piaget maintained that cognitive development provides a framework for the acquisition of language. High levels of interaction with persons and objects is the basis for the development of language skills (Sinclair-de-Zwart, 22 1969). The intricacy and interdependence between language and the "level of interaction" is shown by the work of Fraiberg, (1966); Cline and Cardinale, (1971); Wilkinson, (1971); Lloyd, (1972); Curtiss, (1977); Garvey, (1977a); Donaldson, (1978); Moskowitz, (1978); Harris and Smith, (I960); Lucas, (1980); Smith, (1982); Bruner, (1983); Mills, (1983); Carrow-Woolfolk, (1985); Landau and Gleitman, (1985); and Rogow, (1988). Lucas noted that "Perceptual and functional knowledge is acquired through the interaction of the child in the environment which has an impact on the cognitive physiological structures. This interaction between the environment and the child takes the form of sensory input (taste, touch, vision, audition, smell) that is processed through a series of sorting skills (discrimination) and integrating skills (perception). The integration of this perceptual material results in bits of semantic information or semantic features being cognitively recorded for future use" (Lucas, 1980,p.3). Studies of children living in large institutions indicate impoverishment of their language. In these environments there are fewer opportunities for interactions with adults and less variety of types of interactions (Curtiss, 1977). 3. LANGUAGE AND BLIND CHILDREN It is interesting to study the language acquisition of blind children. In the absence of other difficulties blind children demonstrate neither delay nor confusion (Matsuda, 1964). Researchers working with blind children have called attention to the central importance of familial attitudes and 23 acceptance of the blind children. Lenneberg, (1967), found no linguistic differences between the blind and the sighted. The congenitally blind child is confronted with integrating concepts about the world without the benefit of visual information. They must find meaning using their other senses. Texture, weight, temperature, shape and size formulate the tactual schema (Scott, 1969). Blind children see with their sense of smell, touch, taste, and hearing. This is actively experiendng-this is living and positive action rather than passive listening (Lloyd, 1972). Blind children must feel, move, and compare the world about them as well as actively listen to what is being described. Mills (1963), suggested that when experience is lacking, concepts cannot be learned. Delays occur not due to the lack of vision by itself, but because of its impact on the developmental process when there has been no intervention (Mills, 1963; Fraiberg and Freeman, 1964). High levels of interaction with persons and objects provide blind children with semantic bits of information and builds the basis for vocabulary development. Environmental awareness programs develop a child's oral language (Kurzhals, 1966). "It is placing a child in an environment in which what he is experiencing has value and makes good sense to him, and helping him to progress from the effort he puts forth, which lays the vital groundwork for developing the processes through which a child grows into a happy, contributing adult" (Kurzhals, 1966, p. 166). During the early stages of development, blind children begin verbalizing in ways similar to their sighted peers. However lack of sight puts gestural communication out of the reach of blind babies. Parents must 24 learn to substitute gaze for touch signals. When blind children are spoken to and interacted with by adults, they begin to speak at the same time as sighted children (Fraiberg, 1966; Landau and Gleitman, 1965; Rogow, 1966a.; and Harley et al., 1987). Anderson and Olson, (1981), suggested that blind children's descriptions of tangible objects reflect their dependence on non-visual perception. Children lacking vision may have different understandings of words, since their knowledge is derived from touch and sound. For example, Landau, (1965), with a sample of sixty-one blind children studied their understanding of the verb "to see". She found that blind children use the word similarly to the sighted, when "to see" means to "understand" rather that to see with one's eyes. Blind children require more experiences with objects to attain the same understanding a sighted child gains with a glance (Fraiberg, 1968). It is more difficult for blind children to acquire some kinds of knowledge, particularly of objects and events beyond their realm of interactive experience. Harley, (1987), and Landau, (1965), found delays in word meaning which were attributed to lack of first hand interaction. When opportunities are provided for first hand "levels of interaction", object exploration and manipulation develops. Objects are then given names and vocabulary grows (Lenneberg, 1967; Fraiberg, 1968). 25 r 4. ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE De Villiers and de Villiers, (1978), noted the controversy among researchers about the extent to which one's first language influences the learning of one's second language. Henne, Rongen, and Hansen, (1977), Huang and Hatch, (1976), and McCaig, Gray, Mclvor, and Weibe, (1988), believe that a strong first base in a first language will build a foundation for the acquisition of a second. Learning a second language and having had experiences with a complete first language system facilitates learning. Typically a person learns a second language partly in terms of their first language. Compound bilingualism refers to learning second-language utterances based on a first language. The compound bilingual is often less fluent in the second language and the expressions used are often related to the first language. Difficulties in phonology, vocabulary, and grammar of the second language, are often related to lack of mastery of the rules of the first language (Carroll, 1964). There is some controversy in the literature about the efficacy of learning two languages simultaneously. Some researchers argue that if both languages are learned simultaneously just as unilingual children learn one, both languages may suffer (Carroll, 1964; McCaig et al., 1988; and Wilkinson, 1971). Other researchers argue that age is an important factor in second language learning and that the older the child, the more problems he may experience. The academic difficulties of ESL students are not caused by the use of another language in the home (McCaig et al., 1986). 26 Because the structure of Chinese is so different from English, there are some special problems. English is interpreted by Chinese-English bilinguals in relation to their combined past experiences in both languages (Aaronson and Ferres, 1987). In addition, when the child's parents have difficulty with a second language, they become poor second language models for their children. The differences between Chinese and English make English more difficult to learn for the Chinese speaker. For example the rule of structure of Chinese is very different from English. Structural Differences between Chinese and English Chinese word ordering is quite different from English. Chinese-English children take longer to acquire the basic word ordering principles than native English speakers. The structural differences between Chinese and English lead to differences in the processing of English words (Henne et al., 1977). McCaig et al., (1966), believe that depending on the age of the learner, it may take between five and seven years for Chinese language speakers to approach grade norm in English cognitive academic skills. They state that without language proficiency in English, ESL students cannot succeed in English-based academic programs. An ESL individual may comprehend the English language and know what he or she wants to say, but may not be able to formulate English sentences. English content words are often inflected to indicate syntactic information, whereas Chinese words are not. This creates problems of agreement between singular/plural, noun/verb, and noun/pronoun 27 relationships for bilingual Chinese-English speakers. Chinese nouns generally have no number, gender, or case features. Verbs have no conjunctions to indicate past, present, or future tense and adjectives have no comparative or superlative forms. They frequently cannot be discriminated from adverbs (Aaronson and Ferres, 1987; Forrest, 1973; Henne et al., 1977). English prepositions tend to cause difficulties in writing and speaking. Chinese function words, including prepositions and relative pronouns are used in broader semantic contexts than English function words (Aaronson and Ferres, 1987). Chinese equivalents of English prepositions are supplied by nouns and verbs placed before, after, or compounded with other substantives. For example, "in the sea" would be translated as "(the) midst (of the) sea" (Aaronson and Ferres, 1987). Other verb-like substitutes for prepositions are "enter" for "into" and "arrive at" for "until" (Forrest, 1973). The semantic topic of the sentence generally comes first Chinese eliminates the "function" words in the brackets. "This tree (its) leaves are very big." "Yesterday (I) read for two hours." The function words are omitted when the sentence is not ambiguous without them. Conjunctions such as "and" and "but" are often omitted from Chinese. Their functional role may be indicated by pauses in speech. The Chinese also do not have any exact analogues to English articles (Forrest, 1973; Henne et al., 1977). The use of articles in Chinese differs from their use in English. The definite or indefinite status of a noun is generally inferred, and based on context. It is not unusual for the new learner of English to omit articles in sentences where they are optional in Chinese (Henne et al., 1977). 28 Chinese has fewer pronouns than English. For example, "he", "him", "she", "her", and "it" in Chinese are all translated as "ta". "I", "me", and "my" are all translated as "wo" (Henne etal., 1977). Many Chinese pronouns serve as general noun substitutes and have less specific meaning than English pronouns. Personal pronouns are normally omitted except when required for the clarity of the sentence (Forrest, 1973). Generally, English words contain more meaning per unit, and meaning is less contextually dependent. Abstract words tend to occur less frequently in Chinese (Aaronson and Ferres, 1967). Assessing children on formal language tests poses serious difficulties for the ESL students (Samuda and Crawford, 1960). Cummins, (1964), reported that Chinese minority students had difficulty on verbal sections of assessments, which alters final test results. In addition many test questions require knowledge of experiences specific to middle-class North Americans. ESL students who had not had similar experiences do poorly on these tests and reflect cultural and linguistic bias (Cummins, 1984). 5- READING Skill in reading is related to skill in understanding spoken language (Carrow-Woolfolk,1985). If syntactic patterns of written sentences are unfamiliar to the reader, the sentences will not be understood. The ability to reconstruct meaning is based on the reader's previous knowledge of how language works. This knowledge is also important in anticipating the 29 writer's message. The reader predicts meaning by using knowledge of syntax (Dale, 1976). "Reading is the recognition of printed or written symbols which serve as stimuli to the recall of meanings built up through the reader's past experience. New meanings are derived through manipulation of concepts already in his possession" (Bond, Tinker, and Wassen, 1979, p.5). It is generally assumed that learners have acquired oral language before they are required to read. This however, is not always the case. There are situations where one might be introduced to reading before one has mastered oral language. Background "levels of interaction" are powerful factors in determining what will be learned. Reading, writing, listening, and speaking are inter-related. Carrow-Woolfolk, (1965), believes that if a subject has difficulty comprehending words and grammatical structures when they are spoken, they are likely to have difficulty comprehending the same structures when they are written. Hampshire, (1961), noted a significant relationship between language and reading achievement. The ability to utilize the linguistic clues depends on the reader's level of language development Word recognition is a primary reading skill. If a learner cannot recognize a word, they will not be able to predict what comes next. Most of the words the early reader will meet and recognize are those with which they are familiar. 30 "Reading is only one facet of language, and growth in language is only one facet of total child development. Each facet of language supports and strengthens all others. Growth in language should enhance total personality. Reading instruction must be planned and carried out from this perspective" (Harley etal., 1979 p. 16). Delayed language development can affect reading success. Children with limited communication ability, cannot be expected to be immediately successful with reading. This includes a variety of language acquisition disorders (Bond et al., 1979). Harper, (1976) noted that ill health during the first two years of life contributes to language and reading problems. Position in the order of the siblings, family bilingualism, and lack of stimulation are factors which may contribute to difficulties in learning to read. Children's success in reading depends on the vocabulary that has been developed and used to communicate ideas orally (Wilkinson, 1971; Mangold, 1962). Ultimately, the child's desire to read underlies success in reading (Harley et al., 1967). Durkin, (1966), presented evidence to indicate that children's readiness to read is clearly associated with being read to routinely in the home. The amount of exposure to reading is highly correlated with linguistic development in the years five to ten (Chomsky, 1972). 6. BRAILLE READING Braille is a system of tactile reading. Braille letters consist of the presence or absence of a raised dot in any one of the positions in a 3x2 matrix. The shape can be felt by the pad of one finger. In order for proper 31 reading, the fingers should move smoothly and with even pressure over the braille dots. Braille reading requires controlled movement and coordination of the hands as well as the discrimination and sensitivity of the tactile sense (Millar, 1977). In learning braille, blind children memorize configurations of dots within the braille cell. They must learn to use braille contractions. This requires the child to recognize words that do not contain each letter as it does in print. Braille readers learn the short hand script of braille as well as the "spelled out" version of words. There are differences between reading braille and reading print. Braille is read primarily letter by letter, rather than in chunks as one does when reading print. Tactual recognition tends to be more difficult than visual recognition (Mills, 1963; Millar, 1977; Pick, Thomas, and Pick, 1966). The tactual modality is more than just the sense of touch. It incorporates perception and integration through sensory exploration (Griffin and Gerber, 1962). Information via the tactile mode must be systematically acquired and sequentially developed in order for environmental stimuli to be meaningful. The blind reader must recognize the symbols for reading tactually as well as interpret their meanings in relation to other surrounding braille characters and also in the context of the material he is reading. Initially, tactile learning begins through gross hand movements. These are later refined to include more detailed object exploration. Tactual awareness is learned most quickly when blind children are presented with objects from the environment around them. Awareness of tactual quality increases children's ability to explore and obtain meaning from objects. This in turn, helps them to make sense of their environment through the tactile 32 modality. If a blind child has a wide variety of preschool tactual-kinesthetic exposure and manipulation, then his readiness for academic learning through reading would be more advanced than children who have not had those experiences (Barraga, 1976). Learning to read braille takes longer than learning to read print. Most children do not master the code until they are seven or eight years of age. Indeed some blind students are still mastering the code at nine or ten years. Sighted children are bombarded with print from a very early age, and blind children may not have any knowledge of braille until they go to school. Success in braille reading, as in print reading requires a basic understanding of words (Mills, 1983). One of the biggest problems the blind child may encounter with reading are related to lack of high levels of interaction". Sighted children are assisted in learning to read by illustrations, photographs, and drawings. 33 7. CHINESE CULTURE AND ATTITUDES TOWARD THE BLIND Those alike in mind may differ in form. Those alike in form may differ in mind. The sage prefers what is like-minded and ignores what is alike in form. Ordinary men stick close to what is alike in form and keep their distance from what is like-minded. "We cherish and cling to what resembles us", they say. Chinese Fable In Chinese folk legends, the blind were feared and pitied. In the past, many parents kept their handicapped children hidden from society to avoid the pity and reactions of others. Exposure of the handicapped child was often considered to negatively affect the prestige of the family. Chinese immigrants in Canada generally settled within the Chinese community. Not only did they not speak English, but they adhered to Chinese cultural values. The family is central to Chinese cultural organization. The Chinese seldom go outside of their families to seek assistance. Many Chinese families, including Amanda's family, do not seek outside intervention until situations become highly critical (Jim, 1956). While Canadian parents tend to encourage independence and self-reliance in their children, the Chinese tend to emphasize mutual dependence within their families (Hsu, 1970). Wolfe, (1978), wrote that Taiwanese mothers believe that children cannot be expected to learn much during their first six years. Many Canadian parents, on the other hand, are encouraging their children to read and write even before they reach school. 34 Amanda's progress in school demonstrates the complex effects of familial over protection and under-expectation, language development in blind children, second language learning, and the importance of rich school environments. PURPOSE OF THE STUDY The underlying purpose of this study was to identify how interaction with persons and objects in the environment affects a totally blind ESL child's 1) oral expression in school, 2) acquisition of English, and 3) development of skills in braille reading comprehension and writing. The methodology employed in gathering and assessing Amanda's progress in oral language and reading will be described in Chapter Three. 35 CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY SUBJECT The nine year old subject of this study, Amanda, is ESL, and totally blind. The language in her home is Cantonese. At the beginning of this study, Amanda had a marked developmental delay in oral expression. D A T A COLLECTION Amanda has been involved in an ongoing research project since I960 thus providing the author with background data. Several videotapes were made. The video recordings were taken between 1980-1987. Diaries, reports, and anecdotal records were kept and made available to this writer. Data was also collected using twelve language samples from 1988-1990. The study will compare Amanda's language competence before and after placement in a fourth grade classroom with age appropriate peers and a systematic daily enrichment program. The methodology described in this chapter is designed to assess the language data derived from two main sources. 1) Video Samples The first source consists of seven video recordings of Amanda interacting with adults at 1 1/2, 2, 3, 4, 4 1/2, 5, and 6 years of age. These videotapes which were taken of the intervention programs designed for Amanda, were 36 made available to the author. (The tapes were made by student teachers enrolled in the Diploma Programme for the Visually Impaired). 2) Language Samples The second source consists of twelve language samples recorded by the author. The twelve language samples provided a record of Amanda's expressive language development before and after the transition into grade four. The data has been collected by the author who is Amanda's itinerant teacher. The twelve language samples provided a record of Amanda's expressive language development before and after the transition into the grade four neighborhood class. The language samples provide a clear record of the development of Amanda's expressive vocabulary and syntax. The acquisition of syntax included analysis of noun phrases, verb phrases and clauses, and sentence structure. Language samples were recorded in a variety of situations; during mobility lessons, braille lessons with the author, and in conversation with her peers in the classroom and on the playground. The author is responsible for teaching Amanda braille reading and writing. The author also adapts classroom materials for Amanda. As a consultant to Amanda's school program, the author works closely with Amanda's classroom teacher, classroom aide and other personnel involved in Amanda's school program. In addition, the author supervises student teachers for the Diploma Programme and often engages them in work with Amanda. As a result, the amount of data available is rich and continuous. 37 METHOD OF ANALYSIS The models proposed by Crystal, Fletcher, and Garman (1976) and Carrow (1974) were used to analyze the oral samples. Language analyses have been developed in order to establish whether children have acquired the underlying rule patterns of their language (Crystal, et al, 1976; de Villiers and de Villiers, 1978). The following aspects of language were examined: 1) Vocabulary-The language samples made it possible to trace the development of Amanda's vocabulary. This included a study of word acquisition and usage, word meanings, as well as grammatical types such as pronouns, articles, and adverbs. 2) Syntax-The acquisition of the rule-governed structures, noun phrases, verb phrases, clause and sentence structure. 3) Pragmatics-This aspect illustrated Amanda's usage of English for such pragmatic functions as request, description, and command. Using the Crystal Analysis (1976), the language samples were examined in the following categories: I WORD LEVEL- is an examination of the use of bound morphemes, articles, pronouns, and auxiliary verbs. 38 II PHRASE LEVEL- Noun phrases include articles, pronouns, and adjectives. Verb phrases include auxiliary verbs and adverbs. The development of the verb phrases precedes the full development of sentence structure (Garvey, 1976b). III CLAUSE LEVEL- this is an examination of clause structure which is a complete sentence or part of a sentence. A clause contains a subject, verb, and object. ERRORS The Carrow Elicited Language Inventory (1974), developed a protocol in which the following types of errors could be analyzed to unveil what children are able to do and what errors they make. Errors reveal the completeness of children's understanding of rules. There are five categories of error types: substitutions, omissions, additions, transpositions, and reversals. Substitution- A Substitution occurs within a grammatical category when another word is substituted for the stimulus, regardless of the grammatical form of the substitution. Omission- An Omission error occurs when an entire word is omitted and no other word is substituted in its place. Additions- Additions are extra words that occur in the sentence. Transpositions- Transpositions occur whenever a word appears in the wrong position in the sentence. Reversals- Reversals are a special class of transpositional errors. Jargon and Misarticulation- Nonsensical words used in conjunction with correct words within the sentence. 39 To determine if Amanda's delayed English speaking skills were related to her Chinese speaking skills, a Chinese language sample was taken, transcribed and analyzed by a native Cantonese speaker as part of this study. Since English is a second language for Amanda, it was important to determine her competence in her first language. There are two dialects of Chinese spoken in her home. Cantonese is spoken by her parents and siblings and Tai San is spoken by Amanda's maternal grandmother who lives with the family. Cantonese is the language used most often by her family, and so is the dialect that was used for the Chinese language sample. The results of the Chinese sample indicated that Amanda was marginally more competent in Chinese than in English. As with English, when the Chinese sample was taken (September, 1969), Amanda had difficulty expressing herself. The data derived from the language samples is discussed in two categories: Measures of Change and Descriptive Measures. Measures of Change indicate the areas of Amanda's data on a pre and post-transition basis. Descriptive Measures indicate Amanda's progress in English competence after moving to the grade four classroom. 40 MEASURES OF CHANGE 1. Mean Length of Utterance (MLU) 2. Complete Sentences 3. Function Words 4. Reading 5. Writing 1. Mean Length of Utterance The Mean Length of Utterance (M.L.U.) is the average length of the child's utterance in morphemes (Dale, 1976). Both morphemes and bound morphemes are counted. M.L.U. is calculated as the total number of morphemes and bound morphemes contained in single utterances. This type of analysis is sensitive to the child's acquisition of morphemes, such as the plural or possessive "ed" and "ing". Words and inflections are counted. For example, "Amanda's coat" has a value of 3.0 M.L.U. There is one point for Amanda, one point for possessive "s", and one point for coat. 2. Complete Sentences A complete sentence is characterized by a subject, verb and object. Using the language samples, the number of complete sentences Amanda used in the first language sample, October 7,1966 prior to the transition into grade four will be compared with the number of complete sentences she used in the final language sample taken after the transition, March 5, 1990. 41 3. Function Words Function words are linguistic conventions that have no reference to persons, places, or objects. Use of words such as "the", "or", and prepositions were counted. 4. Reading Amanda's braille letter recognition skills were examined before and after her transition into the grade four classroom and the increase in letter recognition will be shown. Her letter recognition skills were recorded daily and the average number correct was graphed. 5. Writing Amanda's progress in developing braille writing skills will be shown. Her brailling skills were recorded daily and the average scores were graphed. DESCRIPTIVE MEASURES Descriptive data is important in indicating the progress Amanda has shown since the transition to her present school program. This data compliments the measured data in providing a record of increasing English competence. The data is described in the following categories: 42 1. Language Comprehension 2. Language Usage 3. Rhymes 4. "Wh" Questions 5- Auditory Retention and Organization Data for descriptive measures were gathered from the following: 1. Language Comprehension aspects that are described include: response to requests, auditory conceptualization, final consonant discrimination, comprehension and memory for facts, inferring connotative word meanings, and auditory discrimination a) Receptive Language refers to the ability to comprehend spoken language and respond to verbal commands. b) Auditory Conceptualization here, examines responses to verbal commands by asking Amanda to show the right and left sides of her body. Examples include: "Put your right hand in the air." and "Place your left hand on your right leg." c) Final Consonant Discrimination required Amanda to differentiate between words that had similar-sounding consonants at their endings. Examples of this test include: "rack/rag", leaf/leave", and "Moon/moon." d) Comprehension and Memory for Facts required Amanda to listen to short passages and answer factual comprehension questions. Students who have short-term memory problems have difficulty with this area. Test examples include: "Tom's teacher made popcorn yesterday. What was made?, Who made it?" (popcorn, Tom's teacher) 43 e) Inferring Connotative Word Meanings required Amanda to listen to a short paragraph and identify and define nonsensical words from context. An example is: The happy little plotch ran to his master. He wagged his tail and flopped his ears. Then the plotch jumped up on his master's lap and licked his master's face." A plotch is a puppy. f) Auditory Discrimination required that Amanda judge if the pairs of words presented orally were the same or different. Word discrimination indicates the ability to discern phonological differences between two words spoken in isolation. Some examples include: "read/dead", "work/work", and "bed/bread." 2. Language Usage consisted of the following categories: word definitions, sentence completions, sentence imitations, grammatic completions, semantic absurdities and word articulation. a) Word Definitions- Amanda was requested to define series of words presented orally. Examples of this test and Amanda's responses: "Castle"-a castle means a king =0 points on the test and "Cow"-'A cow is an animal.'/It's an animal that it is in farm.'/Cow makes milks.'/The cow makes hay out of milk.',The cow eats hay.'/The cow he eats um, he drinks milk out of urn-he eats.'=2 points on the test. 44 b) Sentence Completion- Pictures were described to Amanda and she was given a series of incomplete sentences. Examples from the test include: "A bird builds its next in a " and "You wash your hand and face with a bar of c) Sentence Imitations- This subtest assessed Amanda's ability to produce grammatically correct English sentences. The rationale behind this type of activity is children cannot repeat language structures which they do not know. d) Grammatic Completion- The purpose of this exercise was to complete the sentence presented by the examiner. Examples: "Mary has a dress and Joan has a dress. They have two (dresses)." and "The shoes belong to the boy. Whose shoes are they? They are the (boy's). Amanda generally would not respond, which may indicate a lack of understanding of the request. e) Semantic Absurdities Amanda was given a series of nonsense statements and she was asked to explain why the sentences did not make sense. Semantic Absurdities subtest include: "The mother fed the lullaby to her baby." f) Word Articulation- Exercises were presented. For example, Amanda was requested to pronounce a series of single words correctly. Mispronunciation of words may indicate difficulty in listening rather than articulation problems. Test examples include: "tree", "dishes", and "bridge." 3. Rhymes will also examine integration of facts to solve riddles. Amanda was asked to identify mystery objects in a series of rhyming riddles such as "I am good to drink. I am white. I rhyme with silk. What am I?" 45 4. "Wh"Questions- To the following questions Amanda responded with full sentences. Responses earlier consisted of one and two word replies. Question Response Who- "Who turns on your bath water for you?" 'Tou run it by yourself." What- ".What kind of day is it?" "It is sunny." Where- Where do you eat your lunch? "I eat in the cafeteria." When- ".When do you have Music?" "I have Music last period." Why- "Why do we celebrate Thanksgiving?" "Because we are thankful." How- "How do you get to your piano lesson?" "My Mommy and my Dad drive me." (Appendix pp. 127). The Appendix lists Amanda's responses to the questions separated into categories in the following manner: One-word responses, Two-word responses, and Sentences. 5. Auditory Retention and Organization Amanda was asked to recall information and reorganize information in the presence of distracting stimuli. She was also asked to correct grammatically incorrect sentences. Amanda was asked to identify the two words that were the same from a list of three. This test indicates oral word recognition. Amanda was also required to think of words that began with a certain letter. 'Think of all the words that begin with the letter 'p'." In addition to the Carrow, other tests were also given but since these were also not standardized for ESL blind children, it was felt scores would not reflect Amanda's language competence. The tests were given to Amanda by the author. 46 -The Test of Language Development-Primary (TQLD-2) (Newcomer and Hammil, 1966)- The subtests measure different aspects of spoken language such as Grammatic Understanding, Sentence Imitation, and Grammatic Completion. The Word Articulation and Word Discrimination subtests measure the ability of the child to correctly distinguish between words that sound similar. -Evaluation Communicative Competence-A Functional Pragmatic Procedure (Simon, 1984)- is an informal approach designed to provide the examiner with information on the student's language processing abilities, metalinguistic skills, and functional use of language for various communicative purposes. -Test for Auditory Comprehension of Language (TACL-R) (Carrow-Woolfolk, 1985)- measures auditory comprehension of word classes and relations, grammatical morphemes and elaborated sentence constructions. -Listening Comprehension Skills; Inferring Connotative Word Meanings (Alameda County School, 1975)- requires careful listening to a make-believe story and to then define a non-sensical word. The following chapter will discuss the results of the language sample analyses and contrast Amanda's language performance before and after her present program. 47 Chapter 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION This chapter is a report of the results of the analyses of language samples and braille reading and writing skills. Amanda's competence in expressive language is described. Braille reading and writing assessments were also evaluated. The results are reported in two categories: 1. Measures of Change and 2. Descriptive Measures. The Measures of Change are measures that indicate the areas of Amanda's data on a pre and post-transition basis. Descriptive Measures indicate Amanda's progress in English competence after the transition into the grade four classroom. 1) MEASURES OF CHANGE All of the Measures of Change listed below are included in Figures 1-5 (pp.49-53). They all form ordinates on a interval scale, therefore the dates have been assigned to the language samples and evaluations. The following categories of language were measured: 1. Mean Length of Utterance. 2. Complete Sentences 3. Function Words 4. Reading 5. Writing 48 1. Mean Length of Utterance (M.L.U.) The M.L.Us. were taken from 580 spontaneous utterances. Figure 1 shows the pre and post M.L.U. test results from October, 1986 to March, 1990. FIGURE 1: Pre and Pos t Means of Mean Length of Utterances 7.0 - i 6.0 -C5.5) 5.0 -/ 1 h +.0 - / 3.0 -2.0 - / (\A)^M < — Transition 1.0 -0-0 H 1 r - — I 1—:—I 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0