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Read With Me! NEW RESOURCE!
A great resource for early reading materials!!!
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SUPPORTING LANGUAGE AND LITERACY: WHAT SLPS KNOW! Thinking Publications 2005 On-Line Language Conference Shari Robertson, Ph.D. CCC-SLP Associate Professor of Speech-Language Pathology Indiana University of PA
With the implementation of No Child Left Behind, outcome based education has become the undisputed paradigm of the public school system. While many would argue, including this author, that the methods employed by this initiative to measure progress are deeply flawed, the heavy emphasis on creating environments that support the development of literacy (and, by association, language) could be viewed as the silver lining of this particular storm cloud. Resources that had gone untapped prior to the emphasis on literacy –such as the school-based Speech-Language Pathologist – are now being utilized in an effort to insure that all students receive best-practice instruction to support the development of proficient reading and writing abilities.
While some SLPs may feel that they know little about literacy, the fact is that most know a great deal more than they realize! Although a majority of practicing SLPs did not receive any specific training regarding written language during their formal education, they actually hold a set of knowledges, skills, and dispositions that allow them to make unique and important contributions to the literacy development of their students. In fact, much of the recent research related to teaching literacy is built on principles and practices that have long been a part of the repertoire of intervention practices utilized by SLPs.
Most SLPs inherently understand that written language requires a sound foundation in oral language. For example, we could not expect a student to be able to spell without being able to hear the individual sounds that make up a word or to attach meaning to a written word that is not in their oral vocabulary. SLPs can draw on their understanding of these connections to diagnose and provide appropriate intervention for problems in both domains. However, most SLPS do not recognize the extent of their knowledge and skills related to written language – mainly because they were not explicitly taught how their knowledges and skills related to oral language apply to reading and writing. The Components of Language (Something SLPs Know They Know!)
The Venn Diagram depicted here is very familiar to most SLPs. In fact, one of the first knowledges that students in communicative disorders acquire is that language is made up of three components – form, content, and use. Communicative competence is achieved when a speaker can manage all of these components so that he or she is able to convey an intended message effectively. In the event of a communicative breakdown, the SLP identifies whether the problem is one of form, content, or use – or some combination of these constructs. Once the problem is isolated, an intervention plan can be developed to target the area that is hindering the acquisition of communicative competence.
The Components of Reading (Something SLPs May Not Realize They Know!)
What many SLPs do not realize is that written language is made up of these same familiar three components – form, content and use. Consequently, the skills they possess in isolating and treating a disorder of oral language are just as appropriate when dealing with problems related to written language – literacy!
Form SLPS know that the components of language form can be broken down into several constituent parts. Specifically, oral language form includes phonology, morphology, and syntax. The same is true of written language – as described here.
Phonology Children’s knowledge of the sound system of language is of critical importance to their ability to move from oral language to a formal written system. Children who are unable to separate and manipulate the sounds of language will struggle with literacy tasks related to spelling, decoding, and forming sound/symbol relationships. Phonology, as it relates to reading, can be further broken down into three sub-skills:
Phonological Awareness is the ability to segment the stream of speech into individual components, such as identifying beginning sounds, counting sounds in a word, or matching sounds. SLPs worked in the area of phonological awareness long before this particular label came into vogue. “Ear training” and “auditory awareness” used in traditional articulation programs focused on helping children identify individual sounds in order to be able to correct a misarticulated phoneme. We taught (and often still teach) children to produce sounds first in isolation, then in syllables, then in various positions of words. We built word families around particular sounds and sound combinations – all skills that we now know assist children in becoming better readers and writers!
Phonological Working Memory is defined as the ability to store verbally presented information within the cognitive system long enough to be able to act on the information in a meaningful way. This skill is essential to the ability to blend sounds into words in that the individual must be able to hold all of the sounds in a word in their working memory long enough to form them into a meaningful whole. In the same way, the reader must be able to hold the meaning of all of the individual words within a sentence in memory at the same time in order to be able to comprehend the composite meaning of the sentence. Sentence meanings must also be held and blended to create meaning from paragraphs.
A number of researchers within the field of communicative disorders have posited that children with language disorders may have a deficit in phonological working memory – usually in the form decreased capacity - that makes it difficult for them to perform these tasks. Thus, children’s linguistic deficits are thought to be related more to deficits in their ability to hold and retain information in working memory than in their ability to learn language, per se. SLPs address this deficit by routinely modifying their verbal input so that it is less complex, presented with exaggerated stress, and/or presented more frequently so that children can process information more efficiently.
Phonological Naming – the rapid recall of labels for objects, colors, letters, etc.- is a necessary skill for matching phonemes to graphemes and for decoding and pronouncing words and word parts. Again, this is not a new concept to SLPs who have long provided intervention for individuals with “word finding” difficulties – that is, difficulty retrieving a verbal label stored in the cognitive system when presented with the visual stimuli. In this case, intervention often focuses on helping the student improve the efficiency of their retrieval methods through a variety of mnemonic strategies.
Morphology Just as in oral language, the morphology of reading is related to the reader’s knowledge of the internal structure of words. Understanding the use and meaning of constructs such as prefixes, suffices, tense markers and plural markers dramatically affects the reader’s ability to comprehend the written (as well as the oral) message. Spelling, word recognition, and vocabulary comprehension are all affected by the level of morphological understanding a reader has achieved. Obviously, this has long been a focus of intervention provided by SLPs for individuals with identified deficiencies in this area of oral language development.
Syntax A reader who does not understand the grammar of written sentences will demonstrate comprehension problems due to wasting valuable cognitive resources trying to decipher the vagaries of the syntactical constructs of the English language. Since written language syntax is merely the formal representation of oral language grammar – which SLPs have long included in their intervention repertoire – this is familiar territory!
Content Semantics, or knowledge of individual word meanings, is just as important to reading as it is to comprehending the spoken word. Good readers comprehend more of what they read because they know the meanings of more words than poor readers. In fact, vocabulary comprehension has been identified by the National Literacy Panel as one of the most important skills a child must develop in order to become a strong reader. SLPs already know this – which is why we spend a great deal of time helping children learn strategies to increase their oral vocabulary repertoires. Since children cannot comprehend written words that are not in their oral vocabulary, we realize that we have been supporting literacy skills all along!
Use Many people do not understand the importance of pragmatics to oral language, so it is not surprising that they don’t understand that readers must be able to identify the writer’s purpose and point of view in order to comprehend the written material successfully. Understanding narratives, conversations in text, double meaning words, slang, and other types of figurative language contribute greatly to the comprehension – or a lack of comprehension – of the author’s message. Just as the literal meanings of spoken words are not always the same as the speaker’s intentions (e.g., “shut up” used to indicate surprise rather than a request for the speaker to stop talking) so, too, do written words require that the reader consider the social context of a written message when deciphering its meaning.
Since language is by definition a social tool, practicing SLPs would be hard pressed to identify a part of their intervention that does not incorporate the pragmatic aspect of oral communication. Even the most drill-like aspects of traditional articulation therapy is geared toward the ultimate goal of increasing the individual’s ability to get his or her message across to a listener.
Putting it All Together Once an SLP understands that the same components of form, content, and use that make up oral language can be applied to written language, it becomes much easier to design intervention that supports the development of skills in both domains. Consequently, a slight shift in paradigm in which reading and writing becomes part of the overall goal is all it takes to provide meaningful contributions to the literacy focus that now permeates the educational environment.
To that end, a few ideas are provided here to help you use your knowledge of form, content, and use to support language and literacy as a common goal for your students. The bias of this author is to use books as the medium to accomplish this objective. After all, just as children learn to talk by talking, they learn to reading by reading. This philosophy, while not embraced by all, has led this author to come to be known by many as the “book lady” (one could be called worse!) and so I will not let you down here. The following are some of my favorite books for addressing each of the components discussed in this article to support the development of skills in both language and literacy. Enjoy!
FORM Phonological Awareness Ape in a Cape Fritz Eichenberg There’s an Ant in Anthony Bernard Most The Pig in the Spigot Richard Wilbur The War Between the Consonants and the Vowels Priscilla Turner Drat that Fat Cat (also working memory) Pat Thompson Word Wizard Cathryn Falwell
Phonological Working Memory – Choose progressive stories, such as: In a Napping House Audrey Wood Drummer Hoff Fired it Off Barbara Emberly The House that Jack Built Various versions available Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly Various versions available
Phonological Naming – Choose books with lots of detail, such as: Richard Scarry Books (Best Word Book Ever, Things that Go, Etc.) Imagine Alison Lester I Spy Series Hen Marzollo
Morphology and Syntax The Wind Blew (past tense) Pat Hutchins I Went Walking (present progressive) Sue Williams Millions of Cats (plural s) Wanda Gag Fortunately (impact of a prefix) Remy Charlip Nearly, Dearly, Insincerely (adverbs) Brian Cleary Hairy, Scary, Ordinary (adjectives) Brian Cleary Punctuation Takes a Vacation Robin Pulver
CONTENT
Choose books rich in vocabulary, such as: Dinosaur Roar (younger readers) Paul and Henrietta Strickland In the Small, Small Pond (younger readers) Denise Fleming Bears in Pairs (younger readers) Niki Yekai Click, Clack, Moo Doreen Cronin A Mink, a Fink, a Skating Rink Brian Cleary Two Bad Ants Chris Van Ahlsberg Miss Alaineus Debra Frasier
USE
Choose books with figurative language, double meanings, and social situations Eight Ate Marvin Terbin Quick as a Cricket Audrey Wood Mad as a Wet Hen Mara Terban You Can’t Judge a Book by it’s Cover Judith Scheinlin The King Who Rained Fred Gwynn How to Lose all of Your Friends Nancy Carlson Yo! Yes? Chris Raschka Tacky the Penguin Helen Lester
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