| Popis: |
Hearing loss adversely affects language and literacy development and reading difficulties of deaf and hard of hearing (d/Dhh) students are well documented by a large body of research. Effective instructional strategies that employ evidence-based strategies to support the reading development of d/Dhh students are required. Therefore, the purpose of this dissertation was to gather perceptions of experts related to evidence-based literacy practices and Visual Phonics. Two separate but related studies were conducted. Study 1 used a mixed-method design (survey and interviews) with Turkish special education faculty. Study 2 used a survey that was similar to Study 1 and was conducted with American experts whose area of expertise is reading and deafness. Purposeful sampling was utilized, and experts were contacted via email. The online surveys were opened for two months, and reminder emails were sent to increase response rates. Results showed that all five reading components of the National Reading Panel were found to be important for effective literacy instruction, and a variety of evidence-based practices based on the individual needs of students should be used. Focusing on blending and segmenting, morphological decoding, and teaching common spelling patterns were the most highly rated practices for phonemic awareness and phonics instruction. For fluency instruction, modeling fluent reading, repeated readings, and teaching self-monitoring and self-correction were the top-recommended practices. Additionally, best vocabulary practices were providing a language-rich environment to support indirect vocabulary learning, teaching word-learning strategies, and using multimedia approaches. Finally, the most recommended practices for reading comprehension instruction were metacognitive strategies, activating background knowledge, teaching story structure, question answering, and summarization.Turkish scholars had favorable (agree or strongly agree) attitudes toward Visual Phonics. They believe that Turkish adaptation of Visual Phonics may help students with disabilities to prevent or minimize early reading difficulties and, also, using Visual Phonics is appropriate for the Turkish educational system and across different student populations. In addition, qualitative findings from in-depth interviews revealed that Visual Phonics is expected to be effective for Turkish d/Dhh students and other students with disabilities as well as typically developing early readers. Interviewees stated that the Turkish educational system lacks effective evidence-based strategies, and any evidence-based practice, with adaptations, would be helpful.The present study also found that American experts believed that Visual Phonics is appropriate to use with d/Deaf and hard of hearing students, other students with disabilities, English Language Learners, typical students who are learning to read, children who are at-risk for reading failure, and elementary-aged students. Participants stated that Visual Phonics improves phonemic awareness, phonics, and spelling. It is easy to use and engages students. Participants remarked that teaching tips and strategies for Visual Phonics need to be based on the individual needs of students, but any fun and effective strategy for teaching phonemic awareness and phonics such as initial sound, segmenting, and blending can be used. |
