Literacy and the SLP
Submitted by

• Terri Farnham - tfarnham@mt-vernon.k12.oh.us
       Bio & Photo
• Barb Conrad - Manager - conrad@esclc.org

The Speech-Language-Pathologists Role
in Literacy Education in Ohios Schools

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to that particular section of the guidline.

Literacy Home

What knowledge and skills do speech-language pathologists bring to literacy education?

SLPs are language specialists, and language is part of almost every cognitive and communicative act taken by a person. Language is integrally involved in reading, writing, and academic achievement. (Ukrainetz and Fresquez, 2003)

The link between language learning and reading has been well established. As experts in language development, learning, and disorders, what role should school-based Speech-Language Pathologists play in reading instruction and intervention?

REFERENCES

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Resources and Guidelines

• Build and reinforce relationships between early spoken language and early pre-literacy abilities and consider influences of parent-child interactions in early shared storybook interactions
• Address difficulties involving phonological awareness, memory, and retrieval
• Teach children to use tactile-kinesthetic and auditory cues in reading and writing
• Analyze how the language demands of textbooks, academic talk, and curriculum may stress a student's capabilities at different age and grade levels; and
• Conduct fine-grain analyses of written language, including spelling, to generate intervention that matches the needs of individual students.

Literacy Basics

The crisis in literacy: How SLPs can help (ASHA public access)

Literacy: SLPs Play a Pivotal Role (ASHA public access)

Knowledge and Skills needed by SLPs with respect to literacy (ASHA public access)

More Knowledge and Skills (ASHA public access)

Literacy basics from ASHA (public access)

ASHA tip sheets (public access) Parent-Friendly Materials

• Back to School: Language and Learning
• SLP Role in Literacy
• Emergent Literacy

National Reading Panel

Many FREE publications, including:

Put Reading First: The Research Building Blocks for Teaching Children to Read (September 2001)

Put Reading First : Helping Your Child Learn to Read (September 2001)

Online video resource: Teaching Children to Read

Teaching Children to Read: An Evidence-Based Assessment of Scientific Research Literature on Reading and Its Implication for Reading Instruction

National Institute for Literacy

Publications:Resources for parents, teachers and community members related to early childhood, childhood, adolescent and adult literacy. ALL FREE!

Adolescent Literacy

Feel that you need to know more?

Continuing Education on Literacy Topics for Speech-Language Pathologists:

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association

Speechpathology.com

Ohio Masters Network Initiative in Education (OMNIE)

Reading Rockets Professional Development podcasts and videos online

REFERENCES

Phonemic Awareness

Phonemic Awareness, according to the National Reading Panel, is one of two indicators that are highly predictive of future reading success (the second is letter knowledge). Speech-Language Pathologists training uniquely prepares them to address issues of developing phonemic and phonologic awareness. Knowledge of the articulation process, and the phonologic structures of English are vital when considering how best to teach children to hear and analyze sounds in words, particularly children at risk. The basic concepts of intervention strategies used to teach the sound system to children with phonological disorders, such as the use of minimal pairs, may be effectively applied for students learning to analyze the sounds in a word. This specialized knowledge makes SLPs vital consultants when educational teams plan intervention for students.

What is phonological awareness?

What is phonemic awareness (PA)?

What are the component skills?

Why is phonemic awareness important?

What does the research say?

Phonemic Awareness Assessment

Free materials:

Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS)

Phonemic Awareness is assessed in this curriculum-based measure by Initial Sound Fluency for kindergarteners, or, in kindergarten and first grade, by a one-minute probe of Phoneme Segmentation Fluency. Materials for this assessment are free for registered users.

Reading A-Z

Phonological and Phonemic Awareness Instruction and Intervention

Phonemic Awareness Instruction defined by the National Reading Panel Report:

Instruction in phonemic awareness (PA) involves teaching children to focus on and manipulate phonemes in spoken syllables and words.

Online Resources:

Schuele, et al. ASHA Presentation

REFERENCES

Phonics

Phonics Instruction defined by the National Reading Panel:

Phonics Instruction is a way of teaching reading that stresses the acquisition of letter-sound correspondences and their use in reading and spelling.

Approaches to Teaching Phonics: (National Reading Panel Report)

Analogy PhonicsTeaching students unfamiliar words by analogy to known words (e.g., recognizing that the rime segment of an unfamiliar word is identical to that of a familiar word, and then blending the known rime with the new word onset, such as reading brick by recognizing that -ick is contained in the known word kick, or reading stump by analogy to jump).

Analytic PhonicsTeaching students to analyze letter-sound relations in previously learned words to avoid pronouncing sounds in isolation.

Embedded PhonicsTeaching students phonics skills by embedding phonics instruction in text reading, a more implicit approach that relies to some extent on incidental learning.

Phonics through SpellingTeaching students to segment words into phonemes and to select letters for those phonemes (i.e., teaching students to spell words phonemically).

Synthetic PhonicsTeaching students explicitly to convert letters into sounds (phonemes) and then blend the sounds to form recognizable words.

Phonics and decoding are sometimes used interchangeably. Learn the importance of decoding here at Reading Rockets.

What are the Knowledge and Skills a Speech-Language Pathologist has that will contribute to effective instruction and intervention for students struggling with the alphabetic principle (phonics)?

As with phonological and phonemic awareness, the Speech-Language Pathologist brings unique and specialized knowledge of speech development, sound production, sequencing, coarticulation, and phonological processes which can provide crucial information when applied to analysis of childrens decoding (reading) and encoding (writing) errors. Specific error types are often closely tied to the actual articulation process, and the Speech-Language Pathologists understanding of that process may shed light on what instruction methods and sequence of instruction may be most appropriate for a particular student.

REFERENCES

Text Comprehension

Beyond phonology, SLPs have knowledge of morphological, syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic systems, which also are crucial for reading comprehension and written expression. They understand the theories, principles, and developmental expectations for these systems through the school years. With their knowledge of spoken-language development, SLPs can then analyze how the advancing language demands of textbooks (Scott, 1994), academic talk (Sturm & Nelson, 1997), and curriculum may stress a student's capabilities.

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (2001). Roles and Responsibilities of Speech-Language Pathologists With Respect to Reading and Writing in Children and Adolescents [Technical Report]. Available from http://www.asha.org/docs/html/GL2001-00062.html

Knowledge and Skills of SLPs (ASHA)

Summary of Narrative Assessment and Syntactic Knowledge (pp. 101-104) Speech-Language Guidelines for Schools, Kansas Department of Education

Speech-Language Guidelines for Schools, Kansas State Department of Education (2005). Retrieved April 20, 2008.

SLPs' Foundation Role in Reading Comprehension. ASHA Leader 8/14/2007

REFERENCES

Fluency

What is fluency?

Fluency, Comprehension, and Teaching Strategies

Fluency: Review of Developmental and Remedial Practices

Assessing Fluency

DIBELS Oral Reading Fluency

Fluency Assessment Strategies, Instructional Techniques, and Interventions by Dr. Tim Rasinski

REFERENCES

Vocabulary

Orally tested vocabulary at the end of first grade is a significant predictor of reading comprehension 10 years later. (Cunningham, A.E., & Stanovich, K.E. (1997).

Evidence to Practice: New Findings from School-based Language Intervention Research (ASHA Convention, 2004)

Issues in Vocabulary Development
Types of Vocabulary Instruction
Levels of Language Abstraction
Selecting Vocabulary to Teach
Word Analysis
Metacognitive Strategies

Building Vocabulary for Language and Reading (ASHA Convention, 2007)
(downloaded July 21, 2010 from www.asha.org)

Presentation by Judy Montgomery
Identifies Tiers of Vocabulary
Instructional Strategies

REFERENCES

Resources for Parents and Families

National Information Center for Children and Youth with Disabilities

National Institute for Literacy (Adult Literacy)

Santa Monica (CA) Public Library Emergent Literacy Page

Dont overlook your local library!

ASHA Resources

Back-to-School Language and Learning

Emergent Literacy

REFERENCES

Comparing Speech-Language Pathologist and Teacher Roles in Literacy Instruction

Based upon their knowledge of development, linguistic processing, and multisensory instruction, speech-language pathologists can help teachers disseminate content knowledge to students with different learning profiles. Recognizing that teachers are the content experts, SLPs should recognize and be recognized that they are content delivery experts. (emphasis added).

Ukrainetz, T.A, and Fresquez, E. F. (2003). What isnt language? A qualitative study of the role of the school speech-language pathologist. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 34, 284-298. Retrieved April 19, 2008 from http://lshss.asha.org/cgi/reprint/34/4/284.pdf Used by permission.

Literacy: SLPs Play a Pivotal Role (ASHA public access)

REFERENCES