Wenjing Zheng & Erna Alant School teachers and students Paulo Tan, Lindsey Ogle, and Michael Verde Marwa Tagheb Erin Peabody Xuyang Cao Importance of special education teachers’ instructional language Current studies of special education teachers’ interaction with children with special needs Kim & Hupp (2005): cognitive disabilities Nind, Kellett,& Hopkins (2001): learning disabililies Dukmak (2010): comparison between special and general Wang, Bernas, & Eberhard (2001): severe language impairment Popich & Alant (1997): miscellaneous group What are the characteristics of special education teachers’ instructional language during one-on-one instruction? Are there any differences between the instructional language with students with mild language impairment and students with severe language impairment? Setting: two self-contained elementary special education classrooms Participants: Two special education teachers Facilitating participants: Two students with mild language impairment Two students with severe language impairment Classroom Participants Facilitating participants #1 Teacher: Bachelor 7 years of teaching, ABA licensed Child (severe): Grade K; ASD; non-verbal; one-step instruction Teacher: Bachelor 28 years of teaching Child (severe):Cognitive; Grade K; non-verbal; one-step instruction #2 Child (mild):Grade 1; Cognitive; utterances +3; answer wh-; read 30 sight words Child (mild): Grade 1; ASD; utterances +2; answer wh-; follow two-step instructions Recorded session: “Teacher work” Audio recording: 10 sessions (15-25 minutes) for each student Nvivo: coding of the characteristics of teachers’ instructional language -Sentence type -Sentence function -Level of cognitive demands Inter-rater reliability Sentence type: 100% Sentence function: 80.0% Level of cognitive demands: 73.3% Sentence type Example Declarative It is a rubber bear! Exclamatory That is awesome! Imperative Put the horse in the box. Interrogative Are you ready for your first sentence? Language function Repeated instruction Want ball! Ball! Affirming Yes, it is a red horse. Attention directing My turn. Greeting Hi, how are you today? Imitating Twenty two Informative The bear is jumping! Negating Not so much! Praising Excellent job! Questioning What do we need first? Requesting Show me jumping! Cognitive level Matching perception Show me the dog. Selective perception Can you show me the dog pushing? Reordering perception Baby sitting! Where are you sitting? Reasoning about perception Do they get stuck? Can it get down from the tree? T:Show me blue gloves. S: Blue. T:Those are red gloves. Can you show me some blue gloves? S: Blue gloves. T: Yes, there is sky. Sky is blue. Blue gloves. S: Blue gloves. Turn the page. T: Turn the page. You want to see the TV? OK, sit down. What do you see now? Can you see a baby? S: baby. T: What is that baby doing? Waving! Good job! T: Match cup! Matching cup! Good job! T: Put it in the basket. OK, my turn. T: Look! Match bowl. A little closer! Let’s try again. T: Match bowl. Matching bowl! Good job! Are you OK? T: Use your hands and eyes. Match cup. Let’s try again. You are very fast. T: Let’s practice cups three times, and we will move on. T: I am going to write some words and see if you know them. Are you ready for a test? S: Yeah! T:Good! I am going to start with a really hard one. Are you ready for a hard one? S: MOM T: “Mom”! Great! She is gonna be very happy. It is too easy for you. OK. How about this? S: YOU T: “You”! Yes, you know it. You are so smart! How about this one? S: BOY T: “Boy”! That’s right! (name) Am I a boy? No? Who is a boy in our class? Who? Is Karla a boy? S: No. T: Want ball. Want ball. T: Good job signing! Want ball. Want ball. Orange ball. Do you put it under your shirt? T: Under shirt. Under shirt. There it is. Ball. Ball. T: Do you want ball? No? OK. Oh, want toys? OK. Let’s put some back. What would you like? T: Oh, what is this? Want dinosaur. Want dinosaur. That is a big hit today. T: Green dinosaur! Dinosaur! T: Ok, my turn. (name) My turn. Let’s take off the tokens. Thank you! Tokens off. Put it on the table. 45 40 35 30 Severe1 Mild1 Severe2 Mild2 25 20 15 10 5 0 Declarative Exclamatory Imperative Interrogative 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Severe1 Mild1 Severe2 Mild2 45 40 35 30 Severe1 Mild1 Severe2 Mild2 25 20 15 10 5 0 Matching Selective Reordering Reasoning Variation in the language use, patterns between two classroom are similar Difference between mind and severe Structured instruction with variation Common Core Essential Element for k-1 for communication: With guidance and support, to identify and retell, match similar information, and to state thoughts, feelings, and ideas. Method: audio recording; two classroom in one school strict No description of the Students language level and responses (matching between T and S) No focus on specifically how teachers modify their language in interaction between severe and mild 1. pre-instructional sections in “teacherwork” Social interaction Review and recap 2. post-instructional sections in “teacherwork” Raising questions Communicate with students and share thoughts Level of thinking subcategories Question starters Matching perception Identification, naming, counting What is this? What do you see? How many..? Who is..? Selective analysis of perception Details (color, shape, pattern), compare and contrast What shape is it? It is the same/different..? Is this one faster/better…? Reordering of perception Related information(relative position, function), referencing Can we use it to..? What…for? When…? Where…? Reasoning about perception Predict, reflect on, and integrate ideas What will happen to..? What…going to do next? Why … like it? Why …happen? If…., then…? How the coding and analysis of this study raise awareness of instructional language Whether teachers will spontaneously adjust their instruction (two directions) How teachers’ perceptions of the curriculum and students’ language level interact with their practice. Blank, M., Rose, S.A., & Berlin, L.J. (1978). The Language of Learning: The Preschool Years. London: Grune & Stratton, Ltd. Dukmak, S. (2010). Classroom interaction in regular and special education middle primary classrooms in the United Arab Emirates. British Journal of Special Education, 37(1), 39-48. Gregory, G. H., & Chapman, C. (2007). Differentiated Instructional Strategies: One Size Doesn’t Fit All. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. Kim, O., & Hupp, S. (2005). Teacher interaction styles and task engagement of elementary students with cognitive disabilities. Education and Training in Developmental Disabilities, 40, 293-308. Nind, M., Kellett, M., & Hopkins, V. (2001). Teachers’ talk styles: communicating with learners with severe and complex learning difficulties. Children Language Teaching and Therapy, 17(2), 145-159. Popich, E., & Alant, E. (1997). Interaction between a teacher and the non-speaking as well as speaking children in the classroom. The South African Journal of Communication Disorders, 44, 31-40. Wang, X., Bernas, R., & Eberhard, P. (2001). Effects of teachers’ verbal and nonverbal scaffolding on everyday classroom performances of students with Down Syndrome. International Journal of Early Years Education, 9(1), 71-80.