Mellom oss : scaffoldingstrategier i lesestund med elever som benytter alternativ og supplerende kommunikasjon

Abstract

Background

In this thesis I will focus on those students who use augmentative and alternative communication as a substitute to verbal speech. Much research has been done on the importance of interaction and communication on language development but only a small amount of that research is related to teaching strategies in that it focuses on students who use AAC. These students are at risk with regard to developing literacy difficulties and to being isolated from social contexts. In this manner they are to be considered a vulnerable group. The research in this field concerns itself with the interaction between parents and children. The findings show that children who communicate using AAC are often passive and rarely participate in interactions but when language encouraging strategies are used by the parents while storybook reading it seems to have a positive effect in that the child participates more in the activity. The aim of this study is to turn attention to the interaction between student and teacher in storybook reading situations, and how the use of scaffolding strategies in relation to Vygotsky`s theory of the zone of proximal development can influence the interaction, as well as the quality of student s language and participation level.

The approach to the problem

How can teachers use of scaffolding strategies in storybook reading influence interaction with students who communicate using AAC?

The focus is on how the use of scaffolding strategies can open for student participation and influence the quality of the language the children produces.

The method used

The study was carried out in San Francisco, USA, and is part of a larger research project at San Francisco State University. Four students and four teachers participated in this study. The students have little or no verbal speech but they are all cognitively within normal limits. They all communicate through voice output communication aids (VOCA) in addition to gestures, vocalizing and the use of signs. All of the students are also professorysically impaired. The storybook reading sessions were digitally videotaped and later transcribed in full. The sessions were analyzed and discussed with special emprofessorasis on scaffolding strategies, the levels of semantic complexity in the student's language and degree of student participation.

Analysis and findings

Storybook readings were found to be good situations for using scaffolding strategies. The teachers used scaffolding strategies to varying degrees. No single scaffolding strategy seemed to be the most successful. Rather it was the teachers ability to change strategies and combine several strategies that led the students to respond. There was a tendency towards the students participating more when the teachers used open-ended rather than yes/no questions, when the students were allowed time to formulate answers and when a response was expected.

Results

There are too few participants in the study to be able to generalize the findings but they do support other findings in research done on the interaction between parents and children in storybook readings. There is no doubt that students who communicate using AAC have a disability that makes interactions challenging. But these problems/obstacles must not be seen as standing alone. Rather the focus should be shifted towards how the teachers can influence the interaction and therefore, the student s participation and language development. The teachers who work with these students should be familiar with the general principles of communication and scaffolding strategies, how the use of these principles and strategies can influence the interaction. It is what happens between the teacher and the student, in the interaction, which gives rise to opportunities for language development.