An Investigation of the Effects of Using Plays for Echo Reading on Oral Reading Behavior and Acquisition of Sight Vocabulary for a Group of Disabled Second Grade Readers

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to investigate what effect a reading program using a multi-sensory approach would have on the oral reading behavior of a group of eight second grade children who were reading at least six months below grade level. The investigator hypothesized that the use of multi-sensory materials, specifically Plays for Echo Reading, would significantly improve the sight vocabulary, as measured by the Fry Li.st of 600 Instant Words, of the subjects, and would significantly improve the accuracy and rate of reading as measured by the Gray Oral Reading Test.

Twenty three children were used in the study. There were three groups, two experimental, and one control. Of the experimental groups, one was instructed from Plays for Echo Reading, and the other from the Grolier Creative Reading Program. The control group received no special treatment.

Hypotheses were formulated and stated in null form. The null hypothesis (H0) is a hypothesis that implies no difference. It is devised by the investigator for the specific purpose of being rejected. If it is rejected, an alternate hypothesis (H1), which is an operational statement of the investigator's research hypothesis, may then be accepted. (Siegel, 1956) The following null hypotheses were therefore formulated and applied to the adjusted mean.

Hypothesis I (H0): There is no significant difference in the Gray Oral Reading Test mean passage scores across three experimental groups which have been adjusted for group differences in I.Q. and pre-test scores on the Gray Oral Reading Test.

Hypothesis II (H0): There is no significant difference in the Fry List of 600 Instant Words mean scores across two experimental groups which have been adjusted for group differences in I.Q. and pre-test scores on the Fry List of 600 Instant Words.

Hypothesis III (H0): There is no significant difference in the Fry List of 600 Instant Words and the Grolier List of 71 Words mean scores across two experimental groups which have been adjusted for group differences in I.Q. and pre-test scores on the two word lists.