FERNALD INSTRUCTION WITH EMOTIONALLY HANDICAPPED NONREADERS

Abstract

The purpose of this descriptive study was to examine the effectiveness of the Fernald Kinesthetic Technique with a group of fourteen emotionally handicapped nonreaders ages 7 to 12. The Fernald Technique was chosen because it is a learner controlled, success oriented, structured, whole word, language arts approach to the teaching of reading. It was considered appropriate for use with emotionally handicapped students because it avoids stress, capitalizes on the student's own vocabulary, is highly motivating, provides tangible evidence of progress and avoids confrontation between learners and tasks they cannot perform. Only the first two of the four stages of the Fernald Technique were employed.;Two research questions were specified: (1) Is there a pattern which characterizes word learning behavior of fourteen emotionally handicapped nonreaders taught by the Fernald Techniques, Stages 1 and 2? Data was collected each session for each of the 18 word learning variables and subjected to factor analysis. (2) Is there a pattern of change in the behavior of emotionally handicapped nonreaders taught by the Fernald Kinesthetic Technique? Data was collected each session using the Myklebust Scale and subjected to an analysis of variance using repeated measures.;The Q factor analysis treated the subjects of the study as variables and determined that the 14 emotionally handicapped learners clustered together along a single dimension: word learning.;The analysis of variance with repeated measures found significant improvement for a majority of the behavior variables. Post hoc p.5 trend analysis indicated that while, non-functional behaviors of the children both increased and decreased during Stage I of the Fernald Technique, as the children reached Transition and Stage II the trend toward linearity increased.;The increases in the number of words learned in context, the number of new words learned, and the length of the original stories; the fact that all of the students reached Stage II and that 50 percent learned to work independently, as well as the significant decrease in the incident of non-functional behavior suggested that the 14 emotionally handicapped subjects who participated in this study achieved success not only in word learning but in the management of their behavior within the structure of the Fernald learning situation.