Comparison of the Effects of Spanish and English Constant Time Delay Instruction on Sight Word Reading by Hispanic Learners with Mental Retardation

Abstract

This study investigated the effectiveness and efficiency of a 4-second time delay instructional package and language of instruction with regard to the percentage correct of English sight words and incidental information by 4 Puerto Rican middle school students with mental retardation. A multiple probe across students with a parallel treatments design that compared Spanish and English constant time delay intervention conditions was employed to teach sight words from local grocery and department stores. Incidental information was provided contingent on correct responding during intervention. Results indicated that both Spanish and English time delay conditions were equally effective and efficient when compared with a no-treatment condition in promoting English sight word reading for 3 of the 4 participants, whereas Spanish time delay was seen to be more effective and efficient than English time delay and no-treatment conditions for the other participant. All 4 participants generalized word reading from the classroom to the natural setting (i.e., stores in the community) and learned most of the incidental information. Implications for practice and directions for future research with respect to language of instruction are discussed.

Multimedia Shared Stories for Diverse Learners with Moderate Intellectual Disability

“…As for Hispanic English language learners with moderate ID, suggestions from the literature are mixed. The results from the current study provide mixed outcomes compared to studies by Rohena et al (2002) and Rivera et al (2012). Rohena et al found no difference in language of instruction when teaching sight words to three out of four Hispanic middle school English language learners with moderate ID.…”

“…This suggestion supports best practices for typically developing English language learners (August & Hakuta, 1997;Cline & Neochea, 2003;Cummins, 2000;Garcia & C. Baker, 1995;Gersten & S. Baker;Slavin & Cheung, 2005). However, the literature on the incorporation of primary language instruction during instructional activities is scarce for English language learners with ID (e.g., Rivera et al, 2012;Rohena et al, 2002). The degree to which the incorporation of the primary language of instruction can influence academic gains for this population remains an empirical question without a clear answer.…”

“…For example, all three studies provide mixed results for language of instruction, but each study had varying interventions. Rohena et al (2002) used CTD; Rivera et al (2012) used explicit instruction, more specifically a model-lead-test procedure; and the current study used an MSS with a CTD procedure.…”

A National Survey of the Educational Planning and Language Instruction Practices for Students with Moderate to Severe Disabilities Who are English Language Learners

“…The participants displayed better performance on selected tasks (i.e., filing and sorting) with the use of primary language instruction rather then English-only instruction. More recently, Rohena, Jitendra, and Browder (2002) conducted a single subject research study involving four Puerto Rican students with mental retardation whose primary language was Spanish. Using constant time delay instruction in both Spanish and English, the researchers compared sight word vocabulary acquisition across both treatment conditions.…”

The Effects of an iPad® Multimedia Shared Story Intervention on Vocabulary Acquisition for an English Language Learner

“…While the primary purpose of the study was to investigate the impact of the iPad intervention package on the acquisition of picture nouns, this study differed from others in the past (Rivera, 2013;Rivera et al, 2012;Rohena, Jitendra, & Browder, 2002) that looked at improving vocabulary acquisition for English language learners with moderate ID. For example, Rohena et al compared English and Spanish instruction to teach English sight words to middle school English language learners with moderate ID.…”