Multimedia Shared Stories for Diverse Learners with Moderate Intellectual Disability

Abstract

In recent years, there has been an increase in literature related to the development of literacy skills for students with intellectual disability (ID). By the same token, literature on ways to improve literacy skills for English language learners also has grown. Despite these advancements within the literature little is known about effective practices for English language learners with ID, specifically those who are Hispanic. The purpose of this study was to examine the comparative effects of an English and Spanish multimedia shared story intervention, with a constant time delay procedure, on the acquisition of English vocabulary for two English language learners with moderate ID. Instruction was provided to students for two weeks, lasting approximately 7-11 minutes per session. Results from the study suggested that language of instruction played an important role in English vocabulary acquisition. Results also indicated that language of instruction did not have a meaningful impact on generalization and maintenance of vocabulary for both conditions over time. Finally, teachers reported that multimedia shared stories were practical and a useful supplement for literacy instruction.

Computer‐assisted vocabulary instruction for students with disabilities: Evidence from an effect size analysis of single‐subject experimental design studies

“…Five studies (Cullen, Keesey, Alber‐Morgan, & Wheaton, ; Herbert & Murdock, ; Hilton‐Prillhart, Hopkins, Skinner, & McCane‐Bowling, ; Mechling & Gast, ; Musti‐Rao, Lo, & Plati, ) included students with high‐incidence disabilities (e.g., learning disabilities) and students at risk. Students with low‐incidence disabilities (e.g., developmental disabilities, autism spectrum disorder, and moderate intellectual disabilities) were included in eight studies (Bosseler & Massaro, ; Cazzell et al, ; Crowley et al, ; Ganz et al, ; Lee & Vail, ; Rivera et al, ; Rivera, Hudson, Weiss, & Zambone, ; van der Meer et al, ).…”

“…Compared with vocabulary words in reading instruction that are mostly unknown or unfamiliar words, sight word is defined as the word “that can be both read and spelled within 2 seconds” (May, , p. 113) such as no, stop, or come back; students are more likely asked to remember the sight words by sight as a whole. Sight word vocabulary was the dependent variable in five (i.e., Cazzell et al, ; Crowley et al, ; Cullen et al, ; Hilton‐Prillhart et al, ; Musti‐Rao et al, ) studies, and content vocabulary was the dependent variable in eight studies (i.e., Bosseler & Massaro, ; Ganz et al, ; Herbert & Murdock, ; Lee & Vail, ; Mechling & Gast, ; Rivera et al, ; Rivera et al, ; van der Meer et al, ). Rivera et al () measured the number of English and Spanish words correct after implementing CAI both in English and Spanish.…”

“…For three studies (Ganz, Boles, Goodwyn, & Flores, ; Herbert & Murdock, ; Rivera, Spooner, Wood, & Hicks, ) that used alternating treatment design, two studies (Herbert & Murdock, ; Rivera et al, ) included a baseline phase; Ganz et al () included nontreatment condition that was same as baseline. To represent the overall PND for each study coded, an arithmetic mean of all participants' PND was calculated.…”

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

“…For example, Rohena et al compared English and Spanish instruction to teach English sight words to middle school English language learners with moderate ID. Rivera et al (2013; conducted similar studies. English and Spanish instruction was used to teach English vocabulary to English language learners with moderate ID using a multimedia shared story intervention and PowerPoint intervention, respectively.…”

“…Videos embedded in the story had their own page so participants could engage in discussion about the media content presented. Similar to the materials used by Rivera et al (2013), books were created based on themes of collective vocabulary that were missed during a preassessment provided to Carlos prior to the intervention. After themes were developed, two books were written in English and translated into Spanish.…”