Alfabetização e letramento : o discurso e as compreensões de professores da educação infantil

A inquietação fundamental desta investigação foi entender como as professoras da educação infantil se expressam e compreendem a alfabetização e letramento. As categorias eleitas foram alfabetização e letramento, educação infantil e discurso. O referencial teórico teve como principais autores: Ferreiro (1985, 1987, 1988, 1993, 2003), Kramer (1995, 2008, 2010), Soares (1998, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010), Machado (2004), Oliveira (2005), Rosemberg (2002, 2003), Zabalza (1998), Fairclough (2001, 2008), Iñiguez (2004), Orlandi (1994, 2005), Dijk (2004) e Henry (1997). A investigação foi conduzida com cem professoras da educação infantil, e dez professoras que lecionam no Infantil II, última etapa da educação infantil, em seis instituições de ensino da cidade de Garanhuns, Pernambuco, Brasil. Procedeu-se à aplicação de um questionário adaptado e validado às professoras de todas as etapas da educação infantil e uma entrevista semiestruturada às professoras do Infantil II. A análise dos dados quantitativos foi realizada por meio do programa SPSS 18.0; enquanto a análise dos dados qualitativos foi orientada pela análise de discurso na linha francesa. Os resultados evidenciaram a relevância, dada pelas professoras, aos processos de alfabetização e letramento na educação infantil. Todavia emergiu da opinião e do discurso de algumas professoras, apesar dessas demonstrarem afinidades com os conceitos e aplicabilidade dos processos de alfabetização e letramento, insegurança, dificuldade e contradições ao refleti-los, ora como processos distintos ora como imbricados entre si.

Alleviation of voice difficulties in adults

This paper discusses methods of therapy for voice disorders in adults.

The social difficulties children encounter transitioning from a self-contained deaf education program into a general education program

This study examines the difficulties, particularly social, a child who is deaf/hard of hearing encounters transitioning from a self-contained program into the general education setting. The information gathered was used to create a children's story as a helpful tool.

An examination of cued speech as a tool for language, literacy, and bilingualism for children who are deaf or hard of hearing

This study examines the purpose and uses of Cued Speech, its benefits and limitations, and its effectiveness as a tool for language, literacy, and bilingualism.

Diagnosis of the difficulties of congenitally deaf children in arithmetic reasoning

This paper examines the difficulties of arithmetic reasoning of hearing impaired children and to determine the value of remedial teaching.

Literature, literacy and the discourses of English teaching: a case study

This article examines the discourses of English teaching, and their implications for subject and literacy teaching and learning. Case study evidence is presented to illustrate the ways in which competing discourses are enacted in the classroom. We argue the need to critically examine the educational value of teacher discourses, which have an important impact on instructional practices and the quality of pupils' learning.

Shaping literacy in the secondary school: policy, practice and agency in the age of the national literacy strategy

This article examines the definitions of literacy in operation in secondary schools, and the relationship between official literacy policy and the practices of the agents responsible for implementing this policy. We trace the history of national policy back to the Language Across the Curriculum movement of the 1970s as it provides an illustrative point of comparison with the first five years of the National Literacy Strategy. Drawing on empirical data which illuminate the views, perceptions and practices of key agents on a number of levels, we critically review the concept of 'school literacy' promoted in government policy, defining it as 'school-centric literacy' and question its ability to facilitate participation in the practices associated with the media and technological literacies which are increasingly a feature of school life. There is evidence of some unplanned effects of the current national policy but also that levels of agency, for literacy teachers in particular, may be rapidly diminishing.

Preliterate phonological awareness and early literacy skills in Turkish

The role of preschool phonological awareness in early reading and spelling skills was investigated in the transparent orthography of Turkish. Fifty-six preschool children (mean age=5.6 years) were followed into Grade 2 (mean age=7.6 years). While preschool phonological awareness failed to make any reliable contribution to future reading skills, it was the strongest longitudinal correlate of spelling skills measured at the end of Grades 1 and 2. Overall findings suggested that phonological awareness may be differentially related to reading and spelling, and that spelling is a more sensitive index of phonological processing skills. In this study, verbal short-term memory emerged as the most powerful and consistent longitudinal correlate of reading speed. This finding raised important questions about the component processes of reading speed, and the role of memory and morphosyntactic skills in an agglutinative and transparent orthography such as Turkish.

Literacy as a complex activity: deconstructing the simple view of reading

The Rose Review into the teaching of early reading recommended that the conceptual framework incorporated into the National Literacy Strategy Framework for Teaching – the Searchlights model of reading and its development – should be replaced by the Simple View of Reading. In this paper, we demonstrate how these two frameworks relate to each other, and show that nothing has been lost in this transformation from Searchlights to Simple View: on the contrary, much has been gained. That nothing has been lost is demonstrated by consideration of the underlying complexity inherent in each of the two dimensions delineated in the Simple View. That much has been gained is demonstrated by the increased understanding of each dimension that follows from careful scientific investigation of each. The better we understand what is involved in each dimension, the better placed we are to unravel and understand the essential, complex and continual interactions between each dimension which underlie skilled reading. This has clear implications for further improving the early teaching of reading.

Establishing a sexual identity: case studies of learners with autism and learning difficulties

The physical and emotional changes that occur in adolescence are part of the process of sexual maturity. These changes occur irrespective of ability and are often aligned with psychological and social factors. When the nature of a disability has an inherent limitation in social awareness, as is the case for individuals with autism, the achievement of personal sexual identity can become much more complex. Challenges in supporting individuals in this respect can be caused by the sensitive aspects of inappropriate behaviour, the abstract nature of teaching the topic, and the general reluctance on the part of parents and staff to discuss sexuality in individuals with disabilities. This article explores how a residential school addressed this gap. It provides details of how this need was met for seven students and the process undertaken to involve staff, parents and other stakeholders to establish ongoing support.