Literacy Intervention Strategies

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2015:

340 hours

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Description, Subject Objectives, Generic Skills and Assessment Requirements of this entry.

The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the disability support scheme can be found at the Disability Liaison website: http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

This subject reviews contemporary theories and explanations of learning disabilities in literacy and examines reading as an information processing process. It examines how fluent readers read; levels of fluent text processing, oral language knowledge during reading, using attention while reading, short term memory capacity, metacognitive aspects, readers' self perceptions of reading; learning to read; pre-literate developments phonological, orthographic and oral language development, parent-child shared reading experiences; developmental trends in metacognitive knowledge, self-efficacy as readers and the attribution of success and failure. Reading difficulties are explored in terms of the information processing developmental frameworks: types of reading disabilities, verbal-linguistic explanations of reading disability, memory processes and reading disabilities, verbal-linguistic explanations of reading disability, memory processes and reading disabilities, motivation to read difficulties; visual explanations of reading disability, relevant neurological explanations and the implications for diagnosis and intervention; literacy diagnostic pathway. Procedures for engaging readers in the assessment process are explored; describing, analysing, explaining and reporting reading disabilities. Implementation of a reading intervention is examined: relevant prose reading strategies, the oral language knowledge, memory retrieval and verbal reasoning strategies necessary to support reading, teaching orthographic knowledge and individual word reading.

On completion of this subject students should be able to

• identify the processes involved in fluent reading and use these to describe reading disabilities;
• identify the developmental trends to acquiring literacy knowledge and use these to explain and diagnose reading difficulties and to implement effective teaching;
• identify the causes of different types of reading disability (psycholinguistic, information processing, phonological, cognitive, metacognitive) and the implications of these for diagnosis and teaching;
• evaluate procedures for diagnosing and reporting literacy difficulties, implement a diagnostic program; describe, analyse and explain reading disabilities, select the appropriate assessment procedures, use dynamic assessment procedures, integrate diagnostic information from a range of sources;
• develop integrated learning support programmes for students who have reading disabilities that include teaching systematically reading strategies at the pre-, while and post-reading phases, orthographic and phonological knowledge and positive self efficacy and attitudes to reading.
• identify the characteristics of successful literacy instructional programs according to particular literacy learning disabilities, evaluate the effectiveness of literacy education programs intended for use with students who have learning difficulties in literacy and
• develop and implement education programmes that are supported by current research.

3 written assignments, 2,000 words each (33.3 per cent each assignment)

Attendance at all classes (tutorial/seminars/practical classes/lectures/labs) is obligatory. Failure to attend 80% of classes will normally result in failure in the subject.

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.