Teacher Education, Educational Leadership & Policy ETDs

Publication Date

8-1-1968

Abstract

The study was designed to determine the reading achievement of children for whom English is a second language. The children involved in the study were from two distinct groups of non-English speaking children, those from Spanish-speaking families and those from Navajo families. The children were tested at the end of second grade by standardized reading achievement tests designed to measure reading vocabulary and comprehension. The study was based on the question, "Is there any difference in the reading achievement at the end of second grade for non-English speaking children who have been taught to read through a reading program based on linguistic principles and similar children who have been taught to read through a conventional basal reading program?" The Spanish-speaking sample consisted of children from the West Las Vegas Public School System and Armijo Elementary in Albuquerque. The experimental group was comprised of all the second-grade children with Spanish surnames from the West Las Vegas Public School System who had received two years of reading instruction using the Miami Linguistic Reading Program. The control group was made up of similar children from Armijo Elementary who had received two years of reading instruction using a conventional basal reading program. The Spanish-speaking sample was tested by the Gates­MacGinitie Reading Test, Primary B. The Navajo sample involved children from Navajo Elementary School in Navajo, New Mexico and from Thoreau Elementary School at Thoreau, New Mexico. The experimental group was comprised of all the second grade Navajo children from Navajo Elementary who had received two years of reading instruction using the Miami Linguistic Reading Program. The control group was made up of all the second grade Navajo children at Thoreau Elementary who had received two years of reading instruction using a conventional basal program. The Navajo sample was tested by the Reading Section of the California Achievement Tests, Form W., Lower Primary, Grades 1 and 2. Comparisons made by means of an analysis of variance indicated a significant difference in favor of the experimental group in the Spanish-speaking sample. In the Navajo sample, the control group scored somewhat higher than the experimental group, however, the difference was not statistically significant. Comparisons were also made between the boys and girls of each group and between the same sexes of each sample. Results comparing boys in the Spanish-speaking sample indicated a significant difference in favor of the experimental boys in comprehension. The difference was significant at the .01 level. Results obtained by comparing girls in the Spanish-speaking sample indicated a significant difference in favor of the experimental girls in comprehension. The difference was significant at the .05 level only. The results obtained from comparing boys and girls of the Spanish­-speaking control group indicated a significant difference in favor of the girls in comprehension at the .01 level. All other results of the comparisons made were not statistically significant. A two-way analysis of variance indicated no significant interaction between treatment and sex.

Document Type

Thesis

Language

English

Degree Name

Elementary Education

Level of Degree

Masters

Department Name

Teacher Education, Educational Leadership & Policy

First Committee Member (Chair)

Miles Vernon Zintz

Second Committee Member

David Wayne Darling

Third Committee Member

Leroy Condie

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