Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-8kt4b Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-17T09:26:20.461Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Word processing and Written Composition: An Intervention for Children with Mild Intellectual Disability

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 February 2016

Maria Van der Kaay ,
Ken Wilton  and
Michael Townsend
Maria Van der Kaay
Affiliation:
University of Auckland
Ken Wilton*
Affiliation:
University of Auckland
Michael Townsend
Affiliation:
University of Auckland
*
Address for: Dr. Keri Wilton, School of Education, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland 1, New Zealan
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The effectiveness of word-processing as a supplementary written language intervention was examined in a sample of 14 children with mild intellectual disability. The children were enrolled in two special classes in an Auckland primary school. The study was initiated in the senior classroom (age-range 9–11 years), where a personal computer had been installed. In the initial week the children were taught to use a word-processing package, and for the next eight weeks, the children used the computer for daily writing activities. The computer was then shifted to the junior classroom (age-range 6–8 years), and after an initial 1-week period of learning to use the computer/software, the children used the computer for daily writing activities for the next four weeks. Samples of the children’s writing were collected over a 16-week period immediately prior to the introduction of the computer and immediately following the completion of the computer writing period. Each of the samples was subsequently rated on eight qualitative categories. Both classes showed significant improvements in the “organisation” of their writing, and the senior class also showed an increase in their “authority” as authors. The results suggest that use of a word-processing package can help to facilitate the written language development of children with mild intellectual disability

Type
Research Article
Information
Australasian Journal of Special Education , Volume 24 , Issue 2-3 , 2000 , pp. 53 - 59
Copyright
Copyright © The Australian Association of Special Education 2000

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bos, C. (1988). Process-Oriented Writing: Instructional Implications for Mildly Handicapped Students. Exceptional Children, 54, 521–527.Google Scholar
Cochran-Smith, M. (1991). Word Processing and Writing in Elementary Classrooms: A Critical Review of Related Literature. Review of Educational Research, 61, 107–155.Google Scholar
Daiute, C. (1985). Writing and Computers. Reading, MA: Addison Wesley.Google Scholar
Graves, D. (1983). Writing: Teachers and children at work. London: Heineman.Google Scholar
Hood, H. (1997). Left to write too. Auckland: Berkley Curriculum Publishing.Google Scholar
MacArthur, C. (1988). The impact of computers on the writing process. Exceptional Children, 54, 536–542.Google Scholar
MacArthur, C. (1996). Using technology to enhance the writing processes of students with learning disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities. 29, 344–354.Google Scholar
MacMillan, D., Keogh, B., & Jones, R. (1986). Special education research on mildly handicapped learners. In Wittrock, M. (Ed.), Handbook of Research in Teaching (3rd ed.) (pp. 686–724). New York: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Mander, R., Wilton, K., Townsend, M., & Thomson, P. (1995). Personal computers and process writing: A written language intervention for deaf children. The British Journal of Educational Psychology, 65, 441–453.Google Scholar
Ministry of Education. (1992). Dancing with the pen: The learner as a writer. Wellington: Learning Media.Google Scholar
Morocco, C., & Neuman, S. (1986). Acquisition of writing strategies. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 19, 243–247.Google Scholar
Philips, D. (1986). Writing with a Word Processor. SET: Research Information for Teachers. No 2, Item 6. Google Scholar