Graduation Date

12-2017

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department or Program

Education

Department or Program Chair

Elizabeth Truesdell PhD

First Reader

Suresh Appavoo, EdD

Second Reader

Jennifer Lucko, PhD

Abstract

Early Childhood Special Education provides services to children aged three to five years. A predominant identifier is very low communication skills (Shevell, et al, 2003; Kaiser & Roberts, 2011; Robertson & Ohi, 2016). Dialogic Reading techniques have demonstrated successes in various settings (Hargrave & Senechal, 2000; Whitehurst et al., 1988; Trivette & Dunst, 2009). The rationale for this study was grounded in Rogoff’s, “apprenticeship in thinking” (1990, p. 7) theory. The research literature reviewed centered on three primary lines of inquiry namely, 1) The social aspect of language learning; 2) Speech and language interventions; and 3) Dialogic reading strategies. This study utilized the qualitative case method approach. Data for the study was collected during a four week period of in-class intervention. Data analysis from the study revealed that the intervention using a dialogic reading strategy enabled the participants to increase their learning, use of expressive vocabulary, and the complexity, use of multiword phrases.

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