In recent years, the role and responsibilities of speech-language pathologists with regards to reading have expanded. There has been an impetus for speech-language pathologists to collaborate, advocate, assess, design programs, and provide reading intervention to students with language impairments (ASHA, 2010). This drive is due to the knowledge and skills that speech-language pathologists possess in the area of language development and its effect on reading. However, much of the research has focused on reading in preschool to elementary grades, with limited research of explicit training of basic reading skills in secondary students with language and reading impairments (Scarborough et al., 1989; Swanson, 2008). The purpose of this study was to determine if explicit training in sight word recognition and phonemic awareness affect oral reading fluency (ORF) skills in high school students with language impairments. The primary dependent variable was the measurement of ORF, determined by words read per minute and reading accuracy. The secondary dependent variables were the measurement of phonemic awareness in the areas of vowel blending, sound segmentation, and sound blending skills. The investigation was conducted over a four-week period, for 45 minutes each session, with an A-B single case research design. Participants were explicitly trained in two areas during each session and a skill was discontinued when the participant scored greater than 80% accuracy on probing over two consecutive sessions. The investigation was conducted in a high school setting, with four participants, all diagnosed with a specific learning disability, due to deficits in basic reading and math skills, as their primary disability. Participant A was a 16-year-old African American female with moderate speech-language disability secondary to her specific learning disability. Participant B was a 17-year-old Pacific Islander female, also diagnosed with a moderate speech-language impairment secondary to the specific learning disability. Participant C was a 15-year-old African American male who had a history of speech-language impairment and participant D was a 19-year-old White Hispanic male, who also had a history of speech-language impairment. Although both participant C and D were not currently receiving speech therapy services, both had a history of a moderate speech-language impairment in the area of language comprehension skills. Overall findings revealed increase in percent accuracy during oral reading fluency tasks, suggesting that explicit training in basic reading skills, both in sight words and phonemic awareness skills, may increase oral reading fluency skills in high school students with reading and language impairments.
Keywords: phonemic awareness, sound segmentation, phonemic blending, reading, adolescent language, reading impairments, language impairments, oral reading fluency, vowel blending
