Oral narrative and culturally relevant literacy instruction for Hmong-speaking English language learners

Thesis (M.S., Speech Pathology)--California State University, Sacramento, 2013.Research has demonstrated the overlapping and intertwining relationship between oral language, oral narrative, and developing literacy skills, as well as the importance of cultural relevance in English Language Learner (ELL instruction). The purpose of this study was to examine and compare the effects of oral narratives as a component of intervention programs for an understudied, but growing group: Hmong-speaking ELLs.\ud The data analyzed to address the stated research questions were obtained through research completed for a dissertation entitled Response to Intervention and Literacy: A Bright Spot for Hmong Speaking English Language Learners? by Robert A. Pieretti. Dr. Pieretti is a California licensed and credentialed speech-language pathologist with thirteen years of work experience as a Language, Speech, and Hearing Specialist in Public Schools in Northern California. He maintains a Clinical or Rehabilitative Services Credential in Speech-Language Pathology with a Special Class Authorization, a California Clinical Rehabilitative Services Credential, and a Certificate of Clinical Competence with the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. As Principal Investigator, he led a research team that examined literacy instruction for first grade Hmong- speaking ELLs exhibiting difficulties with reading and the possible benefits that RTI programs may provide to these students. The participants were seen at four Title1 schools in an urban, inner-city school district in Northern California. Each participant was a first grade student between six and seven years old whose primary language was Hmong and who spoke English as a second language. Participants in each of the three treatment groups participated in two or three group sessions (3 or 4 students per group), depending on the week, for the last seven weeks of school for a total of 19 sessions. Each group was comprised of students with differing levels of English proficiency, and sessions were scheduled so that participants did not miss any of the language arts instruction in their general education classroom. Session length varied by group. Literacy Enhancement Group (LEG) sessions were approximately 25 minutes in length, Oral Narrative Literacy Enhancement Group (ONLEG) sessions were approximately 40 minutes in length, and Culturally Relevant Literacy Enhancement Group (CRONLEG) sessions were approximately 45 minutes in length.\ud Speech-Language Pathologists and Special Education teams may wish to consider developing RTI programs that incorporate some of the methods in Pieretti???s study that appeared to be most successful in improving literacy skills for ELLs with language-based reading difficulties. These include contextualized, language rich oral narrative activities combined with explicit phonological awareness training, targeted contextualized comprehension activities that include interactive story presentations with a vocabulary emphasis, open-ended discussion of the text including scaffolded follow-up questions that encourage elaboration and build meaning, and story retell activities that involve identification and discussion of critical story elements and events. While Pieretti???s study also included a specific culturally-relevant component, it was concluded that cultural relevance may be more efficiently promoted by encouraging students??? engagement with the text, the instructor, and each other through oral narrative activities.Speech Patholog