title: Language delays, reading delays, and learning difficulties: interactive elements requiring multidimensional programming.
abstract: Researchers have hypothesized four levels of instructional dialogue and claimed that teachers can improve children's language development by incorporating these dialogue levels in their classrooms. It has also been hypothesized that enhancing children's early language development enhances children's later reading development. This quasi-experimental research study investigated both of these hypotheses using a collaborative service delivery model for Grade 1 children with language difficulties from a socially and economically disadvantaged urban community in Australia. Comparing the end-of-year reading achievement scores for the 57 children who received the language intervention with those of the 59 children in the comparison group, the findings from this research are supportive of both hypotheses. The interrelationships between learning difficulties, reading difficulties, and language difficulties are discussed along with children's development in vocabulary, use of memory strategies and verbal reasoning, and the need for multidimensional programming.
authors.affiliation: University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales, Australia. Ian.Hay@une.edu.au
authors.forename: Ian
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hay
authors.forename: Gordon
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Elias
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fielding-Barnsley
authors.forename: Ross
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Homel
authors.forename: Kate
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Freiberg
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015897:Comorbidity; D004410:Dyslexia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D004519:Education, Special / Q000379:methods*; D004521:Educational Measurement; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007805:Language Development Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D007859:Learning Disabilities / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011610:Psychosocial Deprivation; D011793:Queensland; D011932:Reading; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D014505:Urban Population