written language | Strategic & Interactive Writing Instruction (SIWI)

Specialized Writing Instruction for Deaf Students: A Randomized Controlled Trial

By Kimberly WolbersPosted on January 17, 2022Posted in Research, Research Journal ArticlesTagged efficacy study, genre, grammar, motivation, writing, written language

Strategic and Interactive Writing Instruction (SIWI) involves teaching cognitive writing strategies and apprenticing novices within collaborative writing communities. It is responsive to deaf students’ diverse language experiences through embedded metalinguistic/linguistic components. A randomized controlled trial of SIWI was conducted with 15 teachers and 79 students in grades 3-5. Recount, information report, and persuasive genres were […]

Recommendation Report: Emergent writers of all ages

By Kimberly WolbersPosted on May 29, 2021Posted in ReportsTagged language delay/deprivation, written language

Written language outcomes of deaf elementary students engaged in authentic writing

By Kimberly WolbersPosted on April 1, 2020Posted in Research, Research Journal ArticlesTagged efficacy study, fluency/length, grammar, written language

This study explores the impact of Strategic and Interactive Writing Instruction (SIWI) on six students’ written language skills through the application of a multiple-baseline probe single case design with embedded condition. This was part of a larger Institute of Education Sciences (IES)-funded project focused on the development and feasibility of implementation of SIWI. For the […]

Beyond the red pen: A functional grammar approach to evaluating the written language of deaf students

By Kimberly WolbersPosted on July 24, 2019Posted in Research Journal ArticlesTagged assessment, grammar, written language

Deaf students often differ from their hearing peers in written language development. Providing developmentally appropriate instruction is ideal, yet current methods of writing assessment do not provide teachers with sufficient information regarding the written language (i.e., syntactic) development of deaf students. In this research, we use a Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG) approach to language analysis […]

Developing a Written Language Inventory for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students: A Systemic Functional Grammar Approach

By Susannah FinleyPosted on November 14, 2018Posted in DissertationsTagged assessment, grammar, written language

Deaf and hard of hearing (d/hh) students are extremely diverse in language development due to vast differences in residual hearing, response to hearing technologies, and exposure to American Sign Language. Writing is a struggle for these students who have delayed and limited access to English. Studies have found that d/hh students continue to lag behind […]

Developing students’ first language through a second language writing intervention: A simultaneous approach

By Susannah FinleyPosted on November 14, 2018Posted in DissertationsTagged ASL, bilingual, written language

Deaf and hard of hearing (d/hh) children often acquire an L1 after age 3, thus are arguably more diverse than that of the general bilingual population. A unique problem therefore exists among d/hh late language learners—they often do not have an L1 to later develop an L2. This study investigated the impact of an English […]

Strategic and Interactive Writing Instruction (SIWI): Apprenticing deaf students in the construction of informative text

By Susannah FinleyPosted on November 13, 2018Posted in DissertationsTagged apprenticeship, efficacy study, fluency/length, interactive, language delay/deprivation, linguistic/metalinguistic, revision, strategic, word identification, writing, written language

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of writing instruction that was strategic and interactive, namely Strategic and Interactive Writing Instruction (SIWI), when utilized with deaf, middle school students. In addition to strategic and interactive instruction, four minor instructional components included: (a) use of writing examples and non-examples; (b) metalinguistic knowledge building; […]

The Language Zone: Differentiating writing instruction for students who are deaf and hard of hearing

By Susannah FinleyPosted on November 13, 2018Posted in Research Journal ArticlesTagged ASL, grammar, interactive, language delay/deprivation, language zone, linguistic/metalinguistic, written language

Interactive Writing is a powerful support for language and literacy development; however, its emphasis on using oral language to construct written language can present challenges for deaf students due to their unique and diverse language experiences. Teachers (n = 14) using Strategic and Interactive Writing Instruction (SIWI) in grades 3–5 were observed using a space […]

The assessment of written phrasal constructs and grammar of deaf and hard of hearing students with varying expressive language abilities

By Susannah FinleyPosted on November 13, 2018Posted in Research Journal ArticlesTagged assessment, grammar, written language

The purpose of this study was to examine the written phrasal constructs and grammar usage of deaf and hard of hearing students with varying expressive language skills. Twenty-nine d/hh middle school students attending a residential school for the deaf were divided into three language groups: students using spoken English, ASL/English bilinguals, and language delayed learners. […]

Strategic and Interactive Writing Instruction: An efficacy study in grades 3-5

By Susannah FinleyPosted on November 13, 2018Posted in Research Journal ArticlesTagged efficacy study, interactive, linguistic/metalinguistic, strategic, writing, written language

A quasi-experimental study was conducted to examine the impact of Strategic and Interactive Writing Instruction on 3rd-5th grade deaf and hard of hearing students’ writing and written language compared to a business-as-usual condition (treatment group N = 41, comparison group N = 22). A total of 18 hours of instruction was provided for each of […]