A comparison of two strategies of sight word instruction in children with mental disability

The aim of this research study was to compare two strategies of sight word instruction in children attending a school for learners with moderate to severe mental disability, namely modified orthography (MO) and modified orthography where an association was made between the modification and the traditional orthography (MO/TO) together with a control group (TO). Thirty-three participants were matched according to their gender, receptive language skills and alphabet knowledge and assigned to the three groups, after which they were taught 10 sight words by using one of the above-mentioned strategies for 2 weeks. Word identification scores were obtained prior to teaching, on a daily basis during teaching, and after 3 weeks of withdrawal to determine the retention of identified words.Results show that individuals with moderate to severe mental disability are able to learn sight words through any of the three strategies implemented. Although there was no statistically significant difference between the three groups on a 5% level, significance on a 10% level was recorded for the MO/TO and TO groups. The order of effectiveness as measured by group averages on word identification was: MO/TO, TO and MO. The clinical implication of these results is that by using MO/TO as teaching strategy for sight words, individuals with limited literacy skills would be able to derive meaning from the written word while forming an association between the modification and the orthography. This could provide early reading success and enhance word identification.