| Summary: | Thesis (M. Ed.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 1979. Education Bibliography: leaves 55-57. The primary purpose of this internship was to implement a Language Experience Approach with a group of senior special education students who were apathetic about school in general and about reading in particular. A related aim was to examine the efficacy of the Language Experience Approach in the special education classroom. -- The subjects of the study were a group of senior special education students enrolled in a central high school 40 kilometers from St. John’s. Of the ten subjects, eight had experienced repeated failure in school and were diagnosed as educable mentally retarded. - The internship was implemented over a period of five months. Procedures were designed to increase the students' abilities in the areas of oral language, sight vocabulary, structural analysis, comprehension, oral reading, and writing skills. -- Positive changes in the subjects’ reading achievement, attitude and productivity indicated the effectiveness of the internship. Average gains of 1.5 years were seen in reading comprehension and 1.0 years in vocabulary. These gains in reading achievement were significantly greater than those which would normally have been expected during the period. At the end of the internship period the students expressed a more positive attitude toward reading and in general a more favourable attitude toward school. -- It was concluded that the internship was effective in meeting its objectives. The Language Experience Approach, in allowing each senior special education student to begin at his own level, had respected readiness differences while simultaneously permitting the individual to gain missing experiences without loss of dignity.
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