Observations and error analysis

In order to identify emerging patterns and overarching themes as they develop from the data analysis, the observations over the three terms in respect of articulation, reading and spelling skills have been analysed in the same way that the criterion referenced and norm referenced pre- tests and post-test were analysed. It is not within the scope of this research report to record every single error observed – only those error patterns that occur frequently are noted. It must be pointed out that some errors may fall into more than one category. The THRASS programme involves teaching at word level and this has necessitated the need to record errors at word level. As there is no set of prescribed procedures or an explicit system for the analysis of raw data, the researcher has used her professional judgement in this regard. In the ensuing lists of errors noted, the error always appears first and it is separated from the correct response by an oblique symbol (/). Many of the errors observed are typical of learners who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. (See section 2.6.5.3 for a discussion on language acquisition in deaf and hard-of-hearing children; and 2.6.6.4 for a discussion on reading acquisition in deaf and hard-of-hearing children)

Errors of articulation or phonology (speech sound production) were reflected in the following words:

 consonant plosives (k/g; p/b; t/d) - tuck/duck; pook/book;frok/frog; bet/bed; ekk/egg; tikra/tiger; dap/tap; dape/tape; klimmer/glimmer; disappointet/disappointed; koose/goose; coot/could; dunk/dung; shoot/should; woot/would; pushes/bushes; younker/younger;

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puddink/pudding; hummink/humming; propes/probes; pursing/bursting; prush/brush

 consonant plosives for consonant fricatives (d/th; t/th; s/th) - dumb/thumb; dey/they; dat/that; dem/them; tink/think; something/something; brudder/brother; feddah/feather; de/the; tread/thread; togeddah/together; dere/there; birtday/birthday; true/through; taught/thought; wealt/wealth; aldough/although; muddah/mother; trust/thrust

 consonant fricatives (h; f/v; s/z) - sip/zip; fiss/fizz; sebra/zebra; sipper/zipper; lift/lived; sift/sieve; nossle/nozzle; drissle/drizzle

 nasals for liquids (n/l) - ludge/nudge; kink/king; namb/lamb; naser/laser; naddah/ ladder; lutritiuos/nutritious; sneeve/sleeve; nabour/labour; jourley/journey; night/light;

 short vowel monophthongs - ent/ant; mom/mum;

 consonant affricatives (ch/j; [t ʃ]/[d ʒ]) - sled/sledge; orich/orange; chanch/change; machine/machine [t ʃ/ʃ]; voyich/voyage; doch/dodge;

 liquids or laterals (r) - conner/collar;

 diphthongs - borrow/borrow [a

ʊ/əʊ]

 morphemes - cherring/cherry; parch/parched; push/pushed; snacktis/slackest; blacktis/blackest

Reading errors were classified into the following categories, bearing in mind that errors may fall into more than one category:

 misreads - gig/gig (d ʒ); genjill/gentle; am/aim; keept/kept; flonder/flounder; hospitalty/hospitality; girly/gurgling; coincide/coincide [ɔɪ]; groped/groped [ed/t]; enevous/envious; suspikous/suspicious; fluent/fluent [u:/u:ə]; audience/audience [aɪ/iə]; chandelier/chandelier [t ʃ/ʃ] and [aɪ/iə]; vehicle/vertical; browned/proud; towed/towed [aʊ/əʊ]

 insertions - hestitate/hesitate; fundge/fudge; velvest/velvet

 omissions - stick/sticker; drill/drilled; taste/tasted; phase/phrase; wag/wagged; obedent/obedient; activies/activities; squirt/squirted; strengthen/strenghthened; possess/possession; varous/various; adventure/adventurous; orphan/orphaned; notorus/notorious; condition/conditioned; oblivon/oblivion; warror/warrior; lum/lump; hummy/humming; crown/crowned

 transpositions - gaps/gasp; baks/bask; aks/ask; claps/clasp; duks/dusk; crub/curb; swril/ swirl; boidegradaple/biodegradable (p/d); appalled/applaud; form/from; calms/claims; campiagn/campaign

 substitutions - jodge/judge; mercy/mercy [k/s]; hundle/hurdle; model/mobile; injury/injure

 refusals - barge; jiffy; gin; juniper; jubilant; phantom; kaleidoscope; seizure; insurance; leisure; gnat; pneumonia; reign; bruise; technician; tough; rough

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The below-mentioned spelling errors, which may overlap into different error categories, came to the fore:

 insertions - breezze/breeze; carelessly/careless; patteren/pattern; simialar/similar; exisits/exists

 omissions - squbble/squabble; cap/cape; fercious/ferocious; peck/pecked; tip/tipped; sharpen/sharpened; movment/movement; explores/explorers; manger/manager; parch/parched; stitch/stitched; hight/height; overjoy/overjoyed; thirty/thirsty; vegtables/vegetables; clench/clenched; musican/musician; determine/determined; direct/directed; hospility/hospitality; avities/activities; discussted/discussed; seconly/secondly; rush/rushed; want/wanted; steam/stream

 transpositions - blancony/balcony; balckest/blackest; defaint/defiant; perpare/prepare; percaution/precaution; chrip/chirp; gaint/giant; calissic/classic; premanent/permanent; pervous/previous; blamy/balmy

 substitutions - realage/really; think/thick; creeture/creature; thirty/thirteen; peaches/perches; lift/lived; ninety/nineteen; boilt/boiled; surfifal/survival; crookt/crooked; chauk/chalk; shore/shawl; canoo/canoe [u:]; cuddly/cuddle

 long vowel monophthongs - ballon/balloon;

 vowel diphthongs [aʊ] - mold/mould

 fricatives (f/v; s/z; sh [ʃ]) – snoose/snooze

The pattern of errors noted above in the areas of articulation, reading and spelling during the three terms will be compared with the patterns of errors recorded in the pre-tests and post-tests in order to reach a conclusion in respect of how effective the Teaching Handwriting, Reading and Spelling Skills (THRASS) programme has been in supporting the literacy development of an Intermediate Phase deaf learner who uses the spoken language approach. It must be borne in mind that THRASS is a Whole-Picture Keyword Phonics programme developed primarily for Word Level Teaching in English. The building blocks are the 44 phonemes (sounds) which comprise of 24 consonant phonemes and 20 vowel phonemes. These 44 phonemes encapsulate the 120 keygraphemes (spelling choices) which include 60 consonant graphemes and 60 vowel graphemes.