Abstract
The purpose of this study was to implement and evaluate a motivational intervention that consisted of explicit timing, immediate feedback through self-scoring, and display of high scores with the goal of encouraging four students with learning disabilities to write longer stories. All participants were initially very unwilling to engage in text production. An ABA reversal design was used to assess the effectiveness of the approach. Immediately after the treatment, the subjects started to write more extensive stories. However, this effect ended abruptly once the intervention was terminated. The study’s results show that, even for very reluctant students with learning disabilities, writing motivation can be significantly enhanced with relatively little effort. All the participants reported enjoying the treatment. The paper ends with a discussion of the experiment’s limitations and the practical implications of the findings.
Highlights
Many students, especially those with learning disabilities, resent writing (Troia, Shankland, & Wolbers, 2012)
The results of this study suggest that a motivational system has the potential to help students with learning disabilities to write considerably longer stories than they would otherwise
Even though the slope effect did not reach statistical significance for Christin, a visual inspection of her performance curve in the B phase still suggests that she benefited from the intervention
Summary
Especially those with learning disabilities, resent writing (Troia, Shankland, & Wolbers, 2012). A lot of children shun such tasks because the cognitive processes involved in text composition are extraordinarily arduous. Writers need to (among many other tasks) demonstrate automaticity with prerequisite skills (handwriting, spelling, grammar rules, etc.), activate their knowledge about relevant topics and genre conventions, be aware of their prospective audience, consider the purpose of their efforts, organize their ideas, and monitor their endeavors (Santangelo, 2014). Text production is often viewed as the most demanding school-related language activity (Fayol, Alamargot, & Berninger, 2012). Students with learning disabilities are especially at risk for developing severe writing difficulties. These young people “fail to develop the knowledge, skill, will, and self-regulation necessary to succeed in key subject areas” 1), making text composition often seem too demanding These young people “fail to develop the knowledge, skill, will, and self-regulation necessary to succeed in key subject areas” (Grünke & Morrison Cavendish, 2016, p. 1), making text composition often seem too demanding
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
