Abstract
D.Ed. (Educational Psychology)
This study is concerned with the acquisition of language skills by the
learning disabled child. A thorough literature survey was conducted,
in which the acquisition of both the oral language and the written
word were investigated. The survey reveals the importance of certain
prerequisites for the mastering of language skills. The research also
identifies the causes for and consequences of delay in language development. As a result of this survey, the importance of auditory
perceptual skills in the acquisition of reading and spelling performances
is emphasized in the design of a model for language acquisition.
This survey was conducted to design a model for the acquisition of
language skills, with special emphasis on auditory perception. Auditory
perception skills are used as aids in the reading process to
acquire the necessary skills to decode unfamiliar words in the text to
be read. In the design of the model attention was given to the relevant and
important matters as described in the literature, as well as to some
didactical principles in the teaching of the learning disabled. The
design of the model is based on the guidelines as deduced from the
description as found in the literature, as well as the investigator's
own empirical experience for a number of years in the teaching of
identified learning disabled children in an aid class of the TED.
This model was applied with great success on a group basis in an aid
class at a primary school. It was also successfully applied on a
great number of children in need of individual remedial teaching.
The applicability and value of the model are verified by an ideographic
survey conducted on the pupils in the aid class. A case study
on six pupils is described in the thesis and the expected improvement
in reading and spelling performance is verified.