Professional Documents
Culture Documents
456-468
This study investigated the effects of the Clay Modeling Program on the reading behavior of dyslexic children.
The three participants were very poor readers who could not even identify simple words. A pre-test to assess
the participants ability to read was conducted. The treatment (Clay Modeling Program) was conducted for a
period of eight weeks, involving 20 sessions of 75 minutes each, followed by a post-test after the eight-week
treatment. The control group did not receive any treatment. The participants English teachers were also
interviewed before and after the treatment. Results show all three participants were able to read the specified
text fluently without hesitation, able to spell the words from the text correctly, and more attentive in class.
They were not that passive as before as they were now more responsive towards their teacher; showed signs
of increased self-confidence; had the courage to read in front of the class; were more keen and willing to learn.
The findings indicate that the Clay Modeling Program has a positive effect on the reading behavior of dyslexic
children. If conducted with a larger population, it would further enhance the Malaysian society in achieving
one of its visions of having a literate society.
Keywords: Clay Modeling Program, reading behavior, dyslexic children, reading difficulty, symbol mastery
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Methodology
Research Design
This study employs a mixed-method design. It is a
combination of experimental research and case study.
A pretest-posttest control group design was used. It is
also a case study as it involves only three participants.
A very detailed observation was done on each of
the participants throughout the whole study. This is
very important since it helps illuminate the concrete
effectiveness of the program. This mixed-method
design was chosen to enhance the understanding of
the research focus.
Participants
Three participants, 13-years old, who were pupils
in Secondary One from a Malaysian school, were
selected by a purposive sampling method. Consistent
with the nature of the present study, the participants
chosen were very poor readers and unable to recognize
even simple words. They were, however, able to
identify the alphabets in the upper and lower cases
except for the confusion between b & d, and p
& q. They are also classified as dyslexics since
they fulfil the characteristics of dyslexia as stated by
the Dyslexia Association of Singapore (2004), which
defines dyslexia as a neurologically based specific
learning difficulty that is characterised by difficulties
in one or more of reading, spelling and writing.
Accompanying weaknesses may be identified in areas
of language acquisition, phonological processing,
working memory and sequencing. Some factors which
are associated with it, but do not cause dyslexia, are
poor motivation, impaired attention and academic
frustration.
The students chosen for this study had not received
any form of intervention previously or at the time
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Table 1
List of Sight Words Found in Text 1 and Text 2
Sight Words
Sight Words
from Text 1
from Text 2
a
a
and
is
at
go
has
have
here
he
is
likes
it
over
like
some
to
to
the
the
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Treatment
The treatment used is the Clay Modeling Program.
This program involves the use of modeling clay. A
detailed description of the intervention program is as
follows:
Session 1
Talk to the participants to make them feel at
ease. Motivate and explain to them that they have
to assume responsibility for their participation and
involvement in the intervention program. They must
be willing to participate and cooperate.
Session 2
Start with Symbol Mastery: Alphabet Mastery
The researcher provides paper strips on which
the letters of the alphabet have been printed (upper
and lower case) as well as modeling clay. During
this session, the participants have to mould strips
of clay, cut off the required lengths and form the
letters of the alphabet according to the examples
on the strip of paper. The clay letters are placed
next to each other and the participants must say
each letters name as they complete it. (During the
research project, cardboard squares were used for
these letters, since the work could not always be
completed in one session. The squares were then
kept in a safe place until the next session when work
could be resumed). The participants compare their
clay letters with the printed version and mistakes
are corrected. The researcher provides help when
necessary without criticizing the participants work.
The researcher also takes note of the letter(s) with
which the participants have to struggle. Then the
participants touch each letter from A-Z and say each
ones name. If they make a mistake and/or if the
participants hesitate, the researcher asks questions
to lead the participants to the correct name. Then
the participants touch each letter from Z-A and say
the name. This is repeated once more from Z-A.
Then the participants have to say out loud all the
letters from A-Z without looking at them. This is
repeated from Z-A. They may look at the letters if
they are uncertain.
Session 3
Symbol Mastery continued: Repeat everything
with the lower-case letters as with the upper-case
letters, but start with z and end with a initially.
Repeat until the participants can recite the upperand lower-case letters of the alphabet fluently from
memory. Then the participants can be asked to repeat
the names of the letters as pointed out at random by
the researcher.
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Session 4
Punctuation marks are made with clay, named,
touched and their functions discussed. The
punctuation marks are modeled and discussed as
the full stop and comma.
Session 5
The participants start to do Symbol Mastery
based on the word list as shown in Table 2.
Table 2
Word for Symbol Mastery During Clay Modeling Program
Text 1
Peter
look
Jane
like
and
they
want
red
to
is
go
a
the
bus
station
has
train
come
at
here
this
little
goat
billy
gruff
he
likes
to
jump
is
Text 2
middle-sized
fun
eat
grass
here
bridge
want
over
for
some
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Procedure
After a suitable school had been identified, verbal
consent was obtained from the principal of the school
to carry out the research for 8 weeks. The next step
was to identify the suitable candidates and to assign
the candidates to the experimental group and control
group. The participants were their own controls. The
parents of the candidates were approached personally
to obtain permission for the child to partake in this
research program.
During pre-testing, the participants did the reading
test (Texts 1 & 2). After the test had been completed
the treatment was introduced. The participants received
the treatment in 20 sessions. Each session lasted for
about 75 minutes.
The participants were only trained using symbol
mastery based on one Reading Text (Text 1). For
the other Reading Text (Text 2), the participants
were not trained using symbol mastery or any other
program. After the treatment, the participants were
once again evaluated by means of the same tests. The
objective was to determine whether the participants
had significantly improved in their reading ability as
compared to the participants own control without the
treatment. The participants English teachers were
also interviewed to find out about their academic
performance through in-class reading exercises given
by the teacher as well as their participation in class.
The interview data was triangulated with other method
such as observation.
Results
look
like
they
red
is
a
bus
has
come
here
is
to
here
want
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VOL. 20 NO. 3
Peter
Jane
and
want
to
go
the
station
train
at
Text 1 Text 2
look
is
like
to
they
here
red
want
is
a
bus
has
come
here
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464
Peter
Jane
and
want
to
go
the
station
train
at
Text 1 Text 2
look
is
like
to
they
here
red
want
is
a
bus
has
come
here
VOL. 20 NO. 3
much. She did not show signs of boredom nor did she
drift away into daydreaming. She was focused and
paid attention throughout all the 75-minute sessions.
The only time she became restless and inattentive
was when she was taught words from Text 2 without
using the Clay Modeling Program. Ms. Tracy also
commented that Suzanne was really enjoying the Clay
Modeling Program. She said: When I asked Suzanne
about the Clay Modeling Program, she said that she
was having a lot of fun and is learning new words. I
was very pleased and delighted to hear that from her.
To be honest, I never expected such a positive response
from Suzanne.
Self-Confidence: According to Ms. Tracy, Suzanne
cannot read well or fluently, does not read in class and
dislikes reading. She even cried when asked to read
in class. Ever since then, Ms. Tracy has not asked her
to read in class. Suzanne also cannot communicate
well in English but she communicates with her peers
in Malay and Tamil. Suzanne neither asks questions
in class nor hands in her homework frequently, very
passive, shy and quiet in class.
After going through Clay Modeling Program,
Suzanne was very excited and happy that she could
read, spell and write words correctly to the extent that
she asked me to teach her everyday. She was very
eager to learn. She claimed that she had always felt
shy and embarrassed among her classmates because
she could not read, but now she too is able to read. It
clearly shows that success in learning to recognize and
read the words has given her the confidence in wanting
to learn more new words. I was indeed very happy
with her progress. She was filled with excitement
and looked forward to my sessions. It was truly very
satisfying. Ms. Tracy was also glad to see the changes
in Suzanne. She asked Suzanne if she would like to
read Text 1 in class and surprisingly Suzanne agreed.
Ms. Tracy commented: I was more than happy to hear
Suzanne read Text 1 loudly and accurately in class. I
think for someone who was shy and passive in class,
this is a very big change!
Discussion
According to Shaywitz (2003), a child that does
not receive intervention at an early stage will require
150 to 300 hours of intensive study. This means 90
minutes per day for a period of one to three years.
Davis (1997), on the other hand, mentions that a
dyslexic child who does not receive intervention at
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Implications
The findings of this study show that the Clay
Modeling Program does improve the reading behavior
of dyslexic children. This gives rise to several
implications. Reading is an important aspect in ones
life. It widens ones knowledge, increases vocabulary,
improves fluency and is entertaining. By not being
able to read, many are missing out on these benefits.
Through the Clay Modeling Program, individuals
with reading disabilities will be able to make reading
possible in their lives and experience its benefits, since
it is one of the effective intervention programs.
Phonics instruction does not work for all dyslexic
children or all those with reading disabilities. An
alternative method is the Clay Modeling Program
which emphasizes Symbol Mastery using modeling
clay. It is essential, therefore, that seminars and
workshops be held for educators and care-givers to
implement the Clay Modeling Program in teaching
children with reading disabilities. Moreover, it is a
simple approach and can be easily administered by
educators and care-givers.
The Clay Modeling Program involves the use
of modeling clay which is cost effective and easily
available. Hence, this program can be implemented
by schools in both the rural and urban areas. Its
implementation can assist children with learning
disabilities in many ways. It has been proven that
when children are unable to read and write, their
self-confidence is affected to a great extent. Once
they are able to read, it automatically boosts their
self-confidence in reading. When an individuals selfconfidence is high, they tend to experience success
rather than failure. Success prevents them from
indulging in negative activities which may result in
serious social problems.
There are many successful dyslexics in the world
today. In Malaysia too, many more dyslexic children
can be guided for success in life and to attain their
highest potential. Through the Clay Modeling
Program, many dyslexic children can overcome their
reading problems, and this provides them with the
opportunity to be more successful in school and later
in life.
If this program is implemented on a wider scale
in Malaysia, chances are the issue of inability to read
among children can be significantly reduced. With this
reduction, there would not exist the problem of 20,000
Grade Six pupils not being able to read and/or write
(Chapman, 2006).
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Narayana, S. & Xiong, J. (2003). Reading treatment helps
children with dyslexia and changes activity in language
areas of the brain. Neurology, 61(2): E5-6.
Shaywitz, S. (2003). Overcoming dyslexia. A new and
complete science based program for reading problems
at any level. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf.
Stowe, C. M. (2000). How to reach and teach children &
teens with dyslexia. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
The Star. (2006, 23 October). 20,000 Year Six pupils cant
read or write well.
Tomascoff, R. N. (2004). Fun & function with clay, Arts
and Activities, 135(1), 36.
Warwick, S. (2005). The science of CLAY. School Arts,
105(3), 28.