The ability to read and write significantly impacts academic success and is a prerequisite for participation in social and professional life. Moreover, writing is an integral part of many activities in the school curriculum across various subjects. Research shows that many pupils do not receive adequate support and assistance in acquiring the knowledge and skills necessary for proficient writing of different types of texts. This is especially true for pupils with specific learning difficulties or deficits in certain areas of learning (hereinafter SLD/LD), who require systematic, intensive and continuous support due to their diverse deficits.
This study examines the development of written communication skills of year six pupils with SLD/LD who face literacy difficulties, as a consequence of implementation of intensive writing training in a small group at a Waldorf school. Using an action research approach and a case study of a small group, we evaluate the impact of training on pupils’ writing skills and observe the specific characteristics of their inclusion and implementation in the pedagogical context of the Waldorf school.
Before and after the written comunication training, we assessed the level of written communication skills of nine pupils with SLD/LD and literacy difficulties using the General Speech Test: Written Communication (hereinafter GST-WC) and an informal test. The written communication training consisted of eight sessions, conducted twice a week for two school hours each. A comparison of initial and final results showed progress in pupils’ written communication skills. The pupils improved their overall score on the GST-WC test, as well as scores at specific subscales, as the use of metalinguistic elements, the formation of meaningful sentences, and sentence merging. In the informal test, pupils progressed in writing at the word and sentence levels and, most notably, improved their paragraph writing in various types of texts.
This master's thesis addresses the challenges of pupils with SLD/LD in written communication and highlights the importance of systematically and continuously developing writing skills. Through selected training strategies, we aim to contribute to the development of specialized pedagogical support and assistance for students with SLD/LD facing literacy difficulties.
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