圖書館

ABSTRACT

THIS STUDY ADOPTED A QUALITATIVE RESEARCH APPROACH TO EXPLORE THE EXPERIENCES AND PERSPECTIVES OF RESOURCE TEACHERS IN MACAO WHEN IMPLEMENTING MEANINGFUL LITERACY INSTRUCTION IN THEIR DAILY TEACHING. THE STUDY EXAMINED, FROM A PROFESSIONAL STANDPOINT, THE CHALLENGES AND NEEDS ENCOUNTERED WITHIN THIS PRACTICE. DATA WAS COLLECTED THROUGH SEMI-STRUCTURED IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS OF SIX RESOURCE TEACHERS WORKING WITHIN PRIMARY SCHOOLS THAT HAD IMPLEMENTED INCLUSIVE EDUCATION. THE INTERVIEWS WERE TRANSCRIBED, ANALYSED, DISCUSSED, AND SYNTHESISED TO GENERATE THE FOLLOWING FINDINGS: FIRSTLY, THE STUDY FOUND THAT MEANINGFUL LITERACY INSTRUCTION HAD THREE POSITIVE IMPACTS ON STUDENTS WITH DYSLEXIA. IN TERMS OF COGNITION, STUDENTS’ ABILITIES TO INTEGRATE FORM, SOUND AND MEANING IMPROVED SIGNIFICANTLY. THE USE OF COMPONENT ANALYSIS AND WORD-FAMILY STRATEGIES EFFECTIVELY REDUCED ERROR RATES AND CONFIRMED THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE DUAL-ROUTE MODEL OF LITERACY ACQUISITION. IN TERMS OF MOTIVATION, MULTISENSORY TEACHING AND TASK-ORIENTED ACTIVITIES ENHANCED LEARNING INITIATIVE, HELPING STUDENTS SHIFT FROM RESISTING WRITING TO ACTIVELY EXPLORING WORD STRUCTURES. IN TERMS OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT, CONTEXTUALISED LANGUAGE TASKS PROMOTED COLLABORATION AND COMMUNICATION, SUPPORTING THE TRANSFER OF KNOWLEDGE INTO AUTHENTIC CONTEXTS. OVERALL, MEANINGFUL LITERACY INSTRUCTION MOVED BEYOND ROTE MEMORISATION AND FOSTERED A QUALITATIVE TRANSFORMATION IN STUDENTS’ LITERACY LEARNING, LAYING A FOUNDATION FOR DEEPER LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT. SECONDLY, THE STUDY HIGHLIGHTED THREE STRUCTURAL CHALLENGES FACED BY RESOURCE TEACHERS. IN TERMS OF RESOURCES, LIMITED MANPOWER AND TIME ALLOCATION FORCED TEACHERS TO CREATE A LARGE NUMBER OF TEACHING AIDS, MAKING IT DIFFICULT TO MEET THE HIGH-FREQUENCY LEARNING NEEDS OF STUDENTS WITH DYSLEXIA. IN TERMS OF TEACHING, TEACHERS STRUGGLED TO ADAPT TO DIVERSE STUDENT ABILITIES AND RIGID CURRICULA, WITH LIMITED SUCCESS IN CONTEXTUALISING ABSTRACT VOCABULARY. IN TERMS OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, THE ABSENCE OF SYSTEMATIC TRAINING IN CHINESE WRITTEN LANGUAGE CHARACTER PEDAGOGY, TOGETHER WITH TRADITIONAL ASSESSMENT METHODS AND PARENTAL PRESSURE FOR SHORT-TERM ACADEMIC RESULTS, FURTHER RESTRICTED OPPORTUNITIES FOR PEDAGOGICAL INNOVATION. THESE CHALLENGES HIGHLIGHT THE URGENT NEED FOR SYSTEMIC SUPPORT AND THE RESTRUCTURING OF PROFESSIONAL FRAMEWORKS. FINALLY, THE STUDY PROPOSED THREE STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVEMENT. AT THE INSTITUTIONAL LEVEL, IT RECOMMENDED REDUCING STUDENT–TEACHER RATIOS, ENSURING DEDICATED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT TIME, AND REPLACING SINGLE DICTATION-BASED ASSESSMENTS WITH DYNAMIC ASSESSMENTS. AT THE PEDAGOGICAL LEVEL, THIS SUGGESTED IMPLEMENTING GROUP TEACHING BASED ON COMPONENT KNOWLEDGE, ADOPTING SYSTEMATIC PHONETIC CATEGORISATION METHODS, AND DESIGNING MACAO-SPECIFIC CULTURAL TASKS TO PROMOTE SEMANTIC CONSTRUCTION. AT A PROFESSIONAL LEVEL, IT IS PROPOSED TO ESTABLISH A THREE-TIERED SUPPORT SYSTEM, INCLUDING FOUNDATIONAL TRAINING COURSES, PEER LESSON STUDY COMMUNITIES, AND UNIVERSITY-SUPERVISED HOME–SCHOOL COLLABORATION, TO BETTER BRIDGE RESOURCE GAPS AND ENHANCE TEACHERS’TRANSFORMATIVE CAPACITY. IN CONCLUSION, THIS STUDY DEMONSTRATED THAT MEANINGFUL LITERACY INSTRUCTION CAN EFFECTIVELY SUPPORT THE LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT OF STUDENTS WITH DYSLEXIA, YET ITS SUSTAINABLE IMPLEMENTATION DEPENDS ON THE COMBINED EFFORTS OF INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT, PEDAGOGICAL INNOVATION, AND PROFESSIONAL COLLABORATION. THE STUDY CONCLUDES WITH RECOMMENDATIONS FOR TEACHERS, SCHOOLS AND POLICYMAKERS, AS WELL AS REFLECTIONS ON FUTURE RESEARCH DIRECTIONS AND INSIGHTS GAINED.