Reversals in Reading Among Native Students From Onion Lake, Saskatchewan-Alberta
Date
1991
Authors
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ORCID
Type
Degree Level
Masters
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences in the incidence of reversals and sequencing
errors in reading among Native students, male and female, aged 7, 8, 9, and 10 years old who spoke Cree
and/or English. The students were in Grades 1-3 at the Roman Catholic School, Anglican Church of Canada School and Grade 4 at Chief Taylor School at Onion Lake Reserve, Onion Lake, Saskatchewan-Alberta.
The dependent variable of the study was the number of reversal and sequencing errors in reading. The former are defined as the inversion of single letters, such as "big" for "dig". The latter are the total or
partial inversion of letters in words, such as "was" for "saw". The independent variables were gender, age,
and linguality in Cree and/or English. All the students in the target population of 159 were rated for facility in Cree and English language utilizing rating scales. The language rating data was transferred onto bivariate matrices for the 7/8 and 9/10 year age groups. The target population of 159 students decreased to a sample of 55 Native students. Data were collected by the administration of a revised version of the Test of Directional Attack on Words. The test consisted of 60 monosyllable isolated isolated
words. The students orally read the words and the exact pronunciations were transcribed onto the test
response sheet. The three hypotheses, were analyzed by employing a three-way (2x2x2) analysis of variance. This three-way AN OVA measured the effects of gender, age, and linguality
in Cree and/or English on the incidence of reversal and sequencing errors in reading. No significant difference in reversal and sequencing errors in reading was found between male and female Native students. A significant difference (p < 0.05) was found between 7/8 year old Native students and 9/10 year old Native students. The 7/8 year olds made more reversal and sequencing errors in reading than did the 9/10 year olds. No significant difference in reversal and sequencing errors in reading was found between English dominant and bilingual Cree-English Native students. The study concluded that: 1. The gender of Native students did not relate to the incidence of reversal and sequencing errors in
reading. 2. The age of Native students was related to the incidence of reversal and sequencing errors in reading. Native students aged 7/8 years made more errors than did Native students aged 9/10 years.
3. Linguality in Cree-English of Native students did not relate ,to the incidence of reversal and
sequencing errors in reading.
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Citation
Degree
Master of Education (M.Ed.)
Department
Educational Foundations
Program
Department of Education