Acquisition and Transfer of English as a Second Language through the Constructional Response Matching-to-Sample Procedure for Students with Developmental Disabilities

Mikimasa Omori, Hiroshi Sugasawara, Jun-ichi Yamamoto

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DOI: 10.4236/psych.2011.26085                

Abstract

Japanese students, who study English as second language often have the difficulty in learning English. Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) have special difficulty with English spelling. Previous researches suggest that equivalence-based training, such as the matching-to-sample (MTS) procedure and the constructional response matching-to-sample (CRMTS) procedure were effective for the acquisition of spelling. The present study examined the controlling variables for the acquisition of English spelling skills by 4 Japanese students with ASD and compared the effects of MTS and CRMTS procedures on transfer to spelling. The results showed that the MTS and CRMTS procedures were equally effective for shorter letter words. But the students showed better results on acquisition and transfer to spelling for longer letter words after CRMTS procedure. The results are discussed in terms of the effect of the CRMTS procedure on the acquisition and transfer of spelling words.

Keywords

Matching-to-Sample, Constructional-Response Matching-to-Sample, English as a Second Language, Developmental Disabilities, Spelling

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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