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JOURNAL OF INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH
The independent variable – reading method – was observed in
detail and the hypothesis defined was verified by the areas:
(pupil) spells, leaves words out, guesses words, employs double
reading, fluent reading. The sample group was divided by the
variables monitored into two groups depending on whether the
variable occurred or did not occur.
Hypothesis 1 was confirmed in the pupils, who:
employed spelling made more mistakes on a statistically
significant basis particularly in visual and auditory
separation as well as in the tactile perception and
kinaesthetic sense and in the interconnected areas than the
pupils who did not use spelling in the reading assessment
test. This also confirms the findings in specialised literature
(Sindelar, 2008; Zezulková, 2011) that the weakening of a
pupil's basic tiers of partial cognitive functions also
influences higher tiers which are built upon them, and we
also observed a statistically significant difference in the
subsequent tiers of visual differentiation of shapes,
auditory differentiation of speech, auditory memory, two-
dimensional spatial orientation including time sequence
perception – visual and auditory.;
employed double reading when reading made more
mistakes on a statistically significant basis in visual
separation and auditory separation and in tactile perception
and kinaesthetic sense than pupils who did not read using
the double reading method. Furthermore, these pupils also
make more mistakes on a statistically significant basis in
the areas of auditory differentiation of speech, auditory
memory, spatial orientation, time sequence perception –
auditory and visual. This finding is congruent with the
findings of Bednářová & Šmardová (2011), Zezulková
(2011), who state that if a pupil's auditory perception is
weakened, he/she reads a particular word or its part twice
or several times in a row, pre-reads it, etc.;
read by way of fluent reading made fewer mistakes on a
statistically significant basis in visual and auditory
separation, in auditory differentiation and memory, in
tactile perception and kinaesthetic sense, and in the
interconnected two-dimensional spatial orientation
including time sequence perception – auditory and visual-
auditory intermodal relationships than pupils who did not
read fluently. The results we arrived at are also in
agreement with the results of Stanovich (1986) (In: Lechta,
2002); Lurija (1983) (In: Lechta, 2002); Sindelar (2008);
Pokorná (2010); Bednářová & Šmardová (2011); Kulišťák
(2011); Zezulková (2011); Co-author (2017);
left words out (26.08% of the pupils) made more mistakes
on a statistically significant basis in the area of visual
separation, spatial orientation and time sequence
perception than pupils who did not leave words out in the
reading assessment test; the same finding is also confirmed
by Bednářová & Šmardová (2011), Sindelar (2008);
guessed words (56.52% of the pupils) made more mistakes
on a statistically significant basis mainly in the area of
auditory separation, auditory differentiation and in visual
separation than pupils who did not guess words in the
reading assessment test. These findings are in agreement
with the assertion of Torgesen (In: Pokorná, 2010), who
notes that pupils do not guess words based on the first or
last sound or its shape, which requires a perfect analysis of
the word in the auditory as well as visual area.
Hypothesis 2: The reading level within mistakes in reading
technique of 4th grade pupils with mild intellectual disability
educated in school inclusion at an elementary school is under a
statistically significant influence of the level of partial cognitive
functions.
The independent variable – mistakes in reading technique – was
carefully observed and the hypothesis was verified according to
areas: confusion of letters (similarly shaped, acoustically similar,
dissimilar), leaving letters out, adding letters, confusion of
syllables, leaving syllables out, adding syllables. The sample
group was divided by the variables observed into two groups
depending on whether the relevant variable appeared or did not
appear in the pupils. Hereafter we only describe the variables for
which the hypothesis was confirmed.
Hypothesis 2 was confirmed in the pupils, who:
confused similarly shaped letters made more mistakes on a
statistically significant basis in the area of visual separation
and differentiation, auditory separation and differentiation
and in spatial orientation than pupils who did not confuse
similarly shaped letters in the reading assessment test.
These findings coincide with the theoretical findings of
Sindelar (2008), Bednářová & Šmardová (2011) and
Zezulková (2011), who claim that confusion of dissimilar
letters is caused by the deficiencies in the visual area and
this consequently leads to mistakes in reading;
left letters or syllables out made more mistakes on a
statistically significant basis particularly in the area of
auditory separation, differentiation and in spatial
orientation than pupils who did not leave letters or
syllables out in the reading assessment test;
added letters only in the area of time sequence perception –
auditory, which means that pupils who added letters during
reading made more mistakes on a statistically significant
basis in the area of time sequence perception – auditory
than the pupils who did not add letters;
added syllables only for the dependent variable – spatial
orientation and time sequence perception – auditory.
Hypothesis 3: The reading level in reading comprehension of 4th
grade pupils with mild intellectual disability educated in school
inclusion at an elementary school correlates to a statistically
significant extent with the level of partial cognitive functions.
When analysing the independent variable –
reading
comprehension – the hypothesis was confirmed: strong
correlation was found in tactile perception and kinaesthetic
sense, auditory separation, auditory memory, visual-auditory
intermodal relationship; moderate correlation was found in the
areas of auditory differentiation of speech, visual differentiation
of shapes, spatial orientation, time sequence perception –
auditory, time sequence perception – visual which showed
moderate up to strong correlation. Thus, the worse the pupil's
reproduction of the text, the higher the error rate in the above
described areas of cognitive functions. These findings confirm
mutual relations between reading competence and partial
cognitive functions described in the analysis of the relationship
of partial cognitive functions and reading competence, which is
also indicated by Zelinková (1994), Gavora (2003, 2008),
Sindelar (2008), Pokorná (2010b).
5 Conclusion
Based on the understanding of the current state of reading
competence and partial cognitive functions of pupils with MID
was our intention to know the mutual relationships between
reading competence and partial cognitive functions for the
potential and intentional stimulation. Individual relations were
analysed in a relation to different assessed categories examined
within the reading competence variable (reading method,
mistakes in reading techniques, reading comprehension) and
subsequently described the most important and statistically
significant relationships. At the same time, it is necessary to
consider further variables which influence the reading level of
these pupils including the social factors as well (family, school,
educational approach, methods of pedagogues, etc.), while we
should not forget the spontaneous development, although
delayed and partially limited, requiring pupils to try harder and
teachers to pay more attention for their optimal development.
Despite that the research findings might be expected, we
consider it very important to deal with the issue, particularly
regarding the inclusive trends and inclusion of pupils with MID
into the mainstream education. The results we have found
indicate at least two important issues, which require further
examination. The first is the development of reading competence
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