Slide 1: Writing about what you cannot seeA study on Braille readers’ writing in Swedish schoolsMaria Ellingsson, Advisor in Special Needs EducationNational Agency for Special Needs Education and Schools, Sweden

Slide 2: Students with blindness in Swedish schoolsPicture on the right: A map of Sweden, a tall and narrow country. The three major cities; Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmo, are all situated in the southern part of the country. Malmo far South, Gothenburg in the south-west and Stockholm in the eastern part of the country. All three cities are coastal cities.

A country of long distances and a small population Students with blindness – low numbers No special schools for VI students without additional

disabilities Same core curriculum as other students

Variety in level of support

Slide 3: Background of the studyStudents with blindness and creative writing

Teachers do not ask for advice. Why? No issues?

Lack of richness in Braille reading students’ textsIs it true? Why?

Concept development Imagination Ability to take different perspectives

Slide 4: Concept development, language development, Theory of mind development

Logical and abstract thinking (Piaget, 1951) Early language development

(Steinman, LeJeune & Kimbrough, 2006; Webster & Roe, 1998; Brambring, 2007; Tadic, Pring & Dale, 2010, Andersen, Dunlea & Kekelis, 1984)

Verbalisms (Harley, 1963; Millar, 1997) Theory of mind

(Minter, Hobson & Bishop, 1998; Peterson, Peterson & Webb, 2000; Pring & Dewart, 1998; Roch-Levecq, 2006; Slade & Ruffman, 2005; Pijnacker, Vervloed & Steenbergen, 2012)

Imagery and descriptive language (Eardley & Pring, 2014)

Slide 5: Students with blindness and writing

The Effect of Consistent Structured Reading Instruction on High and Low Literacy Achievement in Young Children Who

Are Blind (Emerson, Sitar, Erin, Wormsley & Herlich, 2009)

Structured and consistent teaching of Braille Differences in spelling and punctuation

Slide 6: Students with blindness/visual impairment and writing

An analysis of writing practices in 4th- and 5th- grade-students with visual impairments (Kreuzer, 2007)

Lower performance in writhing than expected, concerning text as a whole

Word number and quality in word usage More concrete nouns Fewer adjectives

… compared to sighted students.

Slide 7: How does one measure quality in writing?

Word level

Productivity – word count Word usage – abstract/concrete nouns, adjectives

Sentence level

Structure

Quality in contents

The text as a whole

(Kreuzer, 2007; Price & Jackson, 2015, Pettersson, 1989;

National Agency for Education: www.skolverket.se)

Slide 8: Increasing quality in contents

”Characteristics of a comprehensible story line are simple descriptive phrases and listing of events.

In order for the text to be judged to have relatively clear contents, the student should reproduce events and to some extent convey experiences through developed descriptive phrases and developed actions, which corresponds to Grade C in this particular aspect.For the highest grade (A), the student needs to convey experiences, and value or develop these in well-developed descriptive phrases and a well-developed plot. The text is then deemed to have clear contents. "

(National Agency for Education: www.skolverket.se)

Slide 9: Purpose of the study

The purpose of my study was to explore how students with blindness express themselves in narrative writing, examining texts from the national tests in Swedish for year 6 and year 9.

How does the linguistic variation show in the texts? Which types of descriptive phrases are present in the

texts?

Slide 10: Method: Quantitative and qualitative processing of students’ texts

Six boxes in slide.

Box 1: 23 narrative texts 2011-2016Box 2: Different topics. Similar assignmentsBox 3: Same assessment baseBox 4: AnonymizedBox 5: Year 6: 5 girls, 8 boysBox 6: Year 9: 5 girls, 5 boys

Slide 11: Results

Word level

Productivity, content words (nouns, adjectives, adverbs)

Sentence level

Sentence structure Textual binding

Contents

Descriptive phrases

Misconceptions

(Price & Jackson, 2015)

Slide 12: Word count

Bar chart with 5 categories, 2 series (year 6 and year 9):

Very low, under 200 words: 3 texts from year 6, 1 text from year 9

Low, 200 – 400 words: 1 text from year 6, 2 texts from year 9

Medium high, 400 – 600 words: 5 texts from year 6, 2 texts from year 9

High, 600 – 800 words: 2 texts from year 6, 2 texts from year 9

Very high, more than 800 words: 2 texts from year 6, 3 texts from year 9

Slide 13: Increasing word count

Table with 4 columns

Column 1: Very low (3 girls, 1 boy):

Low variation in sentence structure Few and simple descriptive phrases Adjectives used in everyday language

Column 2 and 3: Medium high (2 girls, 5 boys)Column 2 shows year 6:

Some variation in sentence structure Simple, onomatopoetic descriptive phrases Listing of adjectives

Column 3 shows year 9:

Small variation in sentence structure No descriptive phrases Low number of adjectives

Column 4: Very high (4 girls, 1 boy):

Many well-developed descriptive phrases Connections to several senses in descriptive phrases

Slide 14: Content words – proportion of abstract nouns

Table with two columns, two lines: Abstract nouns (median value)

Year 6: 39%

Year 9: 62%

Slide 15: Content words – adjectives

Table with the 5 categories concerning word count in 5 columns.

Number of adjectives in year 6 and year 9 in two different lines, followed by proportion of adjectives within parenthesis.

Very low word count: Year 6, 8 – 10 (3 – 10 %). Year 9, 10 (6%).

Low word count: Year 6, 25 (6%). Year 9, 16 – 21 (5 – 7%).

Medium high word count: Year 6, 15 – 30 (3 – 5%). Year 9, 16 – 43 (2 – 6%).

High word count: Year 6, 15 – 37 (2 – 6%). Year 9, - Very high word count: Year 6, 45 – 68 (4%). Year 9, 59 –

101 (5 – 8%).

Slide 16: Sentence structure

2 bar charts. Bar chart on the left showing 4 categories; W, X, Y, Z. 2 series: Year 6 and Year 9.

W, simple constructions: 3 texts from year 6. X, some complexity: 5 texts from year 6. 6 texts from

year 9. Y, complexity, some skill and variation: 2 texts from year

6, 3 texts from year 9. Z, high complexity and skill: 3 texts from year 6, 1 text

from year 9.

Bar chart on the right showing 2 categories; W&X and Y&Z. 2 series: girls and boys

W&X: 4 girls. 10 boys. Y&Z: 6 girls. 3 boys.

Slide 17: Category W – simple constructions

Text in the middle: More complex – less correct.In this slide, four quotes from texts appear in balloons as I speak:

1. I get hot because I work hard. When I have finished working I get tired and sleep well at night.

2. Everyone cheered and applauded a lot.3. I became very famous for my efforts.4. In the end I felt very satisfied.

Slide 18: Category X – some complexity in sentence structures

More advanced and complex, greater variation.

Greater risks – more faulty sentence structures.

Quotes in balloons:

1. Instead of her helping me, I had to help her instead.2. How could you do this Henry mom asked angrily before

she saw the crook who police caught in 2 seconds.

Slide 19: Category Y – complexity and some skill

High variation and complex sentence structures

or

Reiterations and reductive language as a stylistic technique

Quotes in balloons:

1. I threw another glance at my friend to see if he understood the question, but he did not understand a thing either, it seemed. Could you take the question again murmured my friend gently.

2. The school building stood there, so gray and casual. Yet she was filled with hope as she saw it. Just in case it was time today. Maybe she would dare, finally after all these years of waiting. Maybe, maybe not.

Slide 20: Category Z – high complexity and skill

Good variation in sentence structure and word choice Lines more brief than reports of events Variation in sentence structure Intentional exclusions of subjects Consistent language use

Quote in balloon:

"It would be best for everyone if I made them the service, to let me go," thought the old woman, whose hand shook more than usual. The hand that was slowly stretched out on the night table. The hand that, with enormous effort, managed to open the can with those tablets. Those that people talked about ‘be careful with these, Sigrid’ ".

Slide 21: Contents – descriptive phrases

Bar chart with 4 categories; A, B, C and D. 4 series; Year 6, Year 9, Girls and Boys.

Category A, no descriptive phrases: 1 text from year 6, 3 texts from year 9. 2 texts by girls, 2 texts by boys.

Category B, few and simple descriptive phrases: 7 texts from year 6, 2 texts from year 9. 2 texts by girls, 7 texts by boys.

Category C, developed descriptive phrases: 3 texts from year 6, 3 texts from year 9. 5 texts by girls, 1 text by a boy.

Category D, well-developed descriptive phrases: 2

Slide 22: Category B – few, simple descriptions

Simple descriptive phrases Few sensory connections Two examples of misconceptions

Quotes appearing in balloons as I speak:

1. The applause bellowed like thunder2. The applause turned into laughter.3. There may be dark moments in life.4. I'm not so tall I have dark long hair and blue eyes.5. When I later got to perform there was plenty of people

around the circus tent.

6. It felt very good to set up (be there) for thousands of other people.

Slide 23: Category C – developed descriptive phrases

Several sensory connections Metaphors, physical reactions Misconceptions, overgeneralizations

Quotes appearing in balloons, as I speak:

1. Then the audience laughed so loudly that it was heard all the way into my blood.

2. I felt how my heart started to pound hard.3. We heard the door slam behind one of those who

worked in the store and how the key was turned.4. The street lights outside a window showed me that the

time was half past twelve at night.

Slide 24: Category D – well-developed descriptive phrases

Several sensory connections Mental images Well functioning visual descriptions Implicit descriptions Cues meant to evoke an emotion Complex sentence structure in descriptions

Quotes appearing in balloons, as I speak:

1. The puddles after the storm had not yet evaporated completely, and my shoes are soon soaked. Of course I did not take my boots today!

2. She stared down at the table with glowing cheeks.3. Bright, curly hair, brown eyes with long tight eyelashes

and a little subtle smile that had always made her wonder what he was thinking of.

4. She froze, as she saw the pills dissolving in the glass.

Slide 25: High quality – common characteristics

A summarizing table showing 10 texts appearing in two or more high quality categories in different aspects. Key: Productivity: P, Sentence structure: S, Contents: C

Year 6: 3 girls, 2 boys

Text A: P: high, S: high, C: high Text E: P: - , S: very high, C: high Text G: P: very high, S: very high, C: very high Text H: P: very high, S: very high, C: high Text J: P: high, S: high, C: very high

Year 9: 3 girls, 2 boys

Text Q: P: high, S: - , C: high Text R: P: very high, S: high, C: high Text Z: P: very high, S: high, C: very high Text Ä: P: high, S: high, C: high Text Ö: P: very high, S: very high, C: very high

3 texts with a greater number of abstract than concrete nouns: R, Z and Ä.

Slide 26: Level of abstractionAbstract words – abstract content

Text R

Nouns: Abstract > concrete Personal experience Own perspective

Text Ö

Nouns: Concrete > abstract Imagination Distant perspective

Slide 27: Concluded results

Different aspects of quality in texts are in many ways related.

High word count is an advantage, but not the only important quality aspect.

Age and development have impact on productivity and level of abstraction.

Different ways of describing correspond with each other.

Presence of descriptions basically follows productivity.

Texts of high quality, regarding sentence structure and descriptive language, are slightly more often written by girls.

Misconceptions are most common in descriptions referring to the visual sense.

Slide 28: Misconceptions

Mostly found in texts of high quality

Not in the group with highest word count and most well-developed descriptive phrases

Let’s look at a few …

Slide 29: A few examples

“I said back and then it walked on its hind legs. Then I said front, and then it walked on its forelegs like a human being.”

Pictures appearing as I speak:

1. Photo of a dog walking on its hind legs. Smiling person with a raised hand behind the dog, dressed as a dog trainer in stage outfit.

2. Photo of a small fluffy dog walking on its forelegs with its hind legs and its tail high up in the air.

3. Cartoon man standing up with heavy walking boots, map and backpack.

4. Female gymnast hand standing on a stage.

Slide 30: Quote:

“In the middle of the lake is an island where someone put their cows out to pasture. We'll go (walk) there sometime, Mom has promised.”

Appearing photo: Island surrounded by water. On the island you can see a lot of trees, surrounded by beach with sand and rocks.

Slide 31: Quote:

”He had eyes like a whirlwind, eyes like ”kål” and a nose like a dog. ”

Swedish dictionary: kål – cabbage, sprouts kol – carbon, coal

Appearing pictures as I speak:

1. Drawing of a tornado, narrow at the bottom, funnel shaped with the opening upwards. Lines showing movement around the tornado.

2. Photograph of serious young man with messy hair. 3. Oil painting of grimly staring man with dark eyes.4. Photograph of actor portraying the x-men villain

Mystique, with glowing yellow eyes and blue skin.5. Photo of eight brussel sprouts on a cutting board. 6. Photo of a dog with its nose in the foreground.

Slide 32: Implications for teaching

Explain concepts that are perceived as concrete by sighted students

Focus on all senses while teaching Use several senses in descriptive language

Enhance senses other than vision

Picture on the right: Smiley with reddish cheeks.Quote in balloon: She stared down at the table with glowing cheeks.

A nutricious linguistic diet is beneficial to all (Gibbons, 2002)

Slide 33: Implications for teaching

Misconceptions – a golden opportunity for teaching concepts

Adapt teaching to the student’s writing development High, realistic expectations Blindness can complicate writing development

somewhat but is NOT an obstacle to become a skilled writer

Slide 34: Questions left …

Connections:

Degree of blindness Onset of blindness Causes of blindness Quality aspects in a deeper sense Different textual types

Slide 35: Thank you for taking interest!

Maria Ellingsson, Advisor in Special Needs Education

Resource center vision

National Agency for Special Needs Education and Schools, Sweden