| The major purpose of the present research was to examine the singular and combined effects of dictation and instruction in planning: on the plans and subsequent persuasive essays composed by students with learning disabilities (LD). Forty-two students with LD in fifth, sixth, or seventh grade were randomly assigned to one of four groups: (1) an experimental group receiving instruction how to dictate plans followed by dictation of essays, (2) an experimental group receiving instruction how to make handwritten plans followed by handwritten essays, (3) a comparison group receiving instruction in basic essays components followed by dictation of essays, and (4) a comparison group receiving instruction in basic essay components followed by handwritten essays.; The effects of treatment were investigated by examining plans, transformations between students' plans and essays, and essays composed by students in each group. Outcome variables included time for advanced planning, number of propositions in students' plans, type and percentage of transformations, composing rate, number and type of essay components, coherence, quality, subordination index scores, and length of essays. Data were collected at pretest, posttest, and at maintenance, two weeks following instruction.; The most significant finding of this study is that the combination of dictation and instruction in planning had the strongest effect on students' abilities to compose essays. Students who composed via dictation and received instruction in planning, as opposed to all other conditions, created essays that contained more essay elements and were higher in quality (both at posttest and at maintenance); essays were also longer and judged to be more cohesive at posttest, while differential effects for cohesion were noted at maintenance for students who differed by initial level of pretest ability. Instruction in planning also benefited the students; although with differential effects for good and poor writers. In contrast, dictation, by itself, had a minimal effect on students' plans and essays. At posttest students composed at faster rates with dictation, and at maintenance, students' sentences were more cohesive. Social validity data revealed that students and teachers found the use of dictation, instruction in planning, and instruction in essay components to be effective and meaningful. |
