https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/2285 2026-04-20T15:17:44Z 2026-04-20T15:17:44Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/2550 2016-04-28T10:05:44Z 2014-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Performance of children with bilateral cochlear implants on selected parts of the ‘Maltese-English speech assessment’ (MESA) and the ‘Language assessment for Maltese children’ (LAMC) : three case studies Abstract: There is little research that addresses speech and language skills of Maltese children with cochlear implant. The purpose of this research study was to assess and describe the speech and language development of three Maltese children with bilateral cochlear implants, who had a hearing age between 2;10 and 5;3 years. One child was simultaneously implanted and had a hearing age of 2;10 years, another child was sequentially implanted and had a hearing age of 3;6 years, while the third child was sequentially implanted and had a hearing age of 5;3 years. Maltese standardised speech and language assessments were used to gather information on their speech and language development. Data were collected during the children‟s speech and language therapy sessions. Following transcription and analysis, they were compared to their hearing and chronological age matched peers from the available speech and language norms for Maltese children. Additional information regarding the children‟s speech and language history, as well as background information prior to and post-implantation, was also collected to provide a holistic overview of the participants‟ speech and language development. Results indicated that the children presented with speech and language delay when compared to norms obtained by their chronological age matched peers. Variations amongst the participants were found in specific language skills. Similar language patterns were also noted including expressive abilities in advance of receptive skills.

2014-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/2548 2015-04-23T14:37:31Z 2014-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Investigating the spelling performance of Maltese children Abstract: This research investigates Maltese word and non-word spelling abilities of Maltese children. A total of 82 typically developing students attending state and church schools in grades 4, 5 and 6 participated in the research. Spelling abilities were assessed using a Maltese word spelling test developed by Agius (2012) and a non-word spelling test developed to parallel the existing word spelling test for the purpose of this study. A comparison of the children’s performance in these tests was undertaken and discussed in terms of their grade and school-language. Reliability and correlation analyses of both tests were carried out. Spelling patterns were analyzed and discussed in light of the dual route model. Four distinctive categories of spelling patterns emerged in this study, which indicated the use of lexical and sub-lexical processes. Findings show that word and non-word spelling abilities are only significantly affected by grade and school-language.

2014-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/2547 2018-05-28T13:10:05Z 2014-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: The effectiveness of video modeling with children with social communication difficulties secondary to Autism Spectrum Disorder Abstract: There is a substantial amount of research evidence to show that video modeling (VM) can help enhance the social communication (SC) skills of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) (e.g., Bellini & Akullian, 2007; Shukla-Mehta, Miller & Callahan, 2010). VM is a visually-based intervention in which learning is achieved through imitation of a model demonstrating the target skill that is shown on a video (Bellini & Akullian, 2007). Despite it being a promising intervention, after reviewing the literature, the researcher found the need for more research which uses the strengths and minimises the limitations of previous research on VM. The purpose of this study was to determine whether VM could improve the SC skills, more specifically, greetings, eye-contact, topic-maintenance and turn-taking, of three children diagnosed with ASD and aged between 7;0 to 9;0 years. A mixed research design combining a quantitative ABA single-subject experimental design with a qualitative case-study approach was used. During intervention, the participants watched commercial videos, which depicted peer models demonstrating the target skills, for three weeks. The intervention was implemented by parents at home. All participants showed some improvement in the four target skills, which generalised across persons and settings. In most cases, the skills were also maintained for three weeks after intervention was terminated. These results added to the growing literature on VM, by giving further indications that VM can be successfully used to teach SC skills to children with ASD. The need for further research in this area was also highlighted.

2014-01-01T00:00:00Z