A description of the verbal behavior of students during two reading instruction methods.

The responses of students during two reading methods, the language experience approach and two Mastery Learning programs, were analyzed using verbal operants. A description of student responding was generated for these methods. The purpose of the study was to answer the questions: What are the major controlling variables determining student reading behavior during the language experience approach and two Mastery Learning programs, and how do these controlling variables change across story reading sessions and across stories in the first method? Student responses by verbal operant were compared for both reading methods. Findings indicated higher frequencies of textual operants occurred in responses during the Mastery Learning programs. A greater reliance on intraverbal control was evident in responses during the language experience approach. It is suggested that students who can generate strong intraverbal responses and who may have visual discrimination problems during early reading instruction may benefit from use of the language experience approach at this stage.